A hot but cold drink! (Tesco Fiery Ginger Beer)

Member Name: garymarsh6

Product:	Tesco Fiery Ginger Beer
Date:	03/04/09 (233 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Refreshing and warming.

Disadvantages: A tad high on the sugar content.

Tesco Fiery Ginger beer.

With all the recent coughs and colds flying around and finally succumbing to one myself I fancied something that would be refreshing and comforting for my sore burning throat. I certainly found it in this great carbonated drink from Tesco's.

Tesco Fiery ginger beer contains natural ginger root extract which adds authenticity to the drink. The bottle is a brown two litre sized bottle and was priced at £0.47 but recently they had it on offer three for £1.20 which was an absolute bargain.

It claims that there are no artificial flavours or colours which ticks my box as far as drinks are concerned however it is laden with sugar which may be not good for some but there is a sugar free bottle as well so don't dismiss it quite yet. I had got one of each as my wife only drinks low sugared drinks.

The bottle is sealed with a red screw top cap which was tightly sealed and you are advised that as it is a pressurised container you should take care when opening, covering the cap as you do so.

There is a distinct smell of ginger emanating from the bottle which is good. I poured myself a long glass of the said liquid. It is a pale opaque colour with a few aerated bubbles floating to the surface and popping as it reaches the top. Sniffing the glass the smell of ginger is quite warming and welcoming. So onto the taste test.......first mouthful it didn't hit the spot but boy on the second it certainly did. There was a distinct warming feeling left at the back of the throat which was very comforting and it seemed to ease the discomfort in my throat. Tasting ever so sweet and gingery it was not at all unpleasant in fact it was very moreish indeed. There was a sense of after glow left in the mouth once you had swallowed the drink which was quite a nice sensation and it left my mouth and throat feeling clean and clear.

I had a taste of the sugar free version and there was the same distinct warming ginger taste but I can tell the difference with the artificial sweetener in it. Personally I would stick to the sugared variety as a matter of personal taste although I think the sugar free version (Diet) is quite palatable and refreshing too.

There is of course the allergy advice and nutritional advice given on the label and that includes the following:

Contains Gluten.
Suitable for vegetarians. (Why on earth shouldn't it be?)
Recipe: No nuts.
Ingredients: Cannot guarantee any nuts?
Factory: No nuts.

Ingredients:
Carbonated water. Sugar, Natural flavour contains ginger extract. Citric acid
(Preservative) Potassium sorbate. Stabilisers ( Acacia vegetable oil) Malted barley extract.


Nutrition per 250mls.
Sugar 30.8g
Fat: Trace less than1%
Saturates : Trace less than1%
Salt: Less than 1%
Calories: 125 per glass.


So as you can see there is a whopping amount of sugar in it so not friendly for diabetics or dieters. I ( Note I took the blame to save the peace) inadvertently did not seal the bottle as the cap was loose and I actually found it more palatable being flat without all the fizz and thought it much nicer.

By the way the diet drink is only 2 calories a glass.

Opinion.

I would highly recommend this ginger beer as a soothing refreshing drink especially if you do have a sore throat and particularly if you are off your food. It's a very pleasant change from other carbonated drinks. I guess it could be used as a mixer in a long drink and dare I say it...it probably would taste nice with a toddy of whisky in it

Summary: Nice refreshing and very moreish.