Mixologist’s Garden Review
DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.
Reviewed by Dottie Rood
Mixologist’s Garden arrived in a substantial package that when opened revealed a ‘cube’ of plastic coated cardboard with a barman ‘mixing’ drinks in different colours, purple on one side (blushing blueberries to perfect your drink), yellow on another side(zingy lemons to perfect your drink), pink on another side(exquisite raspberries to perfect your drink) and orange that had a picture of all the sachets on offer, ‘TRY THE FULL RANGE’, visit perfectyourserve.com for your perfect garnish on the final side. The top was in red (again with the barman mixing a drink) and three glasses with enticing drinks in and the garnishes, lemon, blueberries and raspberries, inside the glasses, all very eye catching. When you open the box (which was very light) there were 6 sachets containing, zingy lemons, blushing blueberries, exquisite raspberries x 2, sweet strawberries and zesty limes. Not actual fruit but freeze-dried fruit (hence why the box was so light!).
Mixologist’s Garden came about in lockdown when Stuart Findlater and Marcel Kotowski were experimenting, remotely, with a freeze-dried strawberry snack. In the process of all their experimentation they noticed how well the product rehydrated in liquid and so Mixologist’s Garden was born. Stuart Findlater (business director of Mixologist’s Garden) said, “In our research 80% of consumers said they would garnish drinks at home if an easy solution was available, but they didn’t want the hassle of buying, preparing and possible wasting fresh fruit”.
Sustainability Matters:
Mixologist’s Garden comes in ready to serve resealable packs and are stored and transported at an ambient temperature, they are long life which results in zero waste.
The freeze-dried fruit is 90% lighter than fresh fruit therefore saving huge volumes of weight when being transported so reducing fuel costs and emissions.
The fruit is hand-picked in season and doesn’t require any additional resources for growing as it is naturally sun ripened. Each pouch has 100% natural fruit that is sourced from leading growers, primarily from Europe. The fruit is initially quick frozen and kept at -40’c which captures the shape, flavour, colour, quality and vitamin content. Moisture is then removed in a process known as sublimation using an atmosphere-controlled vacuum at low temperature. The fruits are designed to elevate every drink experience from mocktails to spirits with cocktails, fizzy drinks, sparkling wine and more in-between.
Mixology Garden claims, NO ADDITIVES, NO NASTIES and NO SURPRISES. They are bursting with flavour, colour and aroma. So now for the results of the taste test!
I put them in lemonade first to see if they changed the colour and flavour of it. The strawberries were actually quite nice to eat and tasted and smelt like strawberries (always a good sign) so I wasn’t surprised when they gave the drink a slight pink hue and strawberry flavour (subtle but definitely there), really nice. Next I tried the blueberries, again quite nice to eat (very crunchy), the smell was ok and again a nice ‘bluish’ hue but I didn’t like their texture when hydrated in the drink. The raspberries were next, crunchy and sharp to eat but a definite raspberry flavour, smell and a stronger pinkish hue this time when put into the drink. The lemon and lime slices hydrated the quickest (and the best!), they both smelt like the fruit they are and added a lovely flavour to the drink.
Onto alcoholic drinks: my daughter-in-law tried the blueberries, raspberries and strawberries in her gin and tonic and said, “It was really nice. Slightly flavoured the drink and made it more aesthetically pleasing!!!”. My husband put lemon and lime in his ‘neat’ rum, “mmmm that’s lovely, very lemony”. I then added the fruit (one at a time!) to my drinks (very small ones!) to see what happened and the results were similar to the lemonade experiment.
In conclusion I would say these are handy to keep in the cupboard (as mentioned they are very long lasting) especially for parties as they are quick and easy to use. They are light to carry with absolutely no waste and at £2.75 per 10g packet they are not bad on value for money. As for the flavours, they were all enjoyable and enhanced the drinks however I didn’t like the blueberries as they were too ‘rubbery’ (they looked nice though and were really nice as a snack!).
Rating: 4/5
RRP: £2.75
This product can be purchased from: Asda stores nationwide and Co-op in East of England stores.
Information and buying link: www.mixologistsgarden.com