Drinks - There is a New Juice in Town!

I realize that most people would not be as excited as I was to go to Waitrose. I'm strange, I know. Anyway, while I was there I found the greatest thing...

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Drum roll please...

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A non-apple dilutable drink that is actually citric acid free!



 Ok, it has apple in it, but it is most certainly a different flavour to all the others, Which, when you are drinking only apple on a daily basis is a wonderful thing.

Here is the previous post on the other dilutable drinks I have found so far

Drinks - Milk and Milkshakes

Plain milk we have no problem with. Wonderful stuff, and we all know what happens to little girls that don't get their calcium, don't we?

So, sometimes your milk needs jazzing up a bit.

Roll-on milkshake powder.

Unfortunately I have yet to find a milkshake POWDER that isn't freeze-dried death (at least to the citric-intolerant)

And don't you be fooled by that sneaky toffee flavour that Crusha brought out. Guess what other ingredient they added? No, I'm not bitter. YOU'RE sulking.

Moving swiftly on...

Ok, so common sense tells you that chocolate and strawberry milkshakes are out here.

Banana milkshake is usually ok. Unlucky for me that I dont LIKE banana milkshake.

Which means there are three options:

• Just drink your milk plain

• Create your own milkshake experiments. If what goes in is good, what comes out is usually better! Toffee and apple (yes, apple again...), or white chocolate and blueberry have always proven popular.

• Buy the more obscure milkshakes!! 

In this category we have...

'White chocolate flavoured milk' from Morrisons. This is good, this is very good! It is exactly what it says on the bottle. Sorry about the dreadful picture quality, I'm just trying to let you get an idea of the packaging in case you go hunting for it.

'Sticky toffee pudding flavour' milk from Tesco.If you like toffee (and milkshake!) this is worth a go. Very, very sweet - you have been warned!

And the more well-known brand:

These are relatively expensive, but worth it for a treat. Since they're limited edition I'm not sure how long they will be on the shelves, bu I'm hoping a long time:

some people have complained this is too plain, especially those who do not like to drink milk on its own. I like it, but agree there is not a lot of additional flavour from the vanilla.

Yeah, I said I didn't like banana milkshake, and if you really hate banana flavour then give this one a miss, but teamed with the toffee it is definitely worth a try. It really does taste like banoffee pie, but without the crust (obviously!)

This is simply delicious, if very sweet. Milkshakes are meant to be sweet, though, aren't they?

Drinks - Juice and Dilutable

The apple is your friend here.

In fact, apart from apples, I'm not certain there is anything else IN this category that is safe to drink.

And by no means are all apple juices/squashes safe either

I'm just saying that apart from apple (and pear - please tell me if you find safe pear or blueberry juice!) it isn't really even worth looking at the ingredients list because the fruit itself has citric acid in it, before you get to the added stuff.

Blueberry juice may appear ok on the scan, BUT 100% of the cartons I've checked have added citric acid to help shelf life. Sucks, I know.

So, for pure fruit juices you are stuck with apple, and always check the carton. If the actual phrase 'citric acid' or 'E330' aren't present then you're good to take a swig (although not before you've paid for it....)

Dilutables-wise, apple again. Are you sensing a theme here?

As usual, always check the label, but I can vouch for both this 'High Juice' from Tesco, and the equivalent drink sold at the co-op



(Although they are both packed full of sugar, and you might be best off just drinking your water plain. Still, it is nice to have options)

N.B. Homemade fruit juices (of apple, pear, blueberry) will be drinkable UNLESS the maker has added orange/lemon (as they often do). If you press fruit yourself the fruit juice will be perfectly fine (and delicious!)

"Help, we're eating out!" - Coffee House 101

Ok, picture the scene: you're out with friends, you're getting tired. Time for a sit down and a drink. You enter the coffee house.

What CAN I drink?

You're tired, you're starting to get hungry...

 Is there anything I can eat? 

Let's start with the basics:

All the coffees are out (caffeine) as are the hot chocolates (cocoa powder). However, if you are lucky enough to not be allergic to caffeine or cocoa, I can tell you that neither contain citric acid. Even decaff coffee still has some caffeine in it.

You may be able to drink the apple juice most of these places sell in bottles. Check the label, but the careful - citric acid is tricksy and has been know to hide under the name E330.

If they serve white hot chocolate that is an option.

Banana, toffee or white chocolate milkshakes are USUALLY ok, depending on the ice-cream they are using. Ask to see the packet, especially in countries other then England, because I can't vouch for what other places use as standard. Be careful of apple milkshakes (they may use apple sauce, and the preservative in that is...)



Do not assume you can eat the blueberry muffins. Some places add lemon juice.
As far as food goes, it is sandwiches (check no salad, which butter, no cheese, mayonnaise brand) or things in a packet listing the ingredients, I'm afraid.

I can now vouch for the Starbucks blueberry muffin.That is the regular one, not the skinny.Who knows, skinny one might be alright as well - but I cannot vouch for it.

I'll report back if I find other things in my wanderings, because I love coffee shops.

Hot Drink Ideas for the Caffeine and Cocoa Intolerant

'No Caf' is a beautiful thing.

An alternative hot drink, by the time you get milk and sugar in with it it is a very acceptable coffee alternative. If all you need is a hot drink that isn't going to kill you, you just found it.

They sell it at Holland and Barrett, and I am definitely not doing it justice!



Another option is white hot chocolate. Be warned, this stuff is very sweet. 'Options' do a low calorie one, although I find you have to add about four times the amount they say to get it to taste of much. By which point you could have gone to Whittard and got some of this...

Coca-Cola and Pepsi - which are safe?

Technically (caffeine being off the menu) these should not be consumed, but... well, sometimes you NEED a caffeine hit. Even when you're not meant to (If you're me, especially when you're not meant to!)

If you have ever glanced at the ingredients in a bottle of cola, you'll probably be horrified by the amount of ingredients. Including citric acid.

But all is not lost!

For some strange reason, even though pretty much every other type of cola has the dreaded citric acid in it,

  Coca-Cola zero

and

Pepsi

have been left unscathed. That only includes the original sugar-packed Pepsi, but considering all the shouting being done about artificial sweeteners, you might be better off with the sugar.

Are there ANY safe fizzy drinks?

Ok, so you're now faced with the dilemma of trying to find something fizzy to drink. You could take the high road and say,

"Well, fizzy drinks were bad for me anyway. I'm better off without."

Unfortunately, I have never been a campaigner for that approach. I like to keep the options open!

As far as fizzy goes, you're pretty limited, I'm afraid. Thankfully (because there is always a bright side!) what there is seems to be sold pretty widely, so you won't have to go to outer Mongolia for your carbonated fix.

So, I present to you...

Tango apple

Both the bottles and cans of this are safe to drink. Convenient, as I always thought it was the best one, anyway!

Sparkling Rubicon Mango

(N.B. Check you are getting the sparkling Rubicon Mango NOT the still one. The still one contains citric acid. Don't ask me why.)

Again, both the can and bottle are safe to drink.