Drinks with no sweeteners

[fluffymuggle]

Posting for traffic. Since the sugar tax it’s been hard to find drinks without sweeteners. All my favourites are ruined. Winter won’t be the same without a hot Ribena! Anyone know of anything I can buy? Struggling with HG and can’t keep water down but can keep other things down.

I totally appreciate not everyone has time for this, particularly if you're suffering with GD, but homemade fruit syrups are really easy to make.
Simmer any fruit you like with sugar and then strain into sterilised bottles. The nice thing about this is that you know exactly what goes into it and you can put in any flavours you like. Drink with water or other mixers (tonic, soda water). Also delish on pancakes.

Off the top of my head - Innocent Bubbles, S. Pellegrino Essenza, Appletizer, Aqua Libra, Belvoir.

Shloer might still be ok?

Thanks for this thread. I was only aware of Waitrose squash so I'm pleased other supermarkets are catching on to this now.

I think Shloer and San Pellegrino have been contaminated too. Robinsons has been off for years. Vimto was ruined several years ago too. Rio has a full sugar version for something fizzy that is not Coke/ Pepsi.

Rocks, Bottle Green, Belvoir. Some own brand high-juices. Morrisons is a no... I wondered why it suddenly tasted like soap 18m ago and sure enough it had been stealth dietised

I'm not on a diet. I don't need to be put on a diet. Sweetners taste rank, then there's hours of sickly sweet aftertaste or unquenchable thirst. Also the aspartame headache if it's that rather than the soapy Stevia. I'm a big girl and am capable of responsible choices. If I want sugar-free, I know where my cold tap is. I resent the removal of choice to inferior products that I don't need, don't like and don't agree with (physically and intellectually!) Paying the sugar tax is OK, but it's a double whammy being pushed on to considerably more expensive premium products when most brands like Ribena already had diet versions in the first place.

Roses lime cordial !

I have an allergy to aspartame that leaves me with crippling stomach pain and migraine. I have to read absolutely everything twice. I can't even have a slush puppy in case they are using a syrup with it in.

Waitrose do an amazing Lemonade thats sweetener free btw. Shloer doesn't contain aspartame but they have switched to a sweetener now and it tastes pretty awful.

I love being in the US. The only place I can happily order lemonades etc without worrying whats in it.

For future years making your own blackcurrant cordial is really easy and comparable to (and I think better than) Ribena. The only problem is finding the blackcurrant supply, shop bought is too expensive for the quantities required. I have a supply from an allotment, I make them up a bottle as payment.

I have also basically given up on shop-bought but do like the Belvoir range.

Reading this thread with interest.

Ive reluctantly decided to accept stevia and a couple of other "natural" sweeteners in my drinks. Therefore I'm unsure if anything I reccomend is free from those. A Google suggests that my favoured robinsons crushed contains stevia and glycerine which are apparently natural sweeteners. I don't react to it, (migraines) anyway.

I have made my own cordial very easily in the past, if that's of interest to any of you. Just heat fruit (I've used a bag of cherries from farm foods) and sugar to taste in a pan, mush about a bit while cooking in some water and strain. I've also done fresh ginger and lime with brown sugar. I refrigerate and freeze in quantities I can use in a few days because I don't trust myself to sterilize bottles and seal properly but it can be done, and is cheaper than having to buy the posh brands in order to get no sweetener in them. Lacto-fermented gingerade is fun too.

If you're not too bothered about sweetness, slices of ginger, or a couple of mint or basil leaves are nice in water.

Waitrose do cloudy and ordinary lemonade without sweetener.
Belvoir, bottle green, rocks and some supermarket own brand cordials have no sweetener and the Dalston brand of fizzy drinks are amazing.

Cawston Press, Belvoir, Bottle Green, Soda Folk, Virgils, Appletiser. Most drinks sold in ‘American’ sweet shops are sweetner free (unless marked diet). All the above are also free from Stevia.

Oh, and a helpful warning; I've just had to throw away half a bottle of rocks after a month because it's mouldy. I hadn't kept it refrigerated, assuming that the warning on the label was overzealous. It was not. Keep it refrigerated folks! And use within 3 weeks according to them but I bet it would last longer in the fridge

Innocent's new refreshers product is good and is just fruit and water.

There is a really nice fizzy innocent drink you can get, it's flavoured only by fruit and fizzy water. So added sugar or sweetners. 1 problem, like £1.75 a can!

Why they must put aspartame into everything is absolutely beyond me!

Wow - all this "stuff" to drink.
As far as I can see, nobody suggested the obvious: Fruit / Herbal Teas! Enjoy not or cold. You can add sugar, some taste lovely with honey. Some are naturally stimulating others have a more subdued effect. There are naturally sweet ones or refreshing ones.... all in a little bit always square tea bag.
There really is something for all taste buds.

I'm quite happy with the standard full sugar high juices, which is good because it takes us months to use up a bottle, so the premium ones that go mouldy would be no good for us.

But I have read on here that you can freeze Rocks etc in ice cube trays - I think they melt quite quickly in a glass of water to make a chilled and flavoured drink and no risk of it going mouldy if you don't use it up within a short space of time.

@Ylvamoon - I particularly like the Yogi teas licorice with Egyptian spice - it has a rounder taste (if that makes sense) than other fruit herbal teas, which I find too thin and sharp. And I think it tastes as good cold as hot - which is just as well as I am terrible for leaving hot drinks to go cold!

Lucozade has been ruined, thanks Jamie Oliver.

Tesco do a range of hint of drinks with no sugar or sweeteners in.

I love hot Ribena as well, or did until they made it horrid. The Rocks Blackcurrant is nice, but much more expensive sadly.

Has anyone found a decent lemonade without sweeteners ? Partner was devastated at no Pimms over the summer !

This Vimto has no sweeteners but I bought it in a corner shop type thing.

Fentiman’s Rose Lemonade is great, and their dandelion and Burdock.

Cawston canned drinks are lovely, especially the rhubarb. Soda Folk cream soda is ace, and I really like the unsweetened flavoured seltzers like Dash and Aqua Libra.

I think Vimto is still the same. We buy that and high juice which you can get without sweetners I believe.

@RollaCola84 - Fever Tree do a nice lemonade. It's the first lemonade I've been able to drink for years. In a mixed drink then the Fentimans Rose lemonade is ok but it's a bit like liquid Turkish delight on its own so depends if you like that or not.

Welch's purple grape juice and water is soooo good