Vimto Original Fruit Juice Cordial

For once, I haven't had to search the internet to remind myself of Vimto's origins - it actually gets a mention in Maurice Baren's How It All Began in Lancashire (which I bought for my dad one Christmas) and for some reason I already know it was created by a man called Nichols. Consulting with this handy volume, I discovered that druggist and importer of herbs John Noel Nichols of Manchester devised a range of cordials in 1908 which he claimed would give consumers " 'vim' and vigour", to quote the book - clearly the young man was part of an era where "cordial" had medicinal connotations. Being non-alcoholic it was also popular in temperance - or teetotallers' - bars.

A century on, things have changed enormously and advertising food items as "health cures" and "miracle tonics" and whatever else the Edwardians and Victorians interpreted as being "good for you" is not something that just anybody can do. These days Vimto is more likely to appear in the supermarkets than the chemist. Sometimes I think I've been living through a very changeable age - my earliest memory of the cordial is that it came in a tall slim bottle with a screw-on cap and I don't remember seeing any sizes larger than about 750ml At some point between the late 1980s and today Vimto's branding turned purple - literally.

The labelling is rather multi-purpose, now I consider it - as with carbonated Vimto in bottles and in cans, the cordial comes in a standard version (I suppose it would be defined as "original") and a lower sugar version and it's very easy to tell them apart - the original flavour's label has a plum-purple background whereas the light version's basically identical design is presented against plain white. The reason I consider this design to be multi-purpose is because the company have continued the pattern so that the bottled fizzy Vimto also uses the "colour = full sugar, white = low sugar" scheme which a lot of other brands seem to like. In keeping with the purple theme, the screw-on cap is a rich purple colour, too (in the case of the original version).

I find the design very dynamic and eye-catching, overall. The almost empty 1.5 litre bottle currently in our house is the original version, and - in fairness to the Vimto people - they've made good use of something I learnt at university about hierarchy of text on the label. Essentially, this boils down to "most important information is made most prominent". Considering that this design shows an illustrated "splash" of purple liquid with green grapes, purple blackcurrants and dark pink raspberries peeping out from behind, with "Vimto" in casual bright red, bold lettering on a white background layered on top of this, with the additional details "Original" in white capitals above it and "Added Vitamin C" in mixed case white letters below it, I don't think anybody could accuse Vimto's designers of cramming unnecessary details onto the front just to look impressive.

Anyone looking for the ingredients, nutritional content, company details etc - incidentally, Vimto Soft Drinks now appear to be based in Warrington - will find lots of small print on the back of the bottle. A green blob states that the cordial contains 10% fruit juice and 20% of the recommended daily Vitamin C intake if you dilute it to make 250ml - which provides 65 calories, 16.5g sugar and trace amounts of salt, fat and saturated fat. Around the top of the wide section of the plastic bottle - a sort of cylinder that suddenly becomes almost cone-shaped at the top - it's just possible to make out a raised pattern of what seem to be the outlined shapes of grapes, blackcurrants and raspberries.

As with most cordials, the suggested dilution is one part Vimto to four parts water (although it also suggests adding more water for smaller children) and although I often drink it cold, and sometimes with added ice cubes, I can find nothing wrong with warm Vimto. The bottle's illustration indicates that it is made up of grape, raspberry and blackcurrant juice and I would say that the undiluted liquid is a bit more burgundy or even possibly brown compared to plain blackcurrant squash. It can get sticky around the lid if it drips but not to the point where it's impossible to open. The aroma is definitely fruity but it's hard to say which fruit is most prominent - it could possibly be raspberry, or it might be that the blending of the juices with what Vimto describe as "a tantalising mix of secret herbs and spices" combines together so well that it creates a completely new smell.

It's not particularly thick but if, for some reason, I leave a glass lying around (as I sometimes do - I'm forgetful!) it will settle but this can be remedied by stirring it with a spoon, skewer, chopstick or whatever else is to hand. When I drink Vimto cold, I find it pleasantly sweet and, if there's an obvious taste that jumps out (it takes some identifying) it could be raspberry - it's fairly sweet. There might be a hint of blackcurrant but I certainly can't make out any grape - but then I'm not a huge fan of grape juice. Vimto is fruity in a "soft" way - nothing like as sharp or acidic as lemon, orange or grapefruit but there is a refreshing element to it and I wouldn't describe it as bland. The colour of the diluted drink is more on the brown/orange side of "red" than Ribena and, unless it wasn't particularly well diluted, I think it would be fairly easy to spot that it was Vimto. (I don't think I've ever spilt neat Vimto but it's a deep enough colour that I'd expect it to stain fabric.)

Unlike the carbonated offering, Vimto cordial seems to be available in most supermarkets (and I think quite a lot of smaller retailers too, but most of our shopping gets done at the supermarket) and, according to Tesco's website today, the 725 ml size is £1.17 whereas the 1.5 litre bottle costs £2.20. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who wanted a change to "usual" cordial flavours like blackcurrant or orange as I think it tastes just that bit more interesting.

[Details relating to Vimto's history are from the How It All Began in Lancashire Book]