Jukes Cordialities

ABV: 0.0%
Calories per 100ml: depends on how dilute you make them
Scores for each of the three Jukes drinks are listed below

Matthew Jukes is a world-famous wine-taster and writer and has worked in the wine trade for more than 30 years. Along with his colleague Jack Hollihan, he set out to create a new kind of drink – one that “does everything that wine does on the nose, palate and finish but without any grapes or alcohol”. The result is a unique collection of three drinks.

The first thing to say about Jukes is that the presentation is great. The drinks come in a beautiful monochrome cubic box. Inside are nine tiny bottles, because this is a drink for mixing. Each little vessel contains enough to make two 125ml servings – the size of a standard small wine glass – or one big 250ml serving if that’s what you fancy. You mix the cordial with still or sparkling water, or with tonic water, until you get the strength you like. And there’s your drink!

There are three types of drinks, which you can order individually or in a mixed box. Here’s what our taste-tester thought about each one:

• Jukes 1 is a cloudy, cider-coloured drink with a pleasant herb garden aroma. As with all the Jukes cordials, the main ingredient is cider vinegar, coupled in this case with peach, cucumber, plum, apple and pineapple. Overall, it’s a nice fruity drink, and reminded us mostly of elderflower cordial. 3 out of 5
• Jukes 2 has the colour of a light red wine. It’s made with a variety of dark fruits, including cranberries, sour cherries and blueberries. Sadly, this was our least favourite of the three – our taste-testers thought it tasted mostly of vinegar and aniseed. 2 out of 5
• Jukes 6 is the darkest of the three, with the look of a heavy red wine. It’s made with blackberries and blackcurrants, both of which are quite sharp fruits, but we found it a bit too sweet. Like Jukes 1, it’s a nice fruit cordial. 3 out of 5

Jukes Cordialities have been highly praised by other reviewers so our taste-tester may be wide of the mark. As always, you’ll have to make up your own mind.