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Hey everyone!

One of the joys of being 90’s kid is becoming acquainted with iconic brands like Ribena, which is known by the people of my generation as the childhood “fruit drink” typically sold in large cordial glass bottles. But despite my huge love for Ribena as a kid, I never had the luxury of having one at home because my parents disliked buying cordials for convenience reasons. Thus I would usually get my Ribena fix elsewhere, such as my affluent cousins’ kitchen, where the refrigerator was always stocked with surplus Ribena goodies. On good days, I would even score a brand new box of Ribena pastilles when my cousins had realised that they had bought too many of it. Ah, those were the days!

Fast forward more than 10 years, the much-loved nostalgic drink remains my guilty pleasure but the product itself – both taste-wise and aesthetically – has undergone many transformations to keep up with the times. Many different ready-to-drink flavours were introduced in the past few years (I particularly love the divine combination with lemon) to enhance the familiar taste of the blackcurrant fruit beverage. Regardless of the changes, Ribena would always retain its key ingredient blackcurrant because it was what made the brand famous after all.

So really, who would have expected it to be entirely forgone in their latest flavour? That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. Ribena has a new flavour and there isn’t any blackcurrant in it! Can you believe that?

Called the Pineapple & Passionfruit fruit drink, it’s Ribena’s first non-blackcurrant ready-to-drink product and also the first of its kind in the Singapore market!

Packed in a resealable bottle for easy consumption on-the-go, this fruit drink contains one’s daily Vitamin C requirement, making it a wholesome beverage option and energy booster for all age group, young and old alike!

Honestly, I’m still reeling from the shock that Ribena had actually left blackcurrants out from their new recipe. It’s a very bold move, I must say, to sort of downgrade it to be like any other non-carbonated drinks on the supermarket racks. But is this change worth the risk? I would think so! The drink has a refreshing tropical flavour with a right balance of sweet (from the passionfruit) and tart (from the pineapple) although the latter stood out more on my taste bud. Its moderate sweetness coupled with the burst of fruity acidity meant that it would be a guaranteed thirst quencher in this sweltering heat!

On top of that, the not-so-overpowering flavours of the Pineapple and Passionfruit fruit drink allows the taste be customised according to your needs. You can concoct different types of beverages such as cocktails and mocktails by blending it with other drinks of your choice like what I’ve done below 🙂

Ingredients (serves 4):

♦ 1 bottle of Ribena Pineapple & Passionfruit Fruit Drink
♦ 10 lime, small
♦ 1 cup of orange juice (8 oz, can be freshly squeezed or processed)
♦ 2 cups of ginger ale (16 oz)
♦ Sufficient ice cubes
♦ Sufficient salt and lime juice (can be freshly squeeze or processed)
♦ 1 pineapple wedge for 4 cups (garnish)

Step 1: Rub rims of four glasses with lime. Then, dip rims in salt and set aside

I personally think that 5 limes are enough. But to each his own 🙂

Step 2: Combine Ribena Pineapple & Passionfruit fruit drink, orange juice, lime juice, ginger ale and ice in the mixer

Or you could use a pitcher or a big jug with stirrer if you don’t have a mixer.

Each complete set of steps with my mixer serves only 2 so if you have a similar mixer like mine, do remember to repeat these steps again.

Step 3: Pour the concoction into the glasses with the rims dipped in salt

Step 4: Stir, hook pineapple wedge on rim and it’s ready to serve

Wow, it does taste even better when blended with other beverages! The original flavour of the fruit drink wasn’t overwhelmed by the additional ingredients at all. I love how the ginger ale actually made it a little more effervescent and fun to drink. And strangely the concoction actually had a mysterious guava taste! O_O Where the heck did that come from?

Anyhoo, there’s no hard and fast rule for what you should add to the mixer, so go ahead and unleash your creativity and the mixologist in you!

Have fun and thanks for reading! 🙂

Ribena Pineapple & Passionfruit Fruit Drink is now available at all Cold Storage, FairPrice, Sheng Siong and all leading supermarkets and convenience stores island-wide for S$1.80 each. For more information on Ribena, please click here.