The posh squash (Ribena Blackcurrant Concentrate)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	Ribena Blackcurrant Concentrate
Date:	26/10/08 (180 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: tastes above anything else

Disadvantages: lots of sugar

Ribena has always been a favourite of mine since I was a child. I am not a fan of squash as I find the taste very synthetic and false. Ribena however takes on a whole different flavour to other squashes and I can usually find a bottle in my cupboard.
Ribena is manufactured by Glaxo Smith Kline, and comes packaged in posh bottles which look a lot better than standard bottles of squash. There is an element of richness about it when you see the lid is encased with a gold outer casing much like a feraro rocher wrapper.
Inside the lid which is the part of the bottle that I find poorly designed, there is a ring pull plastic seal that needs removing before first use. The lid doesn't seem to catch to do up properly after you've opened it the first time. I worry that it'll spill over the cupboard if it fell over, and I wouldn't want to have to fight against a Ribena stain.
It's packaged in a clear bottle so you can see the dark purple colour of the juice inside before you pour it. Simple labelling covers part of the bottle showing lots of blackcurrants. Overall the packaging makes the product look like it's going to be more expensive than other makes of squash.
The bottles are also the first in the UK to be made from 100% recycled bottles.

The price of Ribena does make it stand out against the rest, but not for all the right reasons. It is hugely more expensive than other makes of squash. A 1litre bottle of Ribena costs £2.49 whilst a 1litre of Robinsons costs 98p. That's a huge mark up for Ribena, so what makes it so special?

For me it's the taste. The rich purple colour when made gives the squash a rich fruity taste. I can't taste any of the fake sugars that you can in other brands, and I really feel as though I'm drinking a glass of fruit juice not squash when I drink this.

There is a lot of sugar in Ribena and this is what makes it not so good for you or your teeth. Each 100ml of juice will provide you with 11.4g carbohydrates or which 11.1 are sugars.
Ribena recommend that a glass should be made with one part Ribena and four parts water. I probably drink mine one part ribena to three parts water as I like the taste of the blackcurrants to come through well.

Ribena came to us in 1936 as a blackcurrant cordial and has since grown to become the product it is today.
There are levels of vitamin C in this squash, but over time the claims of the levels of how much was included have been misleading and it hasn't been as much as the products were claiming at one point.

Overall I find that if you can buy this on a good offer then it makes it worth buying. When not on offer I tend to leave it on the shelves as the price is a little more than I like to pay generally.

Summary: a posh squash