Robinsons Be natural - Apple & Strawberry (Robinsons Be Natural)

Member Name: starjen

Product:	Robinsons Be Natural
Date:	02/06/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No added sweetners, flavours or colourings

Disadvantages: Price and sweetnes

I love squash and always try to have a couple of bottles in the house. I generally like the fruit and barley ranges and drink Robinsons (when on offer) and Tesco. When I went shopping a while ago I was looking for squash and noticed the new Robinsons Be Natural range was on offer for 99p per bottle and I'd seen the adverts on telly too (with the little bird that comes home and drinks his squash with the man clock!) so I thought I'd try it out.

I bought the apple and strawberry flavour and it comes in a 600ml bottle, I normally get 1 litre so it is smaller, and it states you get 17 servings out of it but I couldn't say for sure as I use big glasses and I think it depends on how strong you like your squash. The bottle (and the advert) state clearly that it is squash made from naturally sourced ingredients but there is nothing else to explain further on the bottle what this actually means so I have headed to their website to find out. This is what they have to say: "Robinsons Be Natural contains absolutely no artificial colours, preservatives, flavours or sweeteners, making it the perfect everyday drink for the family. Because Be Natural is free from artificial preservatives it must be stored in the fridge after opening and consumed within three weeks, just like fresh juice!"

To be honest I am a bit disappointed that's all they've got to say, they could've fitted that on the bottle! Well as they've stated it's all goodness with no bad stuff I will list the ingredients for anyone who's interested:

Water, natural sugar, Lemon juice, from concentrate (25% as a natural acidulant), Fruit juice from concentrate: Apple (3%), strawberry (3%), natural apple and strawberry flavourings, carrot concentrate, safflower concentrate.

Comparing this to my bottle of Tesco pear and blueberry (I do prefer the different flavours of squash that are out there but I do get weird looks when kids are round and I haven't got any orange or blackcurrant) there do seem to be more sweeteners and preservatives and stuff in it than the Robinsons Be natural.

But the most important part to me is how does it taste?

Well before I can taste it I have to get the bottle open, and boy did I struggle. I may have been unlucky but this bottle was a nightmare to get open, the squash was filled really high to the top and as I twisted the lid it wouldn't open fully but the squash was leaking out and going all up my hand and was very sticky. Eventually I gave up and my boyfriend had to do it for me with a kitchen towel tightly wrapped round it

The squash in the bottle is a bright red/pink colour and smells very sweet, these both dilute when you add water (they recommend 1 part squash to 6 part water).

To be honest I can't really taste either strawberry or apple but it does taste nice. I'm drinking it while writing the review and trying to think what it does taste like but all I can say is it's quite fruity, berryish, in flavour and also a bit sweet and because it's been kept in the fridge it is chilled. Talking about the sweetness I have had a quick look at the daily guideline bit on the bottle and it does state a very high 21% of sugar for a 250ml serving, but that would mean drinking nearly half the bottle in a day, but I guess you could if you were thirsty.

I have enjoyed this bottle of squash but not as much as some of the other flavours I buy, like Robinsons Pear and apple which I love and I can really taste the pear flavour in it or pink grapefruit flavour. It does come in two other flavours: Orange and Passionfruit; and Blackcurrant and Pear.

When I bought my bottle is was on offer in Tesco as it was a new product so I have had a quick look on my supermarket.com and it is now £1.49 but only £1 in Asda. This is for only a 600ml bottle and my normal Robinsons fruit and Barley is only £1.24 for 1 litre or Tesco own brand only 58p for 1 litre.

For the value I get buying the normal squash range I go for I don't believe I will buy the Be Natural squash again unless it's on special offer. I do think it's a great idea having no preservatives or artificial stuff in it but then the sugar seems to be higher than normal squash which isn't great for you or the little one's either so it's kind of a catch 22. I would recommend trying it if you like the sound of this product and you enjoy squash but for now I will stick to my usual added bad stuff squash.

Summary: Good idea but not for me