Pineapple, Bananas & Coconut (Innocent Smoothies)

Member Name: sun-is-shining

Product:	Innocent Smoothies
Date:	09/06/09 (114 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: healthy, tasty, refreshing

Disadvantages: a bit pricey

Hey, my name is Sarah and I'm a smoothie addict! I love the Innocent Smoothies and they since became a regular part of my lunch.
The small ones can get quite expensive if you buy one per day so I tried the 1 liter version the other day.

Pineapple, bananas & coconut is my favourite. It's not too sweet and reminds me of my trip to Thailand - ah, sun, beach and a pineapple & coconut shake...
--------------------------

Packing

The smoothie comes in a white cardboard drink box with screw top. The well known golden Innocent angel-smiley is printed on the front. On the back the label informs us how much and which fruit was used and what the nutrition info is.
The packing looks quite nice, doesn't leak and the screwtape is easy to use.
--------------------------

Ingredients & Nutrition

1 liter of my smoothie contains astonishing:

- 1.5 Pressed Pineapples 43%
- 3.5 Mashed Bananas 35%
- 2.5 Pressed Apples
- Coconut Milk 7%
- Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

The smoothie is of course suitable for Vegetarians and Vegans.

Energy - 73 Kcal
Protein - 0.7g
Carbohydrate - 15.3g
of which sugars - 13.6g
Fat - 1.2g
of which saturates - 1.1g
Fibre - 1.0g

That's quite a bit more sugar as in other Innocent smoothies due to the coconut milk. Still, 73 kcal per 100ml is ok-isch, maybe don't chose the coconut variant every day if you are on a diet.

One serving of 250ml is 2 of your 5-a-day.
--------------------------

Look & Taste

The Pineapple, Banana & Coconut smoothie looks delicious when you pour it in a glass, light yellow and creamy it's the promise of beach, sun and palm trees. It smells quite intense of pineapple, not like a normal pina coloda because it doesn't contain enough coconut.

I could taste all 3 main ingredients quite clearly, the pineapple being the most dominant, followed by the coconut. It took me a bit to recognise the bananas. The mix is perfect, not too sweet, not too sour. I couldn't taste the orange juice at all, I guess there's not a lot of it in there. But that's fine, the mix is perfect as it is.

It's not too sweet thanks to the refreshing pineapple which makes the smoothie perfect for hot summer days.

The consistency is lovely, like a smoothie is supposed to be without being to heavy and rich. If you prefer normal juice you can 'water' it down with orange juice, works really well and is great when you want to save some calories.

I haven't tried it with alcohol (yet) but I'm sure it's a great base to mix pina colodas at home.
--------------------------

Price & Value

The 1 litre pack can be found at Tesco's for 2.77 - right at the moment they are at '2 for 4 Pound' offer. A great deal when you consider that 1 litre is easily enough for 4 days.

Now let's have a look at the single ingredients; 1,5 pineapples are at least 2 Pound, given that you have to buy 2 anyway, 4 bananas and 3 apples adds up to 1 Pound plus 70 pence for a can of coconut milk.
It's definitely cheaper and a lot more convenient to by the Innocent smoothie that to make it at home.

For me it's a 09 out of 10!
--------------------------

Extra tip

Mix 150ml of your smoothie with ice and blend till it's nice ans smooth. Very refreshing in summer and a good alternative to real ice cream when you are on a diet.
--------------------------

Summary: A great way to reach your 5-a-day!