Firefly Tonics - Britannia

Last year, I reviewed the whole range of Firefly Tonics, "natural energy" drinks that blend fruit juices with some surprisingly different ingredients to give you some natural oomph while titillating your taste buds (a review that you can see here ).

Well, I was over the moon a couple of weeks ago when a bottle of their latest offering plopped on the doormat, especially when I ripped open the packaging and saw the Union Jack-emblazoned label for the new variety Britannia. It's so gorgeous, I've already decided I'm going to keep it on the shelf once it's empty !

A little bit of ferreting around online has actually revealed that Firefly can take no credit whatsoever for this little stroke of patriotic genius ! It was all designed by Holly Siddons who won the competition they posted on facebook to come up with a new concept, which was admittedlya stroke of genius in itself, especially as - they explain - "It's about time we created a new Firefly but we (ahem) "lost" our development team in a moment of credit crunch madness. So we're shamelessly leaping on the reality TV bandwagon and asking YOU to create our next drink. Yup, the name, the flavour, the colour, the photo : everything, really, except the herbs (herbalists' unions: don't mess)."

Well, she certainly came up with a cracker of a concept that really appeals to the Britishness within me. As they say on the back of the bottle, "Get your Britishness back with this traditional mix of Bramley apples, raspberries and blackcurrants, infused with revitalising guarana, yerba maté and ginger. You'll be singing Jerusalem before you know it ... No refined sugars, no taurine, no funny stuff at all actually. Just a great natural way to feel re-energised." Well, I think somebody at Firefly has been drinking one too many of their delicious tonics because although it says blackCURRANTS on the back of the bottle, it says blackBERRY on the front !

But whatever it contains, it tastes absolutely delicious. It's sweet but not at all sickly with a slight tartness that offsets the sweetness so it's really refreshing - an absolutely perfect drink for quenching your thirst on a hot summer's day. As with all the other varieties, it tastes natural and fresh (the lingering aftertaste reminds me of the freshly-made, cloudy apple juice you can buy from farmers' markets). Somehow, it's a taste reminiscent of childhood too - and it also has that little kick that makes you feel alert without sending you on a hyperactive jig around the room.

It's patriotic perfection in a bottle !

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £1.30 for 330ml