Home > Categories > Beverages > Fruit Juices > Benjer Apple & Boysenberry Juice review
From its tussock-clad hills to its crystal clear rivers, our home in Central Otago has always been a place of inspiration for us. The natural ingredients we use and the passion we pour into our craft pay homage to this and result in the authentic, full-flavoured juice you see before you today.
We take the most flavoursome, sun-ripened fruits from local mountain orchards and bottle them the old fashioned way so you can enjoy the intense natural flavours of the region all year round. This is a juice like no other. In fact, we like to think of our drinks as "juiced fruit", rather than fruit juice. What's more, we seal in all the goodness and flavour, but leave out all the additives - you won't find any preservatives here.
Product reviews...
After tasting the Benjer Apple Juice I was really excited to try this juice too in fact I would love to try all the juices Benjer make because they are just so good. Like with the apple juice I was in love with this juice from the first sip. It was slightly sweeter than the plain apple with the addition of the boysenberry but again you could tell it was just juiced fruit.
Like with the apple juice there was a layer of sediment in the bottle so you could tell it was made with real ingredients and not just an artificial product. I gave it a quick shake and it soon disappeared. I liken this to a juice you can tell is home made but without all the fuss of making home made juice. I am happy to let my kids drink this products knowing it is not full of artificial flavours and colours and even better no added sugar.
This drink is definitely sweet enough without the addition of sugar or flavours which shows how unnecessary they are. Like I said in my apple juice review I love that it is natural and that it is made out of real fruit you can really tell the difference in quality to say a just juice and I would be more happy to say my kids are getting a serving of fruit with this than I would with other fruit juices.
I love the bottles with the nz map on the cap and the gentle colours of the label it is definitely something I could drink at a party and I would happily buy one at a cafe if I was out and about. Will definitely be trying to track down some more of this juice in the future.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this juice as I usually tend to sway towards the Apple and Mango or Feijoa flavoured drinks but this one looked too good to miss so I had to try some. I gave the bottle a good shake first to get rid of all the sediment stuff at the bottom. On first taste I thought "YUM!" then I offered my mum and brother a taste and they both thought it was delicious too.
In between mouthfuls, I had a look at the bottle and found out that it no added sugar, meaning that the sweetness in the juice was from just the fruit! That's amazing, if I didn't read it for myself I wouldn't have believed it. Such a beautiful, sweet taste. It's also preservative free and gluten free which is always a bonus.
I was really impressed with this drink, I've tried others without added sugar and they are no where near sweet enough for my liking but this one was perfect. The bottle was really well designed right up to the New Zealand pattern on the lid. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for this juice in cafes and restaurants where other glass bottled fruit juice is usually sold but I'd also love to be able to purchase some from the supermarket if it's available.
I was thrilled to be able to review this product. I love fruit juices in particular ones that are packed full of real fruit not artificially sweetened and packed full of preservatives.
I was pleased to see this ticked a few boxes for me with no preservatives and it was made from real fruit. As they call it "juiced fruit" not fruit juice. Looking at the bottle before I opened it I could see the drink looked quite thick (I turned it up and down a few times) which told me it had real fruit in it and not sugary rubbish.
Once I had taken off the lid I grabbed some ice and popped it into my cup and poured the juice over it. While pouring the juice you could see bits of fruit flowing out of the bottle, which to me is a sign of good juice. I took my first sip and to start with it was quite tart and I thought this could be the boysenberries mixed with the apple. But, the more I drank the quicker my palette adjusted and I really enjoyed the flavour. It wasn't overpowering and there was no 'in your face' sugar hit. It was really refreshing and something I could see myself drinking in a cafe over the summer time. It is quite a filling drink as well so would be ideal for a mid morning/afternoon snack while on the run.
All in all a nice refreshing drink that is full of flavour and is something I will definately be buying again.
I was really pleased to review this juice. Whenever I have a choice of juice, I always choose anything with berries in it, so the Boysenberry in this juice was the real attraction to me. I was rapt to see that this juice was made in Otago as it's always great to not only buy New Zealand made, but locally made. The label said it was also preservative free, gluten free, not made from concentrate and had no added sugar!
My husband and I shared a glass each of this juice, with my husband commenting that it had a real appealing colour and that you can really see the pulpy look of the boysenberries. The first taste of the juice was certainly a taste explosion, the mix of the apples and boysenberries was fantastic. You initially think the juice is tart but as you continue to drink the juice, you really enjoy the refreshing and real fruit flavours. It was great not to be overpowered with sugar which allowed me to really taste the fruit. This is the first juice I have seen with these combination of fruits and after tasting it, it left me wondering why I have not seen it sooner?
I would like to be able to purchase this in bigger bottles as it went too fast! Oh well will have to buy a few bottles now, but I suspect they wont last long!
"We like to think of our drinks as "juiced fruit", rather than fruit juice". That is as accurate a description of this drink as you can get. Pouring into a glass, this dark red drink clearly is made up of the actual fruit, and not just of the juices. There is present an obvious amount of finely blended fruit material (but it is neither pulpy, nor slimy, just...a suspension). It almost has a similar look to tomato juice.
I will admit the suspension did look a bit odd, and made me question whether the drink had gone off, but after tasting the drink it became clear that this was how the drink was meant to be.
The juice itself is very tart; originally it almost tasted more like cranberry. The apple is the most prevalent flavour, however, but the boysenberry adds a very prominent colour and tartness to the beverage. I enjoyed the sweetness, though it was probably a little too tangy for my tastebuds (I prefer a more mellow "ribena-like" berry drink), but I was very pleased at the fact that no sugar was added to the drink.
An enjoyable drink, that goes down quickly (the portion size holds less that the conventional 'can") but is definitely a satisfying drop.
When I was told there were Benjer fruit juices available for review the challenge was which one would I choose. I selected the Apple and Boysenberry as I love my berries and it is uncommon to find a drink with boysenberries. The first thing I noticed was the rich purple colour of the drink through the clear glass bottle. That was instant appeal. There was a bit of sediment at the bottom of the bottle but it was very easy to shake it through. The artwork on the twist cap was very cute with a map of New Zealand, fruit and a bottle.
The bottle was easy to open and drink from. I drank half the bottle chilled and really enjoyed it. It was very sweet and I checked the label to see how much sugar was in it and was surprised to see that the sweetness came just from the apples and boysenberries. There was no added sugar. It was a pure fruit juice so I didn't feel guilty drinking it. I felt even better when I realised it was made in Cromwell from New Zealand fruit.
As I was sitting at the computer on a cold winter's day my fingers feeling like ice cubes I wondered how the juice would taste warmed up. I poured what was left of my bottle into a mug and popped it into the microwave for 1.5 minutes. It smelt great. It tasted even better. It felt like I was giving my body a healthy treat and of course I was. This would be really good for someone with a cold with the vitamin C it contains but as I am currently healthy it warmed me up and had me smiling.
After drinking this I am keen to try some of the other Benjer fruit juices but they will have to be fabulous to beat this one. I will be looking out for them at cafes and stores.
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