11 October 2011

Five Valleys Cordials – Apricot & Ginger (Waitrose) [By @Cinabar]


It is always nice to find a new product on the shelves, and this one is clearly aimed at the more autumnal season. This cordial is made with both Apricot and Ginger to balance some sweetness and some warmth for a new grown up soft drink.
The drink consists of a pale clear syrup, that does smell quite sugary. It mixes up at a 10 to 1 ratio, which means the bottle is going to last quite a while. Unlike most cordials once you have opened this bottle you have to refrigerate it, which I liked because it justified this by stating that it didn’t have any artificial preservatives in it.
Once mixed up the drink looks practically clear. The flavour is well put together and the apricot isn’t at all over sweet, and actually maintains a nice balanced fruit flavour. It taste very natural, and has a good depth of flavour without being syrupy. After the apricot taste has disappeared from the palette, the ginger kicks in. It is a good fiery flavour, with lots of spice and edge. If you like your ginger beer then you will really like this drink, and its got a wonderful heat. I felt that the ginger went well with the apricot, despite the fact that it isn’t two flavours I would have thought of pairing together. The fruit balances the spice, and the drink is really rather comforting, particularly as the leaves have started falling off the trees.
It comes into its own a as a hot drink, particularly now the evenings are getting darker and cooler. It has a warm soothing kick to it, which helps banish the unfriendly weather. A lovely alternative to the usual orange of black currant cordials and it is really nice to see an innovative new flavour.
By Cinabar

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