I don’t drink very much fizzy pop, but when I do it’s typically lemonade. Mostly because it goes very well with gin.
And I’ve always picked up Schweppes, seeing as it’s a trusted brand that’s been around for nearly two centuries.
But could a supermarket alternative of the sweet and zingy carbonated drink beat the brand on price, flavour and quality?
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I visited six different supermarkets and bought a bottle of their own brand lemonade and discovered its more difficult to find a quality one than you’d think.
Some are too sweet, others not sweet enough, some tart and others taste closer to tonic or soda water.
But there was one brand that was nearly as close to Schweppes as the real thing, in more ways than one.
Here’s what I found when I pitted six supermarket lemonades against the big name brand.
Schweppes
Firstly, I had to remind myself of the lemony flavour of Schweppes. It was very fizzy with a bubbly mouthfeel, and felt like a very premium beverage. I suppose you’d hope so seeing as it retails in excess of £1 in most supermarkets.
And hopefully I would be able to uncover a lemonade similar for a snip of the cost, and ditch my brand loyalty in the name of saving pennies.
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M&S
One litre of M&S lemonade will set you back 65p. I was unable to find a two litre bottle in store or online, so I assume I’d have to buy two bottles at a cost of £1.30 if I was looking for a large bottle.
The M&S lemonade is ‘made with lemon juice’, with the ingredients revealing it’s 1 per cent lemon juice from concentrate.
It felt quite astringent in the mouth, and drying like you can find with some wines. To me it tasted more like tonic water than a lemonade - though some people might prefer that for a G&T.
For me, I was looking for something a little sweeter, though.
Sainsbury’s
Two litres of lemonade by Sainsbury’s costs just 40p, and offers a sweet and tangy lemon flavoured drink.
There is 8.8g of sugar per serving, and it is one of those lemonades that make you pucker your lips a touch.
However, there’s no real lemon juice included, so it certainly loses points for that.
Morrisons
Also priced at 40p a bottle, Morrisons’ lemonade opened with such force that it scared my dog.
It was very lively upon pouring, but soon lost its excitement after sitting in the glass for about 60 seconds.
It had a rather soft and balanced flavour, but wasn’t my favourite in the list. One shopper did dub it as ‘as good as Schweppes’, but I can’t say I agree with them.
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Asda
Much like Morrisons’, Asda’s lemonade contains 5.3g of sugar per serving, and had a rather dramatic fizz on breaking the seal.
Thankfully though, none of the fizzy drinks erupted over my living room rug, meaning they all get a bonus point for that.
Asda’s 40p lemonade felt quite aerated, with big fizzy bubbles in the mouth. But for me the flavour tasted quite artificial and synthetic.
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Tesco
Tesco’s lemonade scanned through at 40p, which seems to be the average cost of supermarket own brand lemonade.
The retailer's bottle was well filled with a fun pinstripe label which reminded me of a pick n mix.
Speaking of sweets, it did taste quite sherbetty, but there wasn’t much going on in terms of fizz. The aftertaste was a little soda-like, so not my favourite of the bunch, but was inoffensive and would be refreshing on a hot summer’s day.
Aldi
Even looking at Aldi’s Vive lemonade - which is made with 2 per cent lemon juice, so more than M&S - you can see where they got their packaging inspiration from. It certainly wasn’t R. Whites.
It opened with a pop and made a satisfying fizz as it entered the glass. It smelled very fresh and there was a definite lemon scent, but not so much that it smelled of cheap cleaning products.
In terms of taste it was a nice balance of tart, sweet but also soft and rounded. Enough to make your cheeks go tight just the right amount.
It comes in the cheapest at 32p, meaning shoppers can save around 75 per cent on the cost, and I think this is the drink that tastes most similar to Schweppes.
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