The search for Britain’s BEST cocktail (I think I’ve found it)
Pimm’s and lemonade made a very good opening argument. It tasted like summer in a can, and I thought I’d struggle to find anything better. Then I tried an M&S whisky sour and had a new favourite almost immediately.
I bought a collection of canned drinks for this taste test, choosing different flavours because I enjoy trying things. Comparing a gin and tonic with a whisky sour wasn’t going to be a perfectly fair contest, and I didn’t mind. I wanted to find out which ones I liked. By the end, I couldn’t choose between two quite different M&S cocktails.
Pimm’s set a high standard
I’d never heard of Pimm’s before moving from Canada to the UK, which feels strange to say now. The can mixed with lemonade was lovely. It didn’t taste too sweet or too alcoholic to me, and I thought the balance was excellent.
That matters because pre-made drinks can be too sweet for my taste. Pimm’s made me think of sitting in a British park with cheese, bread and meats, getting too much sun. That was the scene in my head, rather than where I was drinking it.
I gave it five out of five British summer days.
The whisky sour moved into first place
I chose the M&S whisky sour because I hadn’t seen many supermarket versions of it while shopping. There were plenty of the usual margaritas and passion fruit drinks, so I wanted something different.
It was smooth, a little tart and lemony, without being too sweet. I liked it so much that I announced a new favourite. At £2.40 when I bought it, the price was comparable with the first couple of cans, although I still thought that was a bit expensive for a pre-made drink.
Ten out of ten. I called the units “train beers” even though it wasn’t a beer, so please don’t treat the scores as anything more scientific than my opinion.
The gin comparison was easier to settle
Gordon’s London Dry Gin and tonic surprised me by being so smooth. Gin can have a medicinal taste that isn’t particularly refreshing for me, but this can was balanced and not sweet. I liked it a lot.
Bombay Sapphire tasted more intensely of gin, with a pine-needle flavour that was much more noticeable. That might suit someone who wants exactly that, but it wasn’t my preference. I preferred the Gordon’s, and Bombay ended up my least favourite of the tasting.
I thought every drink was drinkable. This was a comparison of what suited my taste, and the stronger gin flavour put Bombay at the bottom for me.
Interesting flavours didn’t all beat the favourites
High Water’s mango and peach hard seltzer did taste of mango and peach. Sometimes I find that this sort of drink doesn’t taste much of the flavour it promises, so I appreciated that. It was nice, but it didn’t come close to the whisky sour, and I didn’t think it justified a price approaching £3 a can.
The vodka and rhubarb drink was a stronger contender. It had a clear rhubarb taste, a little tartness and some sweetness without being too sweet. We didn’t have much rhubarb-flavoured food or drink when I was growing up in Canada, so it felt different to me. I put it among my top three at that point, close to Pimm’s, although nearly £3 meant I wouldn’t buy it often.
Sainsbury’s spiced rum and cola was cheaper at £1.30 when I bought it. It was smooth and tasted almost like vanilla Coke, but the sweetness lingered. I liked it, just less than I’d hoped.
The espresso martini made it a tie
I’d mostly chosen one drink per brand, but M&S had a separate Marksologist line. I love an espresso martini, so I tried its salted caramel version too.
It tasted of caramel, chocolate and espresso. Delicious. The small can cost £3.50, which I thought was stupidly expensive, but I loved the drink itself.
Was it better than the whisky sour? That was difficult. One had lemony, citrusy tartness; the other had sweet coffee, chocolate and caramel. I thought both were perfect in their own category, so I gave the espresso martini ten out of ten and declared a tie.
The final Funkin Irn-Bru vodka martini was extremely smooth and tasted like Irn-Bru to me. I couldn’t taste the vodka, and I already find Irn-Bru too sweet. It didn’t change my result. My favourites were the two M&S cans, and I’d be interested in trying more flavours from both lines.
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