Sparkling J2O Apple and Raspberry (Ocado) By @Cinabar

Fizzy drinks are nothing new for J2O, although you wouldn’t necessarily know that from the packaging. They have sold a large 750ml fizzy Pear and Raspberry drink for quite some time. What is new, however, is the classic Apple and Raspberry flavour now being available in a sparkling version. As someone who rarely drinks alcohol, I do enjoy a J2O, so I was more than happy to pick up a box of these new cans.

I poured a can into a glass and it had a lovely fizz, while still keeping the same deep colour as the regular drink. On first taste, I was impressed by how strong the flavour was. I think I expected it to be a little watered down because of the added fizz, but it still delivers that full-on fruity sweetness, just with bubbles added into the mix.

It being sparkling is a nice touch and, if you already enjoy the regular Apple and Raspberry J2O, you’ll know exactly what flavour to expect here. I think these will make a really refreshing drink over summer, and I can definitely see myself mixing a few sparkling cans in with the usual still versions.

J2O Dragonberry (Morrisons) By @Cinabar

I have to be completely honest. I picked up this multipack of J2O because it was new and I assumed Dragonberry was an actual fruit. Once I got it home and took a closer look, I realised there is no such thing as a Dragonberry. This drink is a blend of dragon fruit and blackberry, which makes a lot more sense now I think about it.

The drink is a lovely pink colour, and the aroma was fruity and appealing. I gave it a sip and found it super refreshing. There was a fresh but sweet flavour from the dragon fruit, with a slight zing at the edge from the blackberry. I really enjoyed the complexity of the taste. It was wonderfully fruity, refreshing, and very easy to drink.

In hindsight, it is just as well I liked it. When I bought these Dragonberry drinks, I not only had no idea what the flavour was meant to be, I also committed to a ten-pack. Luckily, they are so tasty that getting through them will not be a problem.

J2O Mocktails: White Peach and Mango Daiquiri (Asda) By @Cinabar

We have been treated in recent months to the new flavours of J2O drinks. Recently, I’ve written about Strawberry & Orange Blossom and Blackberry & Blueberry, and now we have J2O Mocktails White Peach and Mango Daiquiri. So this is another drink in the mocktail range, with an interesting fruity twist.

I poured the drink out, and the liquid inside was light cream in colour. This is a still drink without any fizz. I took a sip of the drink, and if I had been blind-tasting the drink, I think I would have guessed that it was lychee. The drink has a soft, sweet, and juicy flavour with an edge of tropical fruit. There is peach quite prominently, but the mango adds its sweet taste towards the end of the drink. There is also a slightly bitter hint at the finish, which I think is supposed to be the alcohol element, and I didn’t mind this at all, despite it being a mocktail.

The J2O Mocktails: White Peach and Mango Daiquiridrink was sweet, but not overly so, and very enjoyable. I have really enjoyed trying all the flavours of the new range and would buy more. I am just hoping they become available in multi-packs, as they are a bit more pricey as single cans. Even so, if you are doing dry January, I thoroughly recommend these.

J2O Mocktails: Blackberry & Blueberry Martini (Asda) By @Cinabar

Just to be completely honest, despite watching every single Bond movie, I’ve never had a Martini. Not shaken, not stirred. I might not be the best person to test for authenticity in the flavour of this drink, but I do like a grown-up soft drink, so I bought some of these mocktail cans anyway. This Blackberry & Blueberry Martini is part of the new range from J2O, where they are making mocktails.

I poured the J2O can, and the drink inside is juice-based and not fizzy. I know enough to know Martini isn’t fizzy either! The drink is a rich, dark purple-red colour. The flavour is lovely; it isn’t too sweet, but the dark fruits shine through. I liked that the berry taste had bite, and I thought the sharpness of the blackcurrant was spot on. At the end of the drink, there is a slightly bitter taste. I suspect this was recreating the Martini element, and I thought it gave the drink a nice, mature feel. I’d happily buy these J2O Mocktails: Blackberry & Blueberry Martini drinks again. I will also be looking out for other flavours.

J2O Mocktails - Strawberry & Orange Blossom Mojito (Asda) By @Cinabar

Well, this is a bit of a step change for J2O drinks. We are very used to their wonderful fruit drinks, and J2O Glitterberry is always in my cupboard at this time of year. This is a soft drink in a small can, in the form of a mocktail. There was another variety, but I decided to give this J2O Mocktails Strawberry & Orange Blossom Mojito a try first.

The cans are small; they don’t quite fill a proper glass, but they aren’t too bad. The liquid is fizzy and pink, which I rather liked.

