Tropically Soured this weekend. (Sourz)

Member Name: scuba_angel

Product:	Sourz
Date:	14/12/08 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: not a very strong liqueur

Disadvantages: too tart and sickly when warm

I was reminded last night of a drink I used to love and hadnt had for quite some time, oddly when I got home I found I still had a bottle tucked away in my drink shelf. So I happily consumed rather alot of it - people please note it is not big nor clever to drink alone nor to get drunk!

That drink I had forgotten is Tropical Sourz, a student bar staple the Sourz range is vividly coloured, and as its name implies sour to taste though in sour in the same way Haribo tangfastics are, they are generally among the budget shooters in the bar. It has a very distinctive bottle shape, a fairly long narrow neck, then a wide shouldered cylindrical bottom portion with a slight flare at the base.

The Tropcial flavour has always bee my favourite, slightly odd looking as it is a lovely shade of blue (and glows under UV lighting) it doesnt look much like something you might want to drink. Opening the top of the bottle the very sweet/sour smell will hit your nostrils immediately and if you're anything like me you'll find that you're mouth is watering. From the smell there is no real way to identify what the flavour of the drink is, so pouring a small measure and tasting must be the way forward. At this point you have to decide, are you going to treat this as a shooter, and down it, mix it with a splash of lemonade to make it a short or as I often do plop in a couple of ice cubes and drink it on the rocks?

Taste wise once again I can't identify what the flavours are, but it does very much taste 'tropical', an inspection of the bottle fails to reveal any hint as to the flavours, as the label on mine is an old one with a simple depiction of a palm tree.

But while Im looking at the label I really ought to let you know that a bottle is usually 700ml, and 15%vol so not overly alcoholic by the standard of most drinks of this type, it is recommended that you drink it cold - warm it becomes rather sickly and quite unpleasant. It is made by Jim Beam brands and imported by a company in Glasgow, it also notes that it ought to be protected from sunlight or the colour may fade - which is slightly worrying what on earth is in it which might fade?

Another issue to note is that it states this is made from genetically modified corn and soybeans so not one any self respecting organics fan should be consuming.

Right back to taste and flavour. Your first mouthful will reveal that the suspiscion of it being a very tart drink is confirmed, trying to hold it in your mouth for above a couple of seconds is challenging due to the not entirely nasty sharpness of the taste. Swallowing that same tart taste can stick in your throat again not in an entirely unpleasant manner, although when the drink has started off warm it can be very sickly. Personally I find it very moreish, in my student days my standard drink order was two shots of this plus a tropical VK as I found the tastes though both called tropical were different yet complemented each other (which rules out this tasting of grapefruit and pineapple alone though it may contain them). Looking at the website for JimBeamGlobal reveals no further insight as to the flavour of the drink nor its ingredients, so I'm afraid you'll simply have to take my word for it that its a lovely taste once you get past the tartness.

Other flavours will provide a similar drinking experience, flavours avaliable are apple (which is the most common) and bright green, cherry - bright red, and pineapple which is yellow. All of the flavours are equally as versatile and can be used to create so very tasty cocktails in the right hands.

At the moment a bottle of this will cost around £9, from memory a shot can vary between £1 and £2.50 depending on the bar and any applicable offers.

Sadly for me this loses a star with the realisation that it contains GM ingredients.

Summary: part of a strong tasting, colourful range