Last week I was sent some sample bottles of Sobriety’s alcohol-free drinks by the Sensible Drinks co. Supposedly created for people who like the taste of alcohol but dislike the hangover, or those attempting to reduce their alcohol intake by replacing it with a placebo, the concept behind these beverages is very logical. The two original flavours are Juniper & Tonic and Rosé inspired drinks, so I’ll give a comprehensive review of these. With a few of my housemates, I tested these drinks and so this review is based on both their and my opinions.
Juniper & Tonic
Smell: I would basically advise you not to smell this drink. Bleach, cleaning fluid and chemicals were all words that flew around the room as we smelt it. Perhaps it’s the ingredients in the drink that lend to the unpleasant smell but whatever it is, it isn’t good.
Aesthetic: For this drink, the glass bottle shape is good. It’s easy to get away with believing this could potentially be an alcoholic mixer.
Taste: Unfortunately, the taste was dreadful. I felt slightly sick after trying the bizarre flavour which tasted very, very different from a gin and tonic. Some of the most descriptive comments that came out were ‘this tastes like medicine, but bad medicine’, ‘I would drink this if I were paid to’ and ‘ew’. Sadly, as much as I appreciate the idea, this drink needs tweaking.
Rosé
Smell: This smelt very sweet, almost like a strawberry sugar drink. It wasn’t as unpleasant as the Juniper & Tonic drink but it still wasn’t as appealing as I feel it could have been.
Aesthetic: In the same bottle as the Juniper & Tonic, it seemed like the wrong look for a fake wine drink. I think if I was trying to use these drinks as a means to get over alcoholism or a similar problem the look of the Rosé beverage would be severely disappointing. Part of what I would expect from the concept of these drinks is looking the part and unfortunately, this drink looked wrong.
Taste: Though better than the Juniper & Tonic drink, we still couldn’t get on board with this drink. It was too sickly, synthetic and sweet. It wasn’t drinkable, nice or realistic so overall it was severely disappointing.
Overall, these drinks were disappointing. The concept is a good one but the taste is so far from being realistic or drinkable. The fact that none of my friends, who are all poor university students consuming cheap drinks all the time, wouldn’t drink these speaks volumes. I appreciate the idea but the product is far from being decent enough to be used as an alcohol substitute.
The Girl In The Window 