Having been suffering from a nasty summer cold over these past few days I've been relying on a few things to keep me feeling vaguely human. Once of these things is a box of Beechams Flu Plus Hot Lemon sachets.

The packet I bought along with a lifetime supply of tissues cast me the princely sum of £2.49 for 10 sachets. Now normally I buy Lemsip sachets on such an occasion as it's always been something my mum had in the cupboard and I know it works really well, but being on a budget I took the risk and went for the cheaper option on the shelf which saved me a few pennies (almost 50p to be precise).

The sachets come in a cardboard box that has a lot of information on it such and it promises rapid relief from fever, aches and pains, sinus pain, blocked nose, headache and sore throat pain. It also states that it's non drowsy.

Like most of the hot lemon varieties out there you mix this with hot water and a little sweetener if desired and take it every four to six hours but not more than 4 sachets in every 24 hours. The formula contains vitamin C, 1000mg of Paracetamol and Phenylephrine Hydrochloride (a discongestant).

Now if you are used to Lemsip like I am, you might find this a little more sharp and bitter tasting than you are used to so my top tip is mix a teaspoon full or two of runny honey in with the hot lemon to take away a bit of the bitterness and if I have a chest cough or sore throat I like to add a small glug of whisky to the mix (don't overdo it mind you!!), it makes the whole experience a whole lot nicer.

Having said that this formula really does work very well, it helped relieve my aches and pains very quickly and the decongestant got to work on my blocked sinuses. I'm none too sure if the formula was particularly non-drowsy as I was feeling quite lethargic anyway but I really don't think it made it any worse anyway!

I think all in all this is a really good product although the cost savings probably came out about even with Lemsip as I'd have to by a jar of honey to go with it, I might be trying the blackcurrant version next time!!