Right folks, it’s time, I’m going to do it, I’m going to drink a Kopparberg. I haven’t reviewed the Kopparberg before because I don’t believe it is a cider let alone a real cider. But due to popular request here are my honest opinions on the Kopparberg with Strawberry and Lime.
Recently I had some friends staying a couple of nights. As a practical joke they decided to hide a bottle of Kopparberg with Strawberry and Lime in the back of the fridge while they drank my nice craft cider. But hey if you can’t share nice cider what’s the point.
Let me explain why I don’t want to drink a Kopparberg.
I want to support the farmers, particularly Aussie farmers and orchardists. But this cider, as far as I can tell, doesn’t help even the Swedish farmers. I’ve been doing some twittering and I can’t find any evidence of anybody growing limes in Sweden, the climate is too cold. Any Aussie craft cider maker will proudly tell you about where they source their apples from but Kopparberg barely even mention that the drink has apples in it. Actually I don’t think it does have any real apples in it. I reached out to Kopparberg about this and I’ll update this review if they reply.
The Kopparberg website bangs on about how they heroically saved their mineral water from being exported to Switzerland. Now they seemly use it to dissolve the sugar. And then, ironically, export the rubbish back to around the world including Switzerland.
Today I’m going to put aside my prejudices and judge this beverage on its taste. As always this is my honest tasting notes
The Nose
Basically a packet of lollies. When I was younger I loved Allen’s Strawberries and cream lollies. The Kopparberg smells just like those, only amplified up. I’m trying to get a hit of the lime but it’s just not there. There is something zingy but it smells like a medical wipe not a fresh slice of citrus. There is nothing remotely apple like in this drink.
The Taste
Well it tastes just like those strawberry and cream lollies. Kopparberg Strawberry And Lime has the same mouth feel as the lollies, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the mouth feel is probably due to the fact that has just as much sugar in it. The strawberry taste is not like a real strawberry just a poor facsimile. The sugar hangs around like chewing gum on a shoe, it just gets everywhere.
But where is the lime? If Kopparberg is going to write it on the label, why not put it in the bottle. Well the bottle also says “premium” and “cider”. Again that medicinal tang is there, is that meant to be the lime?
The 500ml bottle does suggest serving over ice. This only tempers the problem. As Kopparberg calls this beverage a “Genuine Swedish Apple Cider with a Taste of Strawberry & Lime”. I (and the Australian Tax Office) expect apples in a cider. I simply can’t taste them over the sugary strawberry “flavour”. The drink is probably meant to be light and summary but it is weighed down by the copious amounts of sugar. 10.5 g/100mL , to put that into perspective the winner of the Commercial Cider Review, the Dirty Granny only has 2.6 g/100mL according to CUB
That fancy mineral water does not add to the taste but it does cut the costs. Real fruit that’s what adds flavour.
This is basically a fizzy sickly sweet strawberry-ish pink liquid that I don’t like at all.
Final Thoughts on the Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime
I’m going to put down my glass. This is terrible. If I’m going to harm my liver I’m going to do it with something I want to drink.
My biggest concern is that they call it cider. Under no definition could I call it cider. But it is on the same row at the bottle shop as other real ciders. Comment on large chain bottle shop says “reasonable priced fior [sic] a premium cider” – Cider Fan
Clearly the massively marketing budget of Kopparberg is causing confusion in the market place. This is not a premium cider. To me a premium cider is hand-made, has quality ingredients, and most importantly the cider maker can tell you what the apples are.
It’s cheap too, under $4.50 a 330ml bottle compared to $7 for a premium Aussie hand-made cider. How can you pay a farmer and transport the bottle around the world and turn a profit? Artificial flavours and concentrate help cut the bill owed to the farmers.
Just don’t drink this. If you can only afford 1 bottle of cider week. Have a week off and save your money and support a farmer by buying a real cider.
Product | Kopparberg with Strawberry and Lime |
Company | Kopparberg |
Sweetness | Very Sweet (10.5 g/100mL source) |
Alc/Vol | 4.0% |
Website | kopparberg.com |
Country of Origin | Sweden |
Region | I can only speculate where the ingredients come from |
May 28, 2016
Your review is pretty spot on. Kopparbergs cider is not what I would call cider but rather a alcoholic softdrink. I don’t have a bottle available, so I can’t look at the ingredients as listed on the bottle. I would wager that water and sugar are among the top three ingredients. This alone would tell us that we are not dealing with a real cider.
When it comes to the fruit ingredients it wouldn’t surprise me if the apple content is added in the form of a concentrate. The apples could very well originate from Sweden as we have plenty of apple farms, especially in the south.
The lime and strawberry content is probably very slim. Only enough to satisfy Swedish consumer law that would otherwise prevent them from depicting lime and strawberries on the bottle. The flavours are probably from more ot less artificial essences. The lime is definitely not from Sweden as lime does not grow here readily. Strawberries could be Swedish, but is probably cheaper if bought from the European mainland.
I lament that cider is not a protected product label in Europe. You could probably sell meatballs on a stick and call it cider with no repercussion. Kopparbergs come close… Unfortunately, most people in Sweden associate the word cider with this kind of sweet softdrink, with or without alcohol.
/ @MattiasBacklund
May 28, 2016
Your lucky your laws require an ingredients list. Here in Australia it’s not required, so they don’t write it in the label. As you can see from the photo. There is a push for better labelling laws.
June 2, 2016
It is not British or French style cider for sure but all the ingredients are of course natural.
June 2, 2016
They may have natural origins but they taste like they have been so very heavily processed. All the natural depth of flavour is gone. If Kopparberg where proud of what they put into their products they should list the ingredients in the bottle or even their website
February 7, 2020
Hi
Please help me by suggesting any other cider available in USA comes near to this one?
My wife loved the taste when we were in London. Not available where we live. Tx USA
February 7, 2020
This a terrible cider and is best avoided because it’s full of artificial colours and flavours age sugar . It has nothing to do with a quality Cider. This map might help you out. Ciders made with real apples have more flavour. https://www.ciderguide.com/texas-cider-map-directory/
March 8, 2021
Strawberry soft drink, you said it. Ironically, my taste buds say the same flavour as Hydralyte Strawberry Kiwifruit range of ice blocks and tablets. Artificial loveliness at its’ best!