Prune Juice Concentrate: PruneAid, 500ml

Nobody Gets Through a Bag of Prunes.
Two Tablespoons, Though.

You've bought the prunes with good intentions and found them at the back of the cupboard in March. PruneAid is prune juice with the water taken out: fresh French prune plums, pressed and reduced to a concentrate. Two tablespoons in a glass of cold water, sixteen glasses to a bottle, about two hundred prune plums in there and nothing else but a pinch of preservative to keep it. It tastes properly of prune, so pour it over ice. The potassium is the fruit's own, 333mg a glass. Potassium contributes to normal muscle function.¹ Two tablespoons. One glass. Nothing to chew.

Two tablespoons, cold water. Add PruneAid.

Two Tablespoons, One Glass.

Measure two tablespoons into a glass, top up with cold water, stir. That's the whole thing. Ice makes it better; a lot of customers say so. It goes into a smoothie without complaint and into yoghurt if you'd rather eat it than drink it. Any time of day that becomes a habit. Sixteen glasses to a bottle, one a day, and it lives in the fridge once it's open.

Two tablespoons. Cold water. Ice if you're sensible.

What's in the Bottle.

Prune juice concentrate, from fresh French prune plums, and a pinch of potassium sorbate so it doesn't spoil once it's open. That's the ingredient list. No added sugar, no colours, no flavourings. The sweetness is the fruit's, which is a lot of sweetness, because prune plums are sweet and this is the fruit with most of the water taken out. About two hundred of them to a bottle. Vegan, and nothing in it that anyone's allergic to.

Concentrate, Not a Carton.

A carton of prune juice is a litre in the fridge door, gone in a week, most of it water. This is the prunes with the water left out until you add it. Two tablespoons carries about a small glass of prune juice's worth of fruit; add the water and you've a longer, milder drink with the same fruit in it. One bottle in the cupboard until you open it, sixteen glasses once you do, and you decide how strong the glass is. Some people add more water than the bottle says. Some add less. Two tablespoons is the serving either way.

Potassium, From the Fruit.

Prune plums carry potassium, and concentrating them concentrates that too: 333mg in every glass, 17% of a day's reference intake, from the fruit and nothing added. In the bottle's own words: Made from fresh prune plums, Wellgard PruneAid contains naturally occurring phytonutrients including potassium which contributes to normal nervous system function, normal muscle function, and to the maintenance of normal blood pressure.¹ ² ³ That's the benefit the bottle can put its name to. The rest is prunes.

Two tablespoons, cold water. Add PruneAid.

About the Taste.

It tastes of prunes. Strongly, if you take it as the bottle says; one customer called it "like the fizz has gone out of a fizzy drink", another "nae that bad tbh", and both are fair. If you like prune juice you'll like this more. If you find it sickly, more water, more ice, or hide it in a smoothie. If you don't like prunes at all, this won't change your mind, and the refund is there.

Who It's For.

The one who buys prunes and never finishes them. The carton-weary. The one who likes prune juice and is tired of the fridge door. The one who wants it in a smoothie, not a glass. The one who's been told to eat more fruit and would rather drink it. Not children under twelve, and anyone on medication asks their GP first.

What This Won't Do.

It won't replace fruit; it's a supplement, not the fruit bowl. It won't keep forever once opened: sixteen days in the fridge, which is also sixteen glasses, so a bottle lasts exactly as long as it keeps. And it isn't for children under twelve. The bottle carries a warning that it may have a laxative effect, and it means it: two tablespoons is the serving, not a starting point.

How You'll Know.

The first glass tells you two things. Is the taste yours. How much water. At two weeks the bottle is nearly done and so is its fridge life, which is tidy. Whether you want the next one is the honest test. If it isn't for you, the refund covers the first thirty days, opened or not. If it is, the next bottle arrives before the last two tablespoons.

How to Enjoy It.

Mix 30ml, two tablespoons, with a regular glass of water, 240ml, once a day, as the bottle says; cold is nicer. It also stirs into a smoothie or natural yoghurt. Keep it in a cool, dry cupboard until you open it; then in the fridge, and finish it within sixteen days. Pour it; never drink from the bottle. Then the plain part: do not exceed the recommended intake; not for children under twelve; keep out of the reach of children; it may have a laxative effect; and if you're pregnant, breastfeeding, on medication or under a doctor's care, ask your GP first.

Your First Bottle.

Five hundred millilitres, sixteen glasses, on Subscribe & Save: 15% off every order, the next bottle before the last one runs out. Pause it, skip it or cancel it from your account in two clicks; each bottle is charged at the subscription price shown until you do, and there's nothing to unsubscribe from twice. If it isn't for you, we refund the bottle within thirty days, opened or not. No hard feelings.

Two tablespoons, cold water. Add PruneAid.

¹ Potassium contributes to normal muscle function.
² Potassium contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system.
³ Potassium contributes to the maintenance of normal blood pressure.