SubLIME and divine! (Rose's Lime Cordial)

Member Name: Wee_Jackie_163

Product:	Rose's Lime Cordial
Date:	27/10/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious..

Disadvantages: More expensive than other brands..

Having taken a bit of a liking for a well-known branded lime cordial drink recently, I asked my partner to pick up another bottle of the cordial when I had ran out. He was going to our local (independent) grocery store for some other bits and pieces and I was confident that he would be able to purchase this item there too.

He did indeed return home with a bottle of lime cordial but it was a different brand from the Schweppes cordial I had been buying lately. The only brand of lime cordial available in the grocery store at the time was the 'Rose's' branded cordial and the bottle cost my partner £1.99.

I did think that this was a bit pricey, especially as the bottle is the same 1 litre size as the Schweppes offering. Because it was a more expensive price I was keen to see if the Rose's lime was of a better quality.

Before I go on, I will admit that the Rose's bottle is certainly more appealing, in terms of packaging. The plastic bottle is a more traditional shape than the Schweppes bottle, which is just a plain 'boxy' bottle which looks to be similar to a bottle of bog-standard supermarket-own-branded diluting juice. The Rose's bottle in comparison has some little 'etchings' on the plastic which look to be little leaves or plants. The label on the front of the bottle too is certainly more eye-catching and looks to be of a higher quality than the Schweppes label and bottle on the whole. The bottle of Rose's lime cordial is exactly like that shown in the picture at the top of the Dooyoo page.

The cordial itself also gives the impression of being a slightly better quality product when compared to the Schweppes cordial. A much deeper green colour, the Rose's lime cordial has a much 'fuller' aspect to the colour of the liquid whereas the Schweppes cordial looks to be quite watered down in comparison.

As soon as the lid to the bottle is removed and I sniff the contents, the lime fragrance that reaches up to my nostrils is very strong. So much so that I can feel almost immediately my mouth starts to water in response. The smell is indeed very appetising and refreshing, and of course it is very limey!

Because the Rose's cordial is quite strong, I did find that I don't need to use much of it. This means that I can (almost) justify the more expensive price tag, as it is quite economical and the bottle does last a reasonable amount of time. I find that the Rose's lime cordial is strong-tasting enough that even a very small amount - perhaps a desert spoon or so - will add a refreshing 'twang' to my glass of fizzy water or lemonade.

I did find that the Rose's lime is really quite sweet-tasting, and it might actually be overly-so for some palates. Not me though, probably because I have an incredible sweet tooth! When compared to the Schweppes lime cordial, I would definitely say that the Rose's lime is sweeter, whereas the Schweppes lime has a bit of'tartness' to the overall taste.

Said 'tartness' can also be detected from the Rose's lime to be fair, but of course limes are an extremely acidic or sour tasting fruit in my opinion, so any juice or cordial that claims to contain (before dilution) 25% lime juice (as the Rose's cordial does) should most definitely have that zingy 'kick' to it in my humble opinion. The Rose's cordial doesn't disappoint in terms of taste at all, and I did find it easily ticked all the right boxes when diluting it in my drink.

In addition, I did find that I preferred the Rose's lime when it was added to my lager. The Schweppes lime cordial was nice enough tasting when added to my lager too, to be fair, but I did feel that the Rose's again just had more of a 'kick' and I felt that this added more to the overall flavour of my lager and lime. I do like to really taste the lime and the accompanying acidity when I have added lime to my lager and the Rose's lime cordial didn't disappoint!

The nutritional information on the reverse of the label informs me that 100ml of the Rose's cordial (when diluted) will provide 21 calories and 0 fat. There is advice given on the label about diluting the cordial for infants and babies, and I can see that there is a website for the product at www.coca-cola.co.uk/nutrition.

All in all I would buy the Rose's lime over another brand if I was given the choice, and I did feel that the extra pennies to buy this brand were quite justified. A stronger tasting, richer looking cordial is what I thought the Rose's brand offered on this occasion, and I would definitely award it top marks and highly recommend it!

Summary: Delicously refreshing... subLIME cordial! ;-)