Here is a flavoured ginger ale from Fever Tree with added sugar. I may have mentioned in the past that there is a difference between ginger beer and ginger ale. Whereas ginger beer is brewed and fermented and usually has a strong ginger bite to it, ginger ale is carbonated water flavoured with ginger. This Fever Tree Spiced Orange Ginger Ale is not only flavoured with ginger, but it is also flavoured with sweet clementines and spicy cinnamon.
So my first concern is the carbonated water. I just don't like it. It doesn't taste of anything. It makes me burp and it's not even lemonade. I do like lemonade. Well, who doesn't? I like a good ginger beer with a good bite to it. I know Cinabar was looking for alternatives at the time because of a shortage of ginger beer in the shops, I just wish ginger ale hadn't become a part of those alternatives. I do like clementines, so that's a plus, but I really don't like cinnamon. I just reckon the cinnamon is going to take over the whole drink. I'm just going to end up burping cinnamon throughout my bedtime here. I can see it coming off... So as you can see, this Fever Tree Spiced Orange Ginger Ale has quite a bit going against it.
On opening the 500ml bottle, which incidentally has 18 calories per 100ml, so it's like drinking a small chocolate bar but without the fun, there was a spicy cinnamon and orange smell with a slight hint of ginger. The angry bubbles from the carbonated water assaulted my nostrils at that point and I had to pull away.
The drink itself definitely has bite, it just wasn't of ginger. The cinnamon took over everything. This Fever Tree Spiced Orange Ginger Ale was definitely the most fiery ginger ale I've ever drunk. However the fire came from the cinnamon. The clementines tried their best to calm the cinnamon down, but the cinnamon was just having none of it. The cinnamon burnt through whatever ginger was present and pretty much burnt through the bottom of my pint glass. I could feel the cinnamon setting aflame to my throat as it went down.
Oddly moreish in a deranged masochistic way, I did drink the whole pint. I won't go as far as to say that I liked this Fever Tree Spiced Orange Ginger Ale. Oh no... Cinabar might go and buy me another. I would say that it was the fiercest ginger ale I've ever drank, even if there wasn't much ginger. I would say that it was the tastiest ginger ale I've ever drunk, because the clementines were rather nice mixed in with the battling spices. I would say that I had a rather spicy burping contest afterwards against no one in particular. I would say that if I was bought another one of these Fever Tree Spiced Orange Ginger Ales, just... just as an alternative mind, I would drink that one down too. I just wouldn't say that I liked that one either, or any others that came after that!