I gave J2O Mocktails - Strawberry & Orange Blossom Mojito  drink a sip and found it to have quite a complex flavour. There is sweetness from the strawberry and a delicate citrus tang from the orange blossom, which then leads to a sharp, zingy acidic lime taste and the herbal mint. I have to say I wasn’t expecting to pick up so many nice flavours. It did feel like a special drink, and maybe not for every day, but this could be perfect for any visitors over the Christmas period who are driving. I’m impressed and really enjoyed it. I will definitely look into what other flavours are available.

Glitter Summer Shine - Pear and Guava J2O (Sainsburys) By @Cinabar

One of the signs that Christmas is on its way is when Glitter Berry J2O arrives in the shops, I always buy some for the Winter season. It seems to arrive every year as a limited edition, and I do actually look forward to it. As a fan of soft drinks I buy quite a few packs of J2Os over the whole year, but this year they have a summer special. Excitingly it also contains edible glitter, I am so not a grown up because this rather excited me. The limited edition is Glitter Summer Shine Pear and Guava J2O. The choice of fruit also seems very different to previous varieties.

I couldn’t see that much glitter when I looked at the bottle, although the drink is a nice yellow colour and the label rather pretty and colourful. Once the drink was in a glass the glitter swirled pleasingly in the juice and the golden drink really did have a summer vibe.

The flavour isn’t as sweet as many of the other J2O drinks, this one has a nice sharpness that made it very refreshing. The guava is the dominant taste, but this melts away to a softer pear flavour. It is the sort of drink that would be perfect on a hot day in the back garden with a barbecue. The slightly tangy flavour will cut perfectly through the heat, and the glitter will sparkle in the sunshine. I do hope this is one of the signs that Spring or Summer are on the way, we had snow last weekend.

Flamingo Fling J2O White Grape and Lychee (House of Fraser) [By @Cinabar]

In a step away from the ordinary the new summer edition J2O juice drink is named Flamingo Fling. The name doesn't give much of a clue to the flavour, but it does give a sense of the fun and fruity taste. As does the fantastically decorated bottle! The bottle is amazing, its colourful and very pretty. Flamingos seem very in at the minute, I’ve seen them on everything from novelty sun glasses to t-shirts.
The actual flavour of the new J2O drink is White Grape and Lychee. You don’t often see Lychee flavour drinks so I was pleased to see something a bit different. I took a sip. The flavour of the drink is sweet and very fresh. The lychee offers a new cooling but creamy sweet hint to the flavour and the white grape gives it a fruity burst, but makes it feel quite grown up. There is almost a hint of something floral about the taste, I assume this is from the whit grape, but it felt almost like it had a splash of rose to the taste.
Its quite a complex flavour, but the unusual combination of fruits works remarkably well. It manages to be very refreshing but also very distinctive. This will be the perfect choice for summer barbecues, now that the sun is shining. Excuse me while I don my flip-flops and flamingo sunglasses.

By Cinabar

J2O Chewy Bon Bons Exotic Fruit Dual Flavour (Pound Land) [By @cinabar]

Since starting this blog I’ve always had my eye open for new J2O flavours, and we’ve written about quite a few varieties over the years. They have always been in drink form though, so these J2O Chewy Bon Bons Exotic Fruit Dual Flavour sweets (long name) are a bit of new thing.
I turned the bag over and found that these sweets are actually made by Monty Bojangles, another brand we have featured before here at Foodstuff Finds. They usually make quite posh confectionary. Theses new sweets are two tones in colour and match J2O mixed flavours, past and present.
Just a thought, because I can’t help myself, these are called “exotic fruit” but the fruit flavours within them are apple (not exotic), raspberry (not exotic), blueberry (not exotic), orange (ok they don’t grown here, but still not my definition of “exotic”) and mango (which I’ll give you). More specifically the sweets are:

Apple and Mango - The apple featured predominantly in the flavour with just a hint of mango. It was pleasant, but not a strong flavour, notably weaker than the drink.

Apple and Blueberry - Not a flavour of J2O I’ve seen for a long while (I think it was discontinued), but perhaps it will make a come back. The flavour of this sweet was much sharper, with a lovely strong blueberry tone, followed by a smooth apple finish.

Apple and Raspberry - This sweet had a nice twist of raspberry, with a hint of apple, nicely fruity, but very different to the drink. It is much lighter in taste.

Orange and Mango - This one was probably the closest to the drink, with the mango being fresh strong and quite full on, with a good citrus blast from the orange. It was definitely my favourite and certainly the most juiciest in the pack.

What I really liked about these sweets was that are firm and chewy, but they are not sticky. You can enjoy biting on them, and they don’t get stuck in your teeth, which I think is the perfect texture for a chewy Bon Bon. The sweets are pleasingly fruity and as the texture is good I enjoyed them far more than I thought I would. However once Spectre got hold of them I never saw them again… so I think it is safe to say I think he gives them a thumbs up!

