Food

Tropical Vibes Drinks Review

THESE ITEMS WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER'S OWN.

Reviewed by Amy Whitehead

With Summer already coming to a close, I wanted to keep that Summer vibe alive as with not having any holidays planned at the moment, I needed a pick me up. Along came Tropical Vibes Drinks, with their bright funky colours and flavours, I was excited to try and ignore the rainy day that was looming and be whisked off to a warmer climate on a beach somewhere.

The drinks arrived all rolled up individually in recyclable cardboard packaging, the new eco-friendly netting type bubble wrap that is just as effective but friendly to the environment. They were laying on another bed of cardboard netting and extra protection on the top, all in a recycled box tightly taped together. Really secure and it’s great for a company to use existing packaging from other things again and again when they send out their products. All the drinks arrived in perfect condition. If anything there was maybe too much packaging, but you can never be too careful as the drinks are all in glass bottles. I was really pleased with the time and care taken to make sure they got to me in one piece.

Tropical Vibes drinks are supplied by British company JRP Foods, based in Mayfair in London. All their information is on the labels if you did want to get in touch with them. On their website which is bright, fun and super easy to navigate, they list all their yummy drinks that they produce. They have just released 3 sour flavours this year in May 2021, including Kawaii Kiwi, Crazy Cola and Sour Cherry. Sour Cherry I was lucky enough to have included in my drinks package and will talk about in a moment.

They also have all the original flavours available: Cocolada, Pineapple and Coconut, Mango and Carrot, Exotic Fruits, Sorrel and Ginger, Fruit Punch, Soursop, Pineapple and Ginger and lastly Guava and Lychee. Plus their range of zingy lemonades: Grape Glow Lemonade, Sassy Strawberry, Paradise Punch, Triple Melon and Ocean Blue, some of which I will talk about in a moment also. In total 18 flavours! Plus 2 flavours available in a 1 litre carton, Fruit Punch and Mango and Carrot, for your extra fix of tropical goodness.

On each bottle is a bright and colourful label, each with their own picture of whats inside and in store for your taste buds, aswell as the clear Tropical Vibes printed across so they’re easy to identify when you’re next in a rush and need a quick summer fix. Then what’s really nice, on each bottle is a little description of whats inside. Not a boring drab synopsis that you’re probably used to, but for example “Ride the wave with Ocean Blue. Sweet with a citrusy twist, refresh yourself like a BOSS”. A nice touch, and my 9 year old niece thought that was pretty cool and couldn’t wait to try it, which in turns makes me pretty cool to her for letting her have a taste! Then all the usual ingredients list and nutritional information, as well as instruction on how best to enjoy your bottled up portion of summer. Best served chilled, store in a cool, dry place and shake well before use. As soon as I unravelled them from their cardboard protectors, they were straight in the fridge ready to try in a couple of hours or so.

I took the first flavour out, the Ocean Blue lemonade. Bright blue in colour it’s hard to miss. I did think on appearance I was going to be bouncing around my living room after drinking or at least be left with a blue tongue but I was left pleasantly surprised. I gave it good shake for about 10 seconds and unscrewed the lid. Being a fizzy lemonade I was also worried about it exploding upon opening all over me and anything around me but there was no spillage at all, perfect. It smelt very lemony and I gave it a swig. Super zingy and sweet but not too sweet as you would imagine. Just the right amount of sweetness. It was more lemony than blueberry which isn’t a bad thing. It states on the bottle it contains real lemon bits and these were all mixed in well with my shake at the beginning, so no bits if lemon getting stuck in your teeth. Any pulp at the bottom of the bottle that was present when I took it from the fridge had dissipated and mixed thoroughly. The 300ml bottle contains 33g of sugar which is more than your daily recommended amount but it didn’t taste sickly sweet at all. If they could make it in a low sugar format that would be great though and make me feel less guilty when I get on the scales at a later date. Despite that, it tasted of summer. Really refreshing, easy to drink and the portion size was just enough for a quick hydration. The date on the bottle for best before was 30.7.2022 which is a great shelf life, not that it would last that long in my house!

I also had 2 others from the lemonade range included in the package, triple melon and paradise punch.

The melon was a melon overload, in a good way. If you like melon, this is the flavour you need in your life. It was like eating a whole melon but without all the effort and mess. It had that citrusy zing you’d expect from lemonade too and it promises to put some ‘Pep in yo’ step’. I loved it.

Paradise Punch was very fruity and I could taste most of the fruits included, especially the mango and orange. Again, a little bottle of sunshine.

Then onto the Guava and Lychee, one of the Original flavours. A pleasant pink colour but I have to say was my least favourite but only because I’m not a huge fan of lychee. It tasted sweet but not too sweet as before and very much lychee, so true to its description! Then you get a guava after taste so overall a nice refreshing drink on a sunny day.

Fruit Punch was full of fruity favour and didn’t disappoint. I could drink gallons of this stuff and not get bored. It’s just a great alternative to fizzy soda drinks or cordial. The flavourings in all the drinks are mostly from concentrate but they don’t taste like they are. They don’t feel heavy or too much for you.

I had 2 bottles left, the yellow Pineapple and Coconut and one from the new Sours range, the dark cherry red coloured Cheeky Cherry which looked right up my street.

I opened the Pineapple and Coconut first and the smell immediately took me back to a time I was sat on a beach in Thailand drinking a Pina Colada or three. This gave me a great idea to make some at home and see if this Tropical Vibes bottle of wonder worked as a mixer. A dash of white rum in a glass later and I added the Tropical Vibes and gave it a stir. Amazing! Just like a Pina Colada, except I wasn’t in Thailand…but if I closed my eyes I could have been! Turns out they are not just fantastic for drinking on their own which of course they are great at, but they can be used as a yummy cocktail mixer if you would like.

My final bottle was the Cheeky Cherry. On the logo it had the cherry fizzy sweets that are my favourite out of the bag so I was looking forward to it. Unscrewed the bottle and an immediate hit of cherry filled my senses. It tasted exactly like the sweets. It was like they had melted down a few hundred of them and managed to liquidize them just for my enjoyment. Truly delicious. I will definitely be buying this one next time I see them on my weekly shop.

When I’ve finished with each bottle, it’s a quick wash and into the recycling bin. I love that they come in glass bottles rather than plastic and can be recycled so easily. I think it also makes the drinks taste better in glass and it chills faster in the fridge, so there’s less time to wait to drink them once you get home!

Tropical vibes are available to buy in Asda, Morrisons and Amazon and in addition there are a few other local shops and websites you can purchase them from, especially if you’re buying in bulk which is a good idea to do as they are so moreish. They are a fair price of the happiness you get from them and I do recommend you give them a go. They are small enough to fit in your handbag and great for picnics, summer BBQs and cocktail parties, just add the spirit of your choice!

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £1 each

These products can be purchased from Asda, Morrisons and Amazon. For more information please see here.
 

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