Taste test: Is Pimm's the best Pimm's, or can supermarket 'dupes' beat the real deal?

Here are our taste test contenders, ranging in price from £8.49 for Aldi and Lidl own-brand, to £14 for the real Pimm's (prices checked on Friday 5 June):

• Aldi Austin's Classic Summer Punch (70cl) – £8.49

• Lidl Peyton's Summer Fruit Cup (70cl) – £8.49

• Tesco Summer Cup (70cl) – £9

• Pimm's No.1 Cup (70cl) – £14 (Tesco Clubcard & Sainsbury's Nectar Price)

We checked other major supermarkets such as Sainsbury's (our previous Pimm's taste test winner from 2017), Asda and Morrisons, but they weren't selling a Pimm's dupe this year.

There's detail on how we did the test below (including a lot of toiling over fruit choices), but I don't want to keep you waiting, so the MSE Pimm's taste test winner is...

Aldi!

Aldi is the champion, as it came joint first in every category. This crucially includes the joint most votes for flavour, alongside Pimm's itself. Yet it’s nearly 40% cheaper, so if you're looking to downshift, Aldi is a worthy MoneySaving swap.

Pimm's itself unsurprisingly came joint top with Aldi for flavour, yet the big shock was it only third in the ‘tastes most like Pimms’ vote. If you're a lover of the real deal, maybe try one of our other contenders to see if you really can taste the difference.

Lidl got joint-top marks for price, and a decent flavour score, but our testers thought it was the least 'Pimm's-like' of the four. Aldi is likely a better budget alternative.

Tesco fooled many into thinking it was the real deal, but ultimately failed to impress the testers on taste. Even though it didn't pack a punch, it's a decent price at only 51p more expensive than both Aldi and Lidl.

This being said, our winner Aldi, only won 30% of flavour votes so there wasn't a whole lot in it. Every single bottle came joint top for one of the categories, so downshifting is definitely worth a shot. If you can get a good price on Pimm's or a supermarket own-brand, you likely won't be disappointed.

How I prepped the taste test:

It seems everyone has their preference for how they like their Pimm's served. I opted for what I perceive to be the classic ingredients – full sugar lemonade, mint, cucumber, orange, and strