bottlegreen Squeezy Squash

I've reviewed bottlegreen drinks in the past, both the sparkling apple & elderflower Party drink and their range of still cordials and Shloer-like sparkling drinks, and they all earned a well-deserved 5/5. I found all bottlegreen drinks to be deliciously different, luxurious, high-end drinks definitely targeted at discerning adults, so I was surprised and intrigued to hear that they were branching out into the kid-friendly fruit squash market.

I was sent three bottles of the new squeezy squash range to test out and, having been used to bottlegreen's surprisingly different flavours in their other ranges, was slightly disappointed to see the usual, boring, classic kids' squash flavours of orange, apple and blackcurrant & apple - nothing as exotic and different as the elderflower cordials I had tried and loved in the past. Nevertheless, I called 8-year-old Sophie to come and do the honours and she carefully prepared three glasses of squash, one of each flavour, for us to try. The girls both loved it, declaring it tastier than their usual orange squash, and I was pleasantly surprised too when I sampled it because it doesn't taste like normal squash, it actually tastes like real fruit drink. You don't get any of the artificial slightly bitter aftertaste or excessive sweetness that you do with many other supermarket brands. Whereas I never usually like orange squash, I'd be quite happy to drink this all summer long because it's refreshing and natural-tasting.

The packaging is brilliant. If you have young kids who can't read, you need to tell them what it is because the girls thought the bottles looked more like they should contain tomato ketchup, jam or ice cream sauce than squash ! Sophie managed to squeeze out just the right amount with absolutely no mess and I even let 5-year-old Juliette have a go at making her own drink, which is a total first - I'd never let her loose with a big bottle of squash normally because she'd almost definitely pour it all over the place or knock the bottle over ! The no-drip valve really works and keeps things totally mess-free, although if your little one gets a bit over-enthusiastic and squirts out too much into the glass, you will have a job getting it back in the bottle !

All three flavours taste more subtle and refined than the usual supermarket-bought fruit squashes but they seem to appeal equally to adults and children. They are all delicious diluted with cold water but are also fantastic when used with a Sodastream machine (or diluted with sparkling water) or even frozen in lolly moulds as summertime treats for the kids. They contain no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners and contain almost half the sugar of fruit juice so they're a reasonably healthy option. If you are looking for a delicious occasional treat and don't mind the extra sugar once in a while, they also make fantastically delicious drinks when topped off with lemonade and ice cubes (which is what they call a "diabolo" in France). Because the bottlegreen squash is thicker than usual squash, the girls have also asked if they can try dripping it on their ice cream like syrup ! - I suppose it might work with the apple & blackcurrant variety ! It's triple concentrated so one small bottle makes 22 glasses, but takes up much less space in the fridge or cupboard and is much easier to transport home from the shops. That also represents a reduction in packaging and household waste so is better for the environment.

I wasn't sure bottlegreen would pull it off and I was even concerned that by catering for kids, their extremely high-quality products would be "dumbed down" and would lose in quality, but they've done it again - it's another straight 5/5 for bottlegreen squeezy squashes !

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £1.79 for 430ml