A tropical day at work! (Tesco No Added Sugar Tropical Squash)

Member Name: marymoose

Product:	Tesco No Added Sugar Tropical Squash
Date:	02/06/09 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Refreshing, good value, no added sugar!

Disadvantages: Might not be to everyone's tastes, but I love squash!

---Intro---

It's a glorious day and I'm stuck at work. I generally drink quite a lot throughout the day, but it's even more important to keep hydrated when it's hotter of course, and since I'd asked dooyoo to add various flavours of Tesco squash for me to review them I thought I'd bring a bottle with me for my desk at work.

Since it's a hot summer's day, today I will be reviewing the Tesco No Added Sugar Tropical Squash! I'd really rather have a nice summery cocktail, but such is life!


---The Bottle---

The bottle is 750ml. I should note here that the Tesco bottles of squash have double the concentrate, so the bottles are a lot smaller than they used to be. However, the squash goes further, so technically you get more in the 750ml bottle than you did in the previous litre bottles! It is supposedly meant to be more environmentally friendly perhaps, but I would imagine that they could make the squash even more concentrated! The bottle is made of 100% recyclable PET whatever that might be. The bottle is also easier to fit in cupboards, being smaller!

The label as a picture of some dubious looking tropical fruits on it, including pineapple and banana (can't work out what the others are!).


---What's in it---

Obviously the main ingredient is water, but after this we have comminuted (spellcheck doesn't like this word) fruits from concentrates (20%), Fruit juices from concentrate (6%). Citric acid, acidity regulator, natural flavourings, sweeteners, preservatives, stabiliser, antioxidant, and Natural Colour (I'm not going to list things more specifically).

For those with allergies, it contains sulphites, and phenylaline. While there are no nuts in the recipe or the factory, it cannot guarantee nut free.

Onto the best bit, because there's no added sugar, 25ml (whick will make approximately 250 ml when diluted) contains just 4 calories, 0.4g sugar, trace of fat, and 0.2g salt (why does it need any salt?)


---The Drinking Experience---

Shake bottle well, and pour into glass - one part squash and 9 parts water.

I have just made myself a drink with the exact amount (my water bottle has lines down it - I haven't used a measuring jug!), and have to say that it is just right (although of course individual tastes vary) - sometimes I put in a bit too much and have it a bit too strong and need to top it up. I think how strong I want it also depends on how thirsty I am.

Obviously for those giving the drink to toddlers then it should be diluted further.

The main taste is orange, although it has a bit of a tropical taste - I can make out the mango, and think I can make out the pineapple. It is fairly sweet, but not too much so - I find it very refreshing. It is quite different from a standard orange drink, so might not be to all tastes.

The real taste test would probably be the undiluted taste. I remember once I drank a whole plastic cup of undiluted orange squash as I thought it was diluted (it was in a jug) and just gulped it down.

The smell is very strong, and I can only imagine that it is horrible to drink it neat, not to mention how dehydrated it would make you. So, I might love you dear dooyoo readers, but not that much!

I really like this squash (as all of the others in the range - we always have 4 different ones at any one time), and can drink pints of it. I find the orange based squashes especially good when slightly hungover! To me squash is squash, so I'm not really bothered about the big brand names. However, since I drink quite a lot of liquids, it is fairly important to me to have no added sugar drinks. Perhaps this detracts from the taste slightly, but it's been so long since I had a full sugar squash now!


---Other---

While the drink is not suitable for freezing according to the bottle, I have made ice lollies out of these with probably a third concentrate and two thirds water.

The bottle I bought expires next January, so it probably has a shelf life of about 7 months. Squash seems to always last fine even when open.

A bottle of this currently costs 80p in Tesco, and apparently they do 1.5 litre bottles for £1.46 (not in our Tesco though), which makes a slight saving.

Look out for more squash reviews coming your way!

Summary: Don't forget you only need half the amount you used to!