A GIN and tonic is the perfect summer drink – but can you enjoy one without breaking the bank?
With the cost of living rising, we’ve carried out tests to find out whether you can swap branded products for supermarket own-brands without sacrificing quality.
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Today, we’ve looked at the own-brand versions of London dry gin sold at the major supermarkets and compared them with the leading brand Gordon’s.
We tried them with and without tonic, giving them a score out of ten for taste and a score out of ten for value for money.
Here’s how they scored overall out of 20:
WINNER: Aldi Greyson’s London Dry Gin, £10.29 for 70cl
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This Aldi gin has won several awards but we didn’t find it was significantly more enjoyable to drink than the other supermarket own-brands.
It had a decent botanical smell and tasted strong in tonic water – but it also caused a burning sensation in the mouth like cheap vodka.
This was the cheapest gin we tried, at just £1.47 per 100ml, so would be worth it for the price.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 9/10
Total: 15/20
Tesco Dry London Gin, £11.50 for 70cl
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The Tesco gin was quite pleasant to drink but it tasted more of vodka than of gin.
There was a nice citrus taste but there wasn’t a strong botanical flavour – and it got lost when tonic water was added.
At £1.64 per 100ml, this was among the more expensive supermarket gins we tried.
Taste: 7/10
Value: 6/10
Total: 13/20
Asda London Dry Gin, £11 for 70cl
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Asda’s gin was similar to Tesco’s in that it was relatively smooth and easy to drink but didn’t have a strong botanical flavour.
It was more like vodka than gin and the taste disappeared in tonic water.
But it was the third cheapest gin we tested, so pretty good value for money.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 7/10
Total: 13/20
Lidl Finton’s Special London Dry Gin, £10.49 for 70cl
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The Lidl gin was another one which tasted more like vodka than gin and was lacking a strong botanical taste.
The half curved bottle looked great but it was really tricky to pour from and spilt everywhere, so it lost a value point for that.
Taste: 5/10
Value: 8/10
Total: 13/20
Gordon’s London Dry Gin, £16 for 70cl
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The classic brand had a pleasant taste of botanicals and was smooth and easy to drink. But at £16 per bottle, it was around 60 per cent more expensive than the cheapest version from Aldi.
Taste: 8/10
Value: 4/10
Total: 12/20
Sainsbury’s Hollow & Bourne London Dry Gin, £11.65 for 70cl
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Like Asda and Tesco, the Sainsbury’s gin was nice enough to drink but it tasted a lot more like vodka than gin.
There wasn’t a clear botanical taste and it didn’t taste of much once tonic was added.
This was the most expensive supermarket gin we tried, at £1.66 per 100ml, but wasn’t noticeably better than the rest.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 6/10
Total: 12/20
Morrisons London Dry Gin, £11.49 for 70cl
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This gin from Morrison’s looked great in the bottle but was disappointing. It tasted very synthetic and harsh – a bit like the smell of nail polish remover.
It was the same price as the Tesco version but sadly nowhere near as drinkable.
Taste: 4/10
Value: 6/10
Total: 10/20
TABLE: HOW THEY COMPARE
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We’ve also taste tested scotch eggs and the cheapest one from a bargain store was the best.
We tasted supermarket branded orange squash against Robinsons and the winner was a third of the price.
We tried supermarket own brand coleslaw and the 80p winner was perfect for a BBQ.
