Orange squash is one of those staple drinks most households in the UK will have in their kitchen cupboard. It’s a way to make water tastier and make sure kids are drinking enough, particularly now that the weather is exceeding temperatures of 30 degrees. However, with the price of a bottle of Robinson’s being £2.50, the cost can quickly rack up if you’re buying this regularly.
Most supermarket alternatives are more towards the £1 mark — so is that extra £1.50 or so really worth it, or are you paying for the brand? These are the questions I set about to answer, and to do so, I tried orange squash from Aldi, Lidl, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, M&S and Waitrose and compared them against Robinsons orange squash to see if any lived up to the same standard or surpassed it.
Robinsons
Starting with the brand leader of squash, we have Robinsons, for many decades synonymous with Wimbledon. It’s got a vibrant orange colour that stays vivid even when diluted with water in a glass.
Packaging, of course, is on point here, well-designed, lovely colours, everything you’d expect from the premium brand, but it’s the taste that counts, so let’s get into that.
Robinsons prides itself on making squash that tastes of “real fruit”; however, it did have a slight artificial taste, but had the right amount of sweetness.
Rating: 8/10
Aldi
Moving on to one of the supermarket brands, perhaps best known for its bargain pricing. This was the joint-third cheapest of all the juices, costing just 89p
Aldi’s double-strength 20% fruit squash looks a similar colour in the bottle to Robinsons — a bright and fresh orange that makes you feel thirsty.
Unfortunately, the taste was where it fell slightly short. While still tasty, it wasn’t quite as memorable as the leading brand, and definitely left less of a lasting impression, tasting noticeably cheaper in quality, which, for the price, I suppose should be expected.
Rating: 5/10
Lidl
Lidl’s own offering at 89p looks almost identical in colour to the classic Robinsons in the bottle, a real smack of bright orange.
However, this one did lack the sweetness you get from Robinsons, but it still makes a good alternative.
Rating 6.5/10
Tesco
Next up is Tesco, which surprised me at how well it performed. For just 45p, you can really complain too much about this one.
Whilst not bursting with flavour, there is plenty of it, and it doesn’t overpower either, which can often be an issue with double-strength versions of squash.
Rating: 6/10
Sainsbury’s
I am convinced the 49p Sainsbury’s bottle of orange squash is identical to the Tesco version.
Both have the same packaging, minus the branded sticker, and have the same level of sweetness and fruitiness.
Rating: 6/10
Morrisons
This 99p orange squash from Morrisons looked more like long-life orange juice rather than an enticing hydrating drink. But once combined with water, the appearance improved.
The flavour wasn’t the most intense, and it was on the sweet side, but it’s still good value for money and does the job while saving a lot compared to big brands.
Rating: 5.5/10
Asda
Asda’s orange squash is notably cheaper than Robinsons and all the other brands, retailing for the same price as Tesco. Unfortunately, it didn’t taste as good.
Perhaps it had a slightly unfair advantage because I tried it further down the list, but in comparison, it tasted like vaguely flavoured water. It completely lacked the punch of orange squash, despite claiming to be double strength.
Rating: 3/10
M&S
Made with 20% real fruit. M&S’ squash has one of the largest portions of real fruit, which probably explains the higher price tag, although it is still cheaper than a bottle from Waitrose or the market leader.
This one has a more grown-up, authentic flavour and colour than some of the other squashes on the market.
It’s not too sweet, which may not appeal to little ones as much, but adults may prefer this version; I definitely did. Plus, it does away with sweetener-style aftertastes.
Rating: 10/10
Waitrose
Expecting big things from the £1.30 Waitrose orange squash, I was sadly disappointed. It was sweet, but lacked flavour.
I thought the Waitrose squash was a little thin in the orange taste it had, not leaving the same fruity aftertaste as the ones from M&S and Robinsons.
Rating: 6.5/10