Tesco Low Alcohol G&T

ABV: less than 0.5%
Calories per can: 60 (24 per 100ml); and 12 per can (5 per 100ml) for the reduced calorie version

As the popularity of gin goes from strength to strength, so the number of alcohol-free versions grows too. But can the complex flavours of the nation’s new favourite spirit really be captured in a teetotal tipple? This latest offering from Tesco comes quite close.

Looking at the ingredients, it’s got all the essentials for a good gin drink – juniper (of course), plus citrus peels and angelica. It comes in two versions, one of which (in a silver can) has significantly fewer calories that the other (in a green can).

Let’s start with the green can first. Its smells like gin-and-tonic. It tastes like gin-and-tonic. It’s light, refreshing and not too sweet. In short, it’s pretty good. Not as good as the Yorkshire-based Temperance Spirit Company’s GnT, but certainly worth a go.

The low-calorie drink didn’t hit the spot in quite the same way. It seemed to have less fizz, less gin flavours (i.e. it was more like drinking neat tonic), and strangely, it seemed a bit sweeter. Unless you’re really looking to cut back on the calories, we say it’s best to go green.

For both versions, the can design is spot-on, with drawings of the three plants that give the drink its flavour, sending out the message that this is a decent drink first and foremost, and an alcohol-free drink secondly. More attractive packaging like this from other major supermarkets would certainly help alcohol-free options feel less like a product to put up with and more like a drink to enjoy.

Tesco also guarantee that both the drinks are suitable for vegans.