Meet The French Triplets

Oh La La!

So Chic, So Summer, So French, So Sofi 

The new flavours from SOFI Spritz came just in time for the warmer weather. Run through an online campaign on Pozlib, initially the only way to get your hands on the flavours was to pledge an amount of money and pick the prize pack you would win. They had so many options it was hard to choose but I went with a mixed 6 pack with two of each flavour and two awesome stemless, unbreakable wine glasses. I was also lucky to have a free can of Blood Orange and Bitters thrown into the package, which was a lovely surprise.

Wild Strawberry and Finger lime

Wild strawberries or Fragaria Virginiana are not a flavour you find commonly, although strawberry and lime is a flavour you see time and time again. Sofi Spitz has taken that classic combination and run with the more wild and native side of it. As I haven't eaten wild strawberries since I was a little girl it was hard to judge just how authentic they managed to get the strawberry flavour and how distorted it might have gotten from the wine and lime added to it. They are said to be sweeter then their commercial cousins, which is hard to believe as I've picked fresh strawberries straight from the plant before and it was like biting into heaven, but I can imagine they might taste a little more like strawberry candy if they are sweeter. Finger Limes are native to Australia and get their name from their finger like shape. Inside they are filled with tiny caviar like vesicles that burst in your mouth with a bright citrus flavour. They are normally added as a garnish on top of dishes to get the most out of their flavour. The colour is a very inviting deep strawberry colour with a very intense and sweet strawberry smell. You don't get a lot of the lime coming through and I personally really missed having that bright note to cut through the sweetness. I ended up trying all of these flavours three ways so I could get a real idea of the flavours and find out what worked best and what I like best. Firstly I tried this cold from the fridge, no ice or anything mixed into it. The taste was very similar to the smell and again was lacking the lime element that I so desperately wanted. It was sugary and a little sickly, not horrible and undrinkable, but the strawberry just didn't quite taste right to me. Next I had it over ice, as I have found that extreme coldness can sometimes really change the taste of a drink. In this instance, they wasn't much difference and I was still overwhelmed with strawberry flavour, but not a strawberry I was familiar with, and still no real lime flavour. The last taste test was with soda water and fresh lime. Finally I had a the bursting citrus I was looking for but still couldn't move past the strawberry weirdness. While I don't hate this flavour and I know that there are many out there who love it, for me personally this just didn't work. There was just something too odd about the flavour and I was really missing that citrus brightness that helps balance out overly sweet drinks.

Wild Berries and Pomegranate 

This drink bought some unexpected nostalgia when I was taste testing it. Fruit roll ups were a lunch box favourite in Primary school and this reminded me of the mixed berry one so much, and made me a little wishful of those carefree days when you didn't have to worry about a thing. Anyway, moving on to the taste testing, the colour of this was very close to the Wild Strawberry and Finger Lime. That same deep strawberry hue. This had a really nice fruity smell, again it was also very sweet and sugary but a little more natural this time. You don't get much of the pomegranate, but berry is a strong flavour and takes a much more dominate roll in this mix. On its own cold from the fridge you get a big burst of fruit and a very light tang of the pomegranate, and I'm still reminded of fruit roll ups. The flavour is very smooth, it lingers for a little while and then disappears with a very soft finish leaving you wanting to go back for more. It is definitely still a very sweet drink but pleasant without anything added to it. I found that when I tried this over ice, the freezing temperatures really helped to tone down the berry sweetness and allow the pomegranate to come through a little more. It was still bursting with berry flavour but there was a tartness to the finish that wasn't there before. Adding the soda water and lime gave a nice soft balance that really complement the berry flavours and made it taste a little less like a fruit roll up. This was my second favourite out of all three flavours and I would happily have this again, but don't take my word for it because what I like might not be what you like and vice versa. Everyone has their own tastes and you don't always have to agree.

Pink Grapefruit and Lavender

This was hands down my absolute favourite flavour that they created for the French series. Bright and zesty with a delicate floral aftertaste it was everything I wanted. The colour is a lighter, rosey hued pink that was a little less opaque then the other flavours. It really complement the softer flavours in this drink where as the other two had colour just as bold as their flavour. The notes of the nose as very light, hints of floral but nothing like sticking your nose into a lavender bush (which I do not recommend as they are always full of bees) and the grapefruit has a bright, fresh clean smell. The flavour is full of that tart citrus, but a little sweeter then the yellow fleshed grapefruit, and not too sugary which is nice. The lavender comes in as the grapefruit is leaving and so you are left with this very pleasant light floral note that just fades away. I found that when I added ice the lavender was a little more intense but still balanced out with the grapefruit, which took on more of an aftertaste roll. Adding the lime and soda water was just an added bonus to create a wonderful mixed drink. The lime and pink grapefruit work really well together and while the lavender does disappear a little bit you can always omit the lime and I'm sure it would be just as delicious. This really was the stand out flavour and I personally thought they got everything just right about it. While there are things I would change about the other two, there is nothing I would change about this one, except maybe making my fridge full of bottles of it.

Everything was taste tested in this fantastic Sofi Glass

For a limited time you are able to buy these online at Dan Murphy's so get moving because they will be snapped up fast and not all flavours may be made permanent additions to the Sofi range.

If you want to read about their other flavours in the Italian range then follow these links to my pervious blog posts
Meet Sofi, She certainly is Spritzy
Sofi got a Sister

Do yourself a flavour and get Spritzy