Old Jamaica Ginger Beer is a childhood favourite of mine. In fact I grew up supping a variety of ginger beers but would have to say that D and G's Old Jamaica clinches the title of best ginger beer in my eyes, if not the best soft drink. The blend of fiery spice provided by root ginger extract with a sweet, refreshing taste is balanced well, although since my childhood the sweetness has seemed a little too prominent. It still beats other brands however, that can seem a little insipid or others like Fentimans, that in my opinion are far too medicinal. Of course my judgement may be slightly biased due to my father's claim to fame that he won a slogan ...  Read the complete review

I have memories as a child in the 1970s of growing our own ginger beer, in bottles on the kitchen windowsill - there was some way of using the last bottle to start off the next batch of ginger beer, and we always seemed to have a supply on the go. I have always had a bit of a fondness for the stuff as a result. Ginger is a root plant, and is widely used for cooking and for its medicinal purposes. It has a warming effect when taken, and can provide a kick to your food when used in cooking, and can give your body a wake up call and your skin a wonderful tingly feeling when used in shower products and body lotions. So, it would be no surprise that ...  Read the complete review

I used to love the home-made ginger beer made by my Mum. (The kids in Swallows and Amazons - including Able Seaman Titty - also drank lashings of ginger beer.) She (that's Mum, not Titty) always seemed to have a ginger beer 'plant' on the go - the oldies in dooyoo land will remember these - you could keep feeding it and produce more and more beer and split it to make more 'plants' Can you still get the stuff? I can feel a Google coming on. I do like a ginger beer and have been meaning to buy some of that alcoholic newfangled stuff I have seen advertised. However, I am happy enough to have a can or two of this as the fancy takes me and since it has been on ...  Read the complete review

In one of my earlier reviews I asked what the difference between ginger ale and ginger beer was, this got me into trying different brands of both as well as trying to find out the difference for myself (sad I know). Well I did find out, apparently The main difference between the beer and the ale is that the beer is brewed (the ginger root is steeped it in hot water for around 24 hours before the drink is made) meaning that it has a much stronger ginger flavour and is cloudy in colour. Ginger ale is made by adding ginger botanicals so although you get the ginger aromas and flavours it is a milder taste and the drink is clear. Despite the name neither actually ...  Read the complete review

I do try and keep my intake of fizzy drinks to a minimum but occasionally I do indulge in the odd fizzy drink and one that I have purchased recently was the Old Jamaica Ginger Beer. Although I do normally buy this in the sugar free version it is hard to find so this was me really being a little naughty and purchasing the full sugar version. The Old Jamaica Ginger Beer is made by Cott beverages and is sold in cans, individual bottles or large sharing bottles. My last purchase was of a 330ml can which I brought from my local independent grocery store for £0.50. The can is cream in colour with red stripes and pictures of orange palm trees with a ...  Read the complete review