Innocent orange juice

When I was contacted recently by Innocent to see if I'd like to try out their new orange juice, I was really excited. I absolutely love their smoothies and, more importantly, so do the kids, so it's a great way of getting some of their five-a-day into them in a simple and tasty way. I've yet to try their veg pots but they sound really tasty and convenient too. But what would their juice be like ?

I gaily trotted off to the shops with my vouchers to see what their orange juice looks like. There are actually three different kinds of juice - smooth orange juice, orange juice with bits and apple juice. Feeling flush (and above all armed with vouchers !), I decided to try all three.

I love freshly squeezed orange juice, especially when you buy it fresh from the big juicing machines in summer that crush whole oranges. Definitely orange juice with bits for me then. As they explain on the Innocent website : "If you like your juice to be as tasty as can be, you're in the right place. This is the one for those who like to savour every bit of the fruit. Obviously, we have removed the skin, but you'll find the juice and the tasty fleshy bits all present and correct." It really does taste like homemade, freshly squeezed orange juice. Definitely a premium juice. I was really impressed.

The kids wanted to get in on the testing and sampled the smooth orange juice because they don't like juice with bits in it. Again, it tastes lovely and fresh (although without the bits in it, it doesn't seem quite as natural and authentic to me). The juice is not concentrated, not sweetened and each 900ml carafe contains 11 hand-picked juicy oranges (or 17 in the family-sized 1.35 litre carafe).

The apple juice went down well with everyone, kids and adults alike, and reminded me of the cloudy organic apple juice we occasionally buy from the local farmers' market as a special treat. Innocent put the juice of eight apples into each 900ml carafe and very little else - just some ascorbic acid, which is vitamin C, which works as an antioxidant to stop the apples going brown. I think we can forgive them that ! Like the orange juice, the apple juice is unsweetened and not concentrated. Just the way nature intended. (That sounds like an advertising slogan !)

Innocent also give away 10% of their profits to people in need, via the Innocent Foundation. And if you love a good competition, you need to head over to the magic tree that I blogged about here - everyone's a winner and you might win some lovely Innocent juice or even a huge cash prize. Good luck !

It's more expensive than cheapie juice made from concentrate but, given the premium quality, I actually thought it would be more expensive than it is. Especially as it's currently on offer at Sainsbury's so you can snap up two carafes for £3.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £1.99 for 900ml

for more information : http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/things_we_make/orange_juice/

Other reviews you may be interested in :

Sweetbird Fruit Smoothies

AOk Red Grape & Cherry Juice

Jala Super Juice Pomegranate Drinks

Copella Wedges