Don’t do it!
It might be January, the month of going alcohol-free, vegan, giving up the fags and joining the gym to become a perfect new you, but there are some things in life that simply aren’t worth it.
Although I don’t smoke and the garden’s my gym – plus I walk a fair old bit – giving up my ‘blue’ fillet steak and doing ‘Dry January’ are things that I just resolutely refuse to embrace. To be fair, though, if I’m driving I very rarely drink any alcohol. So, going for a Sunday roast at a pub up the road recently, I didn’t fancy my usual coke and opted for a low alcohol G&T to compliment my roast lamb instead.
The ‘ultra low alcohol’ Gordon’s G&T flavoured drink seemed fine at first, the hint of lime in the concoction quite refreshing. But, as the ice melted, the liquid lost its tenuous connection to any gin I’d ever tried – I struggled to convince my taste buds that I must surely be drinking something that had been carefully developed by its maker, lovingly crafted and sampled, before being launched as an acceptable alternative by one of the nation’s favourite brands – Gordon’s. Surely they’d test marketed before inflicting this lack-lustre premix on us innocents.
Once the ice had watered the stuff down, it was like drinking lime cordial, which I actually quite like – but I hadn’t ordered lime cordial. So why could I not finish my attractive looking alternative to the real cocktail? Had it been a lime cordial drink, I’d have enjoyed it as the taste buds would’ve been prepared for what it was; so I think it was disappointment. Therefore my advice is this: don’t do it! Have a lime cordial for, probably, half the price.
With less than 0.5% ABV and 68 calories per serve, Gordon’s low alcohol alternatives are ready-to-drink in two flavours: with a hint of lime or grapefruit. Although I haven’t tried the latter, Ultra Low Grapefruit actually won Gold at The Grocer Drink awards 2018 in the low alcohol category. However, my next Gordon’s will be a double and tonic of the real thing. And the gym? Well, there’s always next year …..