By Cinabar

New @J2O - Midnight Forest: Orange/Cherry/Chocolate (Sainsburys) [By @Cinabar]

I am a big fan of J2O and will happily lap up any new flavour they bring out for us. I have been loving the Garden Rose that came out for summer and was sad to see it disappear from the supermarket shelves. In its place though is another brand new J2O flavour, and it just sounded amazing.

Midnight Forest is a mix of orange, cherry and chocolate (!), this is the first J2O to contain cocoa as an added non fruity ingredient. I think with the exception of the edible glitter in Glitter Berry, all the main selling points have been the fruity combination of flavour (however the last one was rose).
The name J2O Midnight Forest will possible end up making this the drink of Halloween, with its mystical sounding theme, and its fairy tale like design on the packaging. The name and variety also reminds me of Black Forest Gateaux, which is also a combination of chocolate and cherries albeit without the orange.
Flavour wise the drink does have an orange base flavour, its quite strong and zesty but nicely sweet too. The next taste to hit is the rich sweet cherry taste, which ends with a delicate but pleasing hint of chocolate. I think they have been deliberately subtle with the chocolate flavour, it is a new in drink form and therefore an unusual combination. The cocoa element is there enough to raise the flavour and add its soothing taste, without stopping this being essentially what it should be, a fun but fruity drink.
I bought two packs of four of these bottles, and having now tried them I’m really pleased I did. I’m happy that J2O are bringing out such fun and unusual combinations, and I hope this one gets the status that Glitter Berry has, where fans keenly await its return each year.

By Cinabar

New J2O Peach and Apricot Spritz (Cafe Zest) [By @Cinabar]

We stopped for some lunch out at the Cafe Zest in a branch of House of Fraser. As I scanned the usual suspects of cold drinks I spotted this bottle in the refrigerated area. I picked it up and realised it was another new J2O flavour for Spring!
I recently reviewed the new Rose Garden variety and as J20 flavours don’t come out at that often, this bottle surprised me. It is a new range from J20 called Spritz, and a new innovation to the brand is that it is also fizzy!
The lid hissed a little when it was released, and I poured some out. The bubbles weren’t too heavy and the drink had a light fizziness to it. The flavour wasn’t too sweet, it was far calmer than the still juice based J2Os, mild but refreshing. The fruit taste was gentle, but the peach and apricot had a light honeyed taste that was very easy to drink. It was very refreshing and went perfect with our sandwiches out.
When I got home I had a look on the Ocado website and found that the Spritz range is available on their website, not only that but it is available in large sharing bottles! There are two other flavours too, Apple and Watermelon as well as Pear and Raspberry. The Watermelon one in particular sounds rather adventurous and interesting so that is on my next order!
J2O are really going for the new products this year and I can’t wait to try out the other new Spritz flavours. They are going to be perfect for the warm weather and, I’m hoping I’m not jinxing it, barbecue season.

By Cinabar

New J2O Garden Rose (Ocado @J2O) [By @Cinabar]

I have mixed feelings about rose as a flavouring. I love Turkish Delight, but for some reason as interesting as it sounded as a flavouring for a drink I was left feeling a little unsure about it. Rose can be very overpowering, and a flowery taste in a drink is something that has to be managed well.
I have to admit to having enjoyed all of the J2Os varieties I’ve tried over the years, and they are one of my first choices of drink when I’m out. As excited as I get at Christmas time when Glitter Berry gets its re-release, the idea of an actual new flavour did make me very happy. I am also pleased that they have tried something a bit creative for a new flavour and added something innovative to the area. It is called Garden Rose, but is a mix of apple, raspberry and rose (all of which do indeed grow in our garden).

The bottles come in a multipack of four from Ocado, but I assume it will stocked by the usual selection of restaurant and pubs soon enough. The drink is a pale pink colour, and will probably be known as “the pink one” soon enough. I took a sip and absolutely fell for the flavour. It has a lovely sweet but slightly zingy raspberry taste, the soothing tones of apple and a perfectly pitched floral aftertaste of rose. It is sweet fruity and a clever mix of flavours. The key to it is the balance, and it is balanced to perfection. The rose is delicate and the whole drink is ever so refreshing. This fragrant and summery flavour is going to be a favourite of mine, and the perfect accompaniment for barbecues should the weather ever brighten up!

