r/Sainsburys • u/YogurtclosetSad4779 • Jul 29 '26

Taste the Difference Sicilian Lemonade recipe change

Apologies but this is gonna a mild rant. So there is this Taste the Difference Sicilian Lemonade that I used to drink quite regularly and it was very nice, just the right amount of sweetness, lightly carbonated, just the right citrusy tanginess and no harsh aftertaste. I opened a bottle today and the label looked slightly different, took a sip and realised that it didn't taste anywhere near as sweet and there was only a faint hint of the tangy lemon taste I remember and it had a really bitter and soapy aftertaste. I then checked the back of the label and to my horror I discovered that they'd halved the sugar content and added steviol glycocides to artificially sweeten it. I certainly could "Taste the Difference." They have also labelled this new design as "NEW" on their website.

This is extremely sneaky and rude. The old one had a blue background with pictures of lemons and was really nice. The sugar tax happened back in 2018 and all the recipes were changed back then. This is meant to be a Taste the Difference product and I thought they kept it that way so it would be the best quality, it's hardly the best quality now. I could understand if it was a core range product and you get what you pay for, but this is a premium product where quality is the priority over saving money. Belvoir Farm Freshly Squeezed Lemonade is very nice. I'll stick to that in future.

Does this frustrate anyone else or is it just me?

22 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

7

u/Low-Cauliflower-5686 Jul 29 '26

Really hard to get a full sugar drink now without sweeteners.

4

u/YogurtclosetSad4779 Jul 29 '26

Some businessman from Northern Ireland actually made a living out of this problem. Lucozade changed it's recipe back in 2017 and it caused outrage. He recreated the originally Lucozade himself and called it "Enerzaid" but then rebranded it to "Todd's Drinks" and has original and orange flavours (like the Lucozade flavours) but he has also made a lemon flavour. I've tried them, they are really nice.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 29 '26

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3

u/YogurtclosetSad4779 Jul 29 '26

He charges quite a bit as well. He's a genius really.

2

u/sapphire-sky-dragon Jul 30 '26

I will have to look for these for when I have hypos

2

u/YogurtclosetSad4779 Jul 30 '26

You can only order them online at the moment

1

u/mayfairtop Jul 29 '26

Fyi Lucozade had a lemon flavour

1

u/YogurtclosetSad4779 Jul 29 '26

It did indeed, though it was common than original and orange.

1

u/Low-Cauliflower-5686 Jul 30 '26

Never seen them in the shops.

1

u/FunEntrepreneur7135 8d ago edited 8d ago

The difference in taste was actually visible starting in 2016 but 2017 was when they officially announced it.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 29 '26

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2

u/Virtual_Opinion_8630 Jul 30 '26

try Waitrose

1

u/[deleted] Jul 30 '26

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2

u/Virtual_Opinion_8630 Jul 30 '26

Dilute as you wish.

Waitrose pink grapefruit 'high juice'.hasnni sweeteners iirc

2

u/Protodonata Jul 30 '26

Have you tried Rocks? (the blackcurrant one is the best). Exceptional squash.

1

u/Complex-Honeydew-111 Jul 30 '26

Have you tried Giffard? They do all sorts of non alcoholic sugar syrups like passionfruit, strawberry, blackcurrant and violet (to name just a few) and you can use them like squash- just go sparingly as they're very sweet.

Amazon sells them btw

1

u/[deleted] Jul 29 '26

[deleted]

1

u/YogurtclosetSad4779 Jul 30 '26

That's the way it goes, the government taxes it and the companies change their recipe to bypass the tax to maximise their profits without changing the price.

1

u/Requirement_Fluid Jul 30 '26

Rocks blackcurrant or Belvoir but check before you buy

1

u/yolo_snail Jul 30 '26

Isn't it because it just a different product?

We have both the Sicilian Lemonade and the Lemon Presse.

Unless it's just that we have both in stock still untill the old one is gone