This year seems to be trying to out do last year in terms of catastrophes, so I think that focusing on something separate can be a nice break from stress. And do note that the events in the US should not be seen by people in the UK as something remote that could never happen here, we have just been lucky so far, and I fear that if something similar happened here it would be harder to deal with as the country seems to rely on conventions and people not outrageously breaking precedent. We all have a responsibility to consider our actions and words, and keep in mind society as a whole.
As I have been doing a dryish January I have been trying various non-alcoholic drinks. One brand I tried was Jukes Cordialities. I had a mixed box which included 3 of each of their drinks. Their drinks are given numbers rather than names, and I tasted No.1, No.2, and No.6. Before going into detail of the individual drinks, it is worth noting that they come very nicely packaged and the bottles are nicely labelled with a clear ingredients list, and give instructions on how to dilute.
For consistency I tasted each drink in the same way, following their instructions and diluted each with plain chilled water. I have written up the notes I made at the time with only minor alterations to make them read better.
No.1
Look – slightly hazy, very similar to some ciders in appearance.
Smell – quite vinegary with a malic hint, quite herbal with a pronounced cucumber aroma and touches of stone fruit.
Feel – medium mouthfeel with a notable acidic finish.
Taste – mediumly sweet with a nice fruity and slightly floral start, the finish is herbal rather reminiscent of Pimm’s.
I could see myself enjoying one of these as on a hot summer’s day, as a non-alcoholic and slightly more refined substitute for Pimm’s.
No.2
Look – slightly hazy, with a delicate red colour.
Smell – a bit of vinegar followed by considerable cherry aromas and a hint of spice.
Feel – thin texture with only a very gentle acidic note at the finish.
Taste – off dry, with a red fruit and cherry flavour, almost like some of the lightly spiced red fruit cordials that are often sold around Christmas.
A perfectly decent drink, but not one I would seek out, in part as that sort of cherry flavour is not something that I am that keen on.
No.6
Look – good colour and almost fully clear, and the closest in look to wine, almost like a young red burgundy.
Smell – quite mild with hints of peppery black fruit and only the slightly hint of vinegar.
Feel – light mouth feel, which was surprising as the smells put me in mind of heavier red wines.
Taste – off sweet, blackcurrant is the most prominent taste, followed by a hint of pepperiness and a refreshing finish.
A decent enough drink again, yet were it not for the more complicated spiced notes I would suggest that a pleasant simulacrum could be made from vinegar, Ribena, and a touch of brown sugar.
Now having described how they are well made and tasty drinks (I think it is personal taste that makes me prefer No.1 over the others rather than any sense of it being better), let’s think about the drinks in a wider sense and how they fit into the non-alcoholic drink category.
As well as the very well-presented bottles and packaging, their website is extremely slick – with lovely pictures of their drinks in wine glasses held by beautiful models in gorgeous houses. (Now this is not the time to think about why only young slim white models, who look very middle class, seem to be picked to give a sense that a drink is premium and so can justify a high cost, but I would suggest that this should be addressed by any responsible company.) It is worth noting that all the drinks seem to be being drunk as if they were wine or spritzers, and a lot is made of the reputation of Matthew Jukes as a wine writer. This coupled with the repeated mentioning of “fine wine” makes me think that this comparison is to justify the price, as people are generally reluctant to spend any significant money even on a premium soft drink.
Indeed, I was impressed by the very obviously marketing focused description of how the drink came about, and how Jukes used “his olfactory and sensory expertise” to create them. Who would think I would find such a clear example of pleonasm (the use of unnecessary words) on a drinks company’s website? A cynic of course would say they just felt they had to wang the word “olfactory” in there as it sounds nice and gives a sense of skill and expertise, and that it is odd to have such a focus on smell in a drink’s description, as it is drunk not used as perfume. I feel compelled to mention the gratuitous sense of being en vogue, with a glowing testimonial from the creator of Whispering Angel Rosé and they make sure to draw attention to all the magazines and papers they have been featured in – which, by the way, also includes Vogue. But although it does feel rather like they are trying too hard marketing and image wise, that is common to most things these days and so cannot be used as a criticism of them.
What I do find particularly disappointing is their ignoring of the wider non-alcoholic drinks scene and that they seem to be claiming to have invented something new, when their drinks are just shrub syrups (tasty ones I must say) which have been around for a considerable time and so rather undercuts their marketing material. I was even more surprised by this as the inclusion of apple cider vinegar is very prominent on their marketing material. Just to make it clear, although I think there is no definitive evidence cider vinegar is particularly good for you, I cannot blame them for using that idea to help sell – they are a business after all and need to sell their product – but perhaps should be more hestiant to jump on unscientific ideas.
Now, before we go on to more discussion of Jukes Cordialities, let’s quickly go over what shrubs are. A shrub can refer either to a syrup made from vinegar and sugar, flavoured with fruit, or a drink made by diluting this syrup. Confusingly it can also refer to a totally different drink based around rum and citrus juice. Historically these were somewhat closer as the vinegar-based shrubs often had a dash of a spirit added as a preservative. Etymology wise the name comes from the same Arabic root (šarāb, شَرَاب) as both syrup, sorbet, and sherbet but at some point, the older English form sharab was altered into the now common shrub due to phonetic pressures.
The syrup is often made by heating vinegar to dissolve sugar into it. Then fruit is seeped in this syrup to extract flavour. This syrup can then be drunk just by mixing with water, or fizzy water and so is just like Jukes Cordialities, but can also be used as an ingredient in more complicated drinks. If you are interested, I touch on this in this article (which has some recipes in to make up for the lack here).
It is not just the lack of mention of shrubs and so a lost moment to educate people about something they might not have heard of that irks me, for they also focus on the idea of being one of the first companies to make a very good non-alcoholic drink that is widely available. This for a company that is only a few years old is very disappointing as there are companies like Square Root Soda that is getting towards their 10th birthday in a years’ time – I have picked Square Root as I personally like their drinks a lot and think they deliver great drinks at very reasonable prices and does not, I think, get the attention they deserve.
I fully understand that companies will focus on different sectors of the market, and focus on specific niches – in this case presenting their shrubs as a good drink to replace wine. Yet I still feel they could have gone about it in a better way. I would have loved it if they used their clearly brilliant business and marketing skills to make people more aware of the types of non-alcoholic drinks available. They could have given some of their lovely website over to discussing what shrubs are and maybe talked about other sorts of non-alcoholic drinks they considered, and maybe even mention good examples of these and so supported other businesses, before settling on shrubs.
Business might be competitive, but that does not mean it is right to ignore the wider industry and any company which clearly has successful backing and brilliant marketing ought to use some of those resources to help improve the industry as a whole. Also, they ought to think about their social responsibility and not fall into the trap of doing what has always been done in terms of marketing and branding, when it is so often exclusionary and limiting.
I do have to mention that in an interview with SheerLuxe, Jukes did mention drawing inspiration from switchel, which is a drink made up of vinegar, water, and honey, often flavoured with ginger. I would have been happy for the website to mention this instead of shrubs, although I do think that as the product, they make perfectly fits the description of a shrub and is only linked to the switchel they could have given it more thought or research.
So, if you want a very slick product, which is quite tasty, this is just the thing for you, but I personally do not think that their product justifies the high cost, when there are brilliant alternatives. However, such a slick marketing campaign which clearly has created a lot of awareness, cannot be anything but a great thing.
And whilst I might not personally buy more of their product, although if they bring out anything else I will rather curious and might just get some, more people buying good non-alcoholic drinks is good for the industry as a whole, and if by buying Jukes Cordialities they start to reconsider their view on drink value, and so might be more likely to spend more on drinks that have not traditionally been seen as prestigious or worth much, I will be very happy indeed.
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