By Cinabar

J20 – Pear Gold (Waitrose) [By @cinabar]

Ok so I accept I’m shallow, but I like edible glitter. I have loved the previous J20 flavour Glitterberry which was filled with the pretty stuff and seems to get released each year in time for Christmas. When I saw that our new summer J20 flavour was Pear Gold I got my hopes up, thinking that there would be golden sparkly bits in it. I thought it was a play on “Pure Gold”. It was only when I got the multipack home that disappointment set in. I pulled out a bottle and shook it, nothing happened. I read the ingredients and there was no mention of edible gold glitter. I shook the bottle again, just to double check, and sighed.
Trying to get passed the slump I poured it into a tall glass and took a sip. I learnt from my previous perusal of the ingredients that the pear was backed up by a guava taste, perhaps that’s what added the alleged ‘gold’ to the name. The flavour wasn’t as sweet as I expected, and it had quite a bitey sharp edge. It had a hint of pear cider about the flavour, it is more of grown up taste with a lovely refreshing feel to it.
It would be worth getting some of these in if you are having a barbeque and you want something nice for those that don’t drink or are driving. The sharpness of the flavour means that it is perfect to cool you down, even if there isn’t the edible glitter to sparkle in the sunshine.

By Cinabar

J2O – [New] Papaya Punch (Cosmo) [By @Cinabar]

I have to confess to being a bit of a J2O fan. I like to have a soft drink when I’m out for a meal, as wine really does nothing for me. It won’t shock you to discover I have a bit of a sweet tooth. J2O have given me an extra option on the menu, and I love working my way through their mix of flavours. At Christmas time I couldn’t get enough of the Glitterberry drink, the edible glitter within it just made smile and feel bizarrely glamorous! :-D I knew that it was a seasonal special and supplies have been running out recently, so I have been keeping my eyes open to see what would be replacing it.
At a recent meal at Cosmo (an amazing chain buffet restaurant) I discovered that the new variety for the season is this Papaya Punch, and obviously that’s what I chose. The bottle is rather pretty, and even has a neat floral pattern all over it. It looks bright and it wouldn’t look out of place at a summer barbecue, if the weather ever turns. It makes me think that this new J2O will be with us for quite a while, because the flowers all over the label just scream hot weather. Sadly it doesn’t contain any edible glitter, but it does have a good mix of papaya, peach and orange instead!
The base flavour is actually more peach than papaya, but it still has a good tropical edge. The papaya does show through, but is more of the finish flavour and hits with a hint of orange at the end of each sip. This new J2O is very smooth, and easy to drink. I think the addition of the peach just adds a lovely mellow taste, and the juice is silky smooth but still quite sweet. If you are not careful you could easily find yourself supping the whole thing down rather quickly, and you have to remind yourself to savour it and enjoy the refreshing fruity taste.
I was sad to see Glitterberry disappear off the shelves, but I have to say I am loving the new Papaya Punch. It contains a good mix of fruits, and the use of papaya makes it a bit different and special. It’s another refreshing and well balanced fruity mix from J2O that won’t disappoint.

By Cinabar

Glitter Berry J20 (Sainsbury’s) [By @ Cinabar]

I was first alerted to this drink by NLi10 after Ms NLi10 found it at a bowling alley. I was browsing the J20s while compiling an online Sainsbury’s order and finally found it listed, so popped it in my basket with just a touch of excitement!
There are always plenty of J20 flavours on sale at any one time, and if I’m totally honest I do lose track of the varieties available. I have never had a bad J20 and do like to try the interesting fruit combinations, but often fall into the standard orange and passion fruit trap i.e. I forget to specify which variety in the pub and get given the most common one.
The new Glitter Berry J20 is a bit special and you may notice doesn’t even contain the fruit names in its title. I can confirm the ingredients are cherry and red grape, with a hint of seasonal spice. The drink is a lovely rich dark red colour, and it is also full of edible gold glitter! The bottle says that you should ‘shake to shimmer’ before serving, and mine did need a bit of a wakeup call as a lot of the glitter had settled in the base.


I think we all know by now I love things that are a bit different, and things that sparkle, so I was so excited to see this drink it was untrue! Does gold glitter actually add anything to the flavour? No. Is this a novelty? Yes. If you shake that bottle and watch the drink sparkle, is it ace? Hell yes!
The glitter is wonderfully glamorous and ridiculously Christmassy (think red drink gold glitter). It is such a clever idea and is a proper innovation in the market, adding something a bit special in the adult soft drink range.
I also love the rich fruity taste that Britvic always puts together so well. The cherry flavour is slightly tart, and the red grape giving it a nice mature edge in the flavour but still keeping a pleasant sweetness throughout the drink. There was hint of warm spices that added to the festive feel too making it the perfect drink for the season. Sadly it is only a Limited Edition, but it’s going to be my J20 of choice from now on!!!

By Cinabar