Just call me an old Smoothie! (Tesco Strawberry and Banana Smoothie)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Tesco Strawberry and Banana Smoothie
Date:	07/08/09 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious, fruity and sweet, filling

Disadvantages: A little too thick

I have a wonderful smoothie maker so rarely buy ready made ones anymore, I only actually ended up with this one because it was hugely reduced in price at just 49p instead of the usual price of £1.97.

Please note that the packaging above is the old style bottle, this Smoothie now comes in a carton with a screw top lid like the Innocent brand which I personally think is much better.

The design is good; the lid pours well and I find the carton easy to hold which is especially useful to arthritis sufferers such as myself who struggle to comfortably hold more rounded bottles due to the lack of physical grips.

I must say I'm very impressed with this smoothie and even at full price would buy it as it's almost a full pound cheaper than Innocent with an excellent flavour and consistency.

I was impressed that the smoothie tastes predominently of strawberry as I do find the flavour of banana to be rather overpowering in shop bought smoothies and rarely add more than a quarter of a fresh banana to my own drinks. It's a sweet and natural strawberry flavour too, none of the synthetic strawberry milkshake type flavours that sometimes come through in supermarket smoothies.

I do find this one to be rather thicker than I'd like, it has an almost gloopy consistency which makes it difficult to drink in any great quantity. This also means it's not as refreshing as other smoothies as it doesn't go down as easily or smoothly.

The sweetness of the smoothie also takes away a lot of the refreshing properties of this kind of drink. This is the sweetest smoothie I've ever tasted and I was surprised when looking at the ingredients list that there is no added sugar. The fruit pulp is 'watered down' with apple juice so perhaps it's this which gives it such a sweet flavour, although I actually could not pick out the taste of the apple juice beneath the strawberry and banana flavours.

A glass of this Tesco own brand Strawberry and Banana Smoothie contains 105 calories and 0.3g of fat (none of which are saturates) and a 1 litre bottle usually costs £1.97. This calorie content is actually a little better than it looks as I have had a glass of this for breakfast before now and it is so substantial that it keeps my appetite at bay until lunchtime.

Summary: Fruity and delicious, just how a good smoothie should be.