Review: new summer drinks ranges from Morrisons
The product development people at Morrisons have been very, very busy in recent months, and they’ve created all kinds of new food and drink offerings for the summer. I’ve had a chance to try some of their new drinks out, so I thought it was high time for a little review.
First up, they have a massive new range of teas, from Darjeeling teabags (£1.35 for 50 bags) to flavoured green teas and herbal infusions. I think there are over 40 fancy teas in their range now, so there’ s something for most tastes.
I’ve now tried five of these new teas, so here’s a quick rundown. First of all, they’re all 75p for 20 tea bags, which is considerably cheaper than the big brands. They’re all suitable for making iced tea drinks with too, as far as I can see.
- Lemon and ginger zinger: a perfect competitor for similar products. It’s light and refreshing, very zingy indeed, and has a nice rounded taste rather than just the two main loud notes, thanks to the addition of apple, rosehip and lemongrass. This one is bound to be a winner.
- Citrus ginseng sling: very complex and sophisticated. Whoever came up with this blend was a seriously cool cat – it’s fruity, spicy and herbal in equal measures, and I can see it becoming a great cocktail ingredient as well as a plain hot or cold drink. Contains a trace of wormwood, which is also found in absinthe. My personal favourite of the bunch.
- Tropical fruit twist: mango, peach and passionfruit, nicely balanced. The flavour is rounded out with hibiscus, roobios, orange and rosehip, and it’s a great summery drink. I don’t normally like roobios/redbush on its own, but it works very nicely here.
- Lemon blessed green tea: a very subtle hint of lemon is used to enhance the green tea, rather than overpower it. This doesn’t scream citrus at all, but it’s very pleasant indeed.
- Berry burst green tea: there’s a lovely fragrance and a berry colour to the drink. The final flavour is very mild and subtle, maybe a bit too subtle for me perhaps, but it’s a nice green tea.
Overall verdict – some very impressive products in this range so far. They certainly give the established tea brands a run for their money, particularly in the herbal department. Looking forward to trying a few more of them, especially the new Pink Pear and Vanilla, which sounds lovely.
Next up, we have the retro-styled collection of cans of soft drink. These are sold in packs of four, have traditional-style flavours, and are no added sugar. Must confess I’m not a big drinker of fizzy beverage, but they’re nice from time to time in warmer weather.
- Dandelion & burdock: this is a pleasant enough product, and will probably appeal most to people who like traditional flavours and feel nostalgic for the drinks they had as a kid. There’s a note of liquorice in there, and a hint of something slightly bubblegum-ish too.
- Bitter shandy: top marks for making this with a bitter rather than a lager. However, the beer flavour was lost under a lot of acidity which I have to say I really didn’t like.
- Cream soda: easily the pick of the bunch that I tried. This is a refreshing vanilla flavour drink that successfully avoids being sickly sweet. It’s very moreish and I’d happily stock up on it.
There are two other flavours I haven’t tried: ginger beer, and cloudy lemonade.
Have you tried any of the new drinks ranges from Morrisons yet? I’d be interested to hear what other people think of them.
