Smirnoff Cider with Raspberry & Pomegranate (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

I was talking to some guys in the changing room this morning at the gym. Don't worry… we were all fully clothed (if not a little sweaty from our various workouts). We were talking about weight loss and how many calories there are in beer and cider. We all agreed we still like a drink now and then. Let's face it, it would kill my Saturday night blogs if I didn't. Besides everything in moderation, especially if you workout beforehand and are still burning calories hours later from various one minute burnout exercises when you pop the bottle open.

The one guy said that his friend's son-in-law was 39 stone and drank two bottles of vodka a day! I don't know which will get him first; the heart attack or liver failure. The last time I drank vodka was in my late teens. I decided in one of my less brighter moments that to get drunk really fast I would neck a bottle of Smirnoff. It was a 350ml bottle and went down slower than it came back up later on that night, I can tell you! I haven't touched the stuff since. Not through fear or anything, just because I'm more of a rum or whisky type of guy. I generally have them to spruce up a glass of lemonade these days. Besides beer is always my first love where booze is concerned.

This deep pink coloured Smirnoff Cider with Raspberry & Pomegranate fruit flavours seems like a good compromise from the almost tasteless distilled shots. It's lightly carbonated, served in a 500ml bottle and at 4% volume I won't see my last meal again. It smells mainly of a strong mixture of raspberry and pomegranate, which isn't surprising considering the colour. Scarily though it smells like something healthy you may drink with your breakfast (hair of the dog?), rather than giggling with friends on a night out. There is a hint of cider apple in the taste though, which is predominately fruity raspberry and pomegranate. There is a hint of something stronger in there too. That unmistakable hint that someone added a shot to your drink, trying to trip you up, when you are off dancing with the women they're sweet on at the same time… Ah, the good ole' nightclub days…