Hands down, tea is my favourite drink. In fact, seldom you will find me in my own home without a warm cuppa in my hand, sipping away (or setting aside to cool and completely forgetting about it - oh, the British tragedy!). While teas are excellent at keeping me warm during the cool winter season (and the current spring, it was snowing just a few days ago), the fast approaching summer made me remember that I was rather resistant to drinking my usual earl grey last year when the long-awaited temperature went over 20 celsius. I absolutely love the sunshine and warm weather, however, what can I drink if not the favourite herbal infusion? I am not keen on just water and store bought diluting squash is full of sugar so an alternative must be found! Luckily, I was registered with Thrivo which allows accessing different discount codes. I came across the Edlebrook cordial which were offering a whopping 75% off so I was too curious to pass on this opportunity.

Eldebrook company proudly calls their drink "the not squash". The founders, Craig and David, echo my dilemma of desire for a refreshing drink which does not raise the blood sugar levels sky high. Their solution? Create their own drinks which are full of flavour, refined sugars are swapped for coconut nectar and stevia, and ingredient list also features some superfruits. Because the company is relatively small and the ingredients are much more nutritious and beneficial, these cordials do work out more expensive than a store-bought squash. There are 3 available options:

The delivery is free and subscription can be cancelled at any moment through the website.

The discount can be applied to any of the options so I went for 6 bottles (sometimes more is more). There are 9 flavours to choose from so I was a bit gutted I could not order the whole team. The dispatch was very quick and finally, my bottles made it to me. The first thing which surprised me is the size of the bottles - 50ml each. They looked very small, for some reason I was expecting a larger sized bottles. The instructions supplied suggested each bottle would last for about 10 drinks and, as a rough guide, to pour the cordial so it just covers the bottom of the cup, then add water. Of course, we are all different and I do not like strong flavours (this goes for teas as well, so I tend to brew one pyramid twice). In fact, this made me remember my time in Amsterdam, where my friend and I quite enjoyed flavoured water which only had a nice subtle flavour to it, mostly detected as the aftertaste. We even went on to discuss how such waters would not be massively popular here in the UK because the majority of the public like very strong sweets refreshments. In regards to the Eldebrook cordials, I used a small amount when adding to a cup of water hence these bottles lasted me more than 10 drinks. Of course, if you like strong tastes, a 50ml bottle will not last you very long. On the other hand, you will not be filling yourself up with empty sugars. The bottles can be left unrefrigerated for 2 weeks since openings, however, mine are still sitting on the kitchen counter from at least a month ago and seem to be doing fine.

The flavours I went for are below:

Interesting, the viscosity is quite different in these cordials. The top 3 have very runny, easy to mix viscosity, whereas, the bottom 3 are thicker ad require a bit more mixing in the water. Would I recommend these? If you are looking for a healthier version of conventional drinks, yes! These taste great, some are replicating the familiar flavours. The price could be setting back, however, if you are curious to try, I would recommend registering with Thrivo for your own discount code and choose the drinks you want!