Rochester Ginger has been around in one form or another since the 1870s, when The Original Drinks Company started making non-alcoholic alternatives to ginger wine in Kent. The recipe is built around a serious 14% ginger extract — more than most ginger drinks — blended with botanicals that were typical of Victorian cordial-making: elderflower, primrose and raisin. There are no artificial colours, flavours or sweeteners. In the glass it is bright amber-gold and noticeably thick. The ginger is the star and makes no apologies for it — sharp, aromatic heat upfront, tempered by a soft dried-fruit sweetness from the raisin extract and lifted by floral elderflower. It is sweet, but the citric acid prevents it from becoming syrupy. Sipped neat it is intense; over ice or topped with sparkling water it opens up considerably. It sits in a genuinely unusual category: too sweet and spiced to pass as a wine replacement, but far more complex than most soft drinks. It is widely available in health food shops and independent delis, and tends to attract people who want something with character rather than just a long drink. If you like ginger and do not want anything watered down, this is one of the better options out there.