Feeling fruity? (Tesco Fruit Flavoured Sparkling Water)

Member Name: werewolf2

Product:	Tesco Fruit Flavoured Sparkling Water
Date:	24/03/07 (135 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: change from cola, J2O or other soft drink, suitable for vegetarians

Disadvantages: not always stocked, full of sweeteners

NAME OF DRINK
Tesco slightly sparkling spring Water drink, with a hint of a particular fruit juice or juices . The flavours include Orange, Grapefruit, Cherry and Cranberry, Peach, Apple and Raspberry, Lemon and Elderflower, Lemon and Lime, and White Grape and Blackberry. There is now a new flavour: Lemon and Tangerine

I like them all but you have to have at least one favourite and, of course, a least favourite. My favourites are Cherry and Cranberry and Lemon and Elderflower in that order. I do really enjoy the others, but despite liking oranges I find the Orange flavour is my least favourite, because it tastes too sweet.

I have only just discovered Lemon and Tangerine but it has an interesting taste with a bit of a kick. You take a sip and can hardly taste the tangerine, but then wallop it hits you...
hard. I really like this flavour and could even prefer it to some of the others. It is now my 3rd favourite at the very least.

BACKGROUND

I started buying these products to encourage my boyfriend to drink more water and less tea, and we have got hooked. We now buy a minimum of 6 bottles every visit!

Tesco often has offers on such as “BOGOF” i.e. buy one get one free or 3 for £1.50, etc. Each bottle normally costs 56p, so this saves 18p if you buy 3.

COLOUR
The bottle is a light blue colour with a darker blue lid, but the liquid is clear. It is a sparkling drink so there are bubbles, too and you have to be careful not to shake it before opening.

Each bottle wrapper now has a yellow and pink circle on it to explain at a glance how much fat, calories and salt (yellow circle); low calorie and no added sugar (pink circle). This is per 200ml serving as opposed to the entire bottle, but is a very useful guide.

TASTE
This of course depends on the flavour bought. However, I will endeavour to answer this question. I am currently drinking from the Apple and Raspberry bottle. The main taste is of a sparkling drink of water. I tasted the bubbles first and the flavour hits in afterwards.

This is not true of some of the other drinks – the stronger flavours like Cherry and Cranberry or the Lemon flavours. I can’t taste the Apple but the Raspberry definitely hits home, despite the 2% reconstituted concentrated apple juice.

The raspberry is just a natural flavouring added and is in lesser quantities than the apple juice. Some people may be able to taste the sweeteners too, but I have a lesser sense of taste than most, due to my hayfever. As my nose is blocked, my sense of smell and taste are distorted slightly.

SMELL
See above comments. There is a slight sweet smell from the bottle, mainly raspberry. The lemon and tangerine one smells only of oranges or tangerines.

MAIN INGREDIENTS
Water, fruit juice 2%, citric acid and sweeteners. It contains a source of phenylalanine and is suitable for vegetarians. It is low calorie with no added sugar – but it does have added sweeteners, including Aspartame.

A 7fl oz serving should provide 4 kcal, a trace of fibre, sodium and fat, with 0.1g of protein and 0.4g of carbohydrates (all of which are sugars).

The bottle claims to have 5 servings, but I can make one bottle last me all week – if the boyfriend isn’t here that is. He can drink one bottle a night.

PRICE
56p a bottle but watch out for offers. It seems to be mainly 3 bottles for £1.50 but there has been buy one get one free.

GOOD POINTS
1. Suitable for vegetarians
2. Low calorie
3. No added sugar
4. Bottle can be recycled as it is made
from P.E.T.
5. I have used 9 of them for a game of
skittles for my St John group to good
effect. If you add sand or water to the
bottom for balance, they are ideal.
6. Could also use as a rounders
/baseball bat. Not yet tried.
7. Increase my water intake but taste
better than tap water.

BAD POINTS
1. Some taste slightly more of
sweeteners than others
2. The flavours are sometimes out of
stock
3. Fizzy drinks can make you burp
4. Once opened should be consumed
within 3 days
5. Can only assist weight control as
part of a calorie controlled diet (and
as I can’t see calories how can I
count them?)

AFTERWARDS

My local area does not recycle plastic as a matter of course (yet) so I recycle them as mentioned above or put them in the bin, as it is 7 miles to my nearest Tesco where they do have the facilities and I usually forget to take them.

MADE BY/MORE INFORMATION FROM

Produced in the UK (that makes a change) for Tesco Stores Ltd, Cheshunt, EN8 9SL

Visit tesco online at www.tesco.com - however you need to register as a customer to be able to view anything of interest. I tried to just log onto the site just to confirm the above prices, but as I needed to know my clubcard number in order to register properly, I decided against it.

Werewolf

Summary: Soft drink which is low calorie with no added sugar