THE EXPERT Arabella Woodrow Master of Wine and wine buyer for Forth Wines This has a medium orange/gold colour and a rancid nose. It has a sweet rather woolly flavour. Perhaps a Golden Delicious apple flavour, but the sweetness dominates completely. I prefer dry cider and find this one excessively and cloyingly sweet (but no doubt so is Woodpecker). It has none of the refreshing taste mentioned in the blurb. The packing looks nice and modern, though. For those who like sweet cider, I suppose it could be worse. Success rating out of 25 ­ 12 THE DESIGNER Matt Thompson Associate director of Blackburn's, a brand packaging designer This trendy pack is perhaps an understandable choice for young cider drinkers over traditional looking alternatives like Woodpecker. But trends change and I fear the pack has nothing to maintain brand loyalty. The name has no relevance to the product. Can it be vitamin C, redcurrant juice or is the cider red? Now there's an idea! But it isn't, it's the same old stuff. Its stable mate K was based on a sound idea of strength (K = times thousand). Sure, pump enough promotional money into it, and you'll get some return, but getting the pack right first is the most cost-effective catalyst for any new brand. Success rating out of 25 ­ 0 . THE BUYER Adam Marshall Licensed trading controller at Nisa-Today's I am reliably informed by my cider colleagues that the sweet cider market is in decline and dominated by Woodpecker. Whilst the market may be "crying out" for an alternative, I am not convinced that this is it. A quick straw poll came up with mixed views on the packaging but to me this is the first example of a brand trying to look like a ­ very nasty ­ own label. I am sure Matthew Clark is experienced enough when it comes to the liquid but to me the overall proposition is not a winner. Success rating out of 25 ­ 10 Total score out of 100 ­ 34 {{DRINKS }}

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