Review – Drunken Berries Alcoholic Prosecco Mixer

Call me old-fashioned, but I can’t get my head around this crowd-funding malarky for businesses.  Sure, I understand why it is attractive to start-ups, but the willingness of the general public to part with their hard-earned cash to at best earn hugely over-valued equity (and at worst nothing at all), is a complete mystery to me.  Perhaps no surprise then that Tesco, infamous recently for losing its focus on delivering value for customers, is getting in on the act with Tesco BackIt.  One of the first campaigns to launch is by a husband and wife team with their prosecco mixers.  Reviewed here is the raspberry and gin mixer, made with pureed raspberries, caramelised sugar, gin and lemon juice.  It weighs in at 5% ABV.

Nose: Raspberry puree, perhaps a hint of citrus, but certainly no discernible gin.

Neat: More raspberry, ever so slightly earthy in nature which is perhaps a hint of the gin since otherwise it lacks presence.  Unsurprising given the low abv, and bringing into question its purpose.  On the sweet side of perfect, but not sickly so.

Mixing: The obvious choice of course is with Prosecco, and that’s for sure a crowd-pleasing combination.  A dash more lemon juice added to the mix brought out a freshness that was otherwise lacking intensit, and a dash more gin improved things no end.  It works also as a replacement for raspberries in gin-based cocktails such as the Clover Club and Raspberry Collins.  Most enjoyable however was a hearty splash over a wedge of Victoria Sponge cake.

Drunken Berries Raspberry and Gin Prosecco Mixer does what it says on the tin (bottle).  It lacks however the purity of flavour of fresh raspberries, nor the heady booziness of a full-strength liqueur.

Rating: ★★★

★: Terrible, only drink for a dare.
★★: Meh, not undrinkable but best left alone.
★★★: Reasonable, middle of the road.
★★★★: Tasty stuff, well worth seeking out.
★★★★★: Incredible, booze doesn’t get better than this. You need a bottle in your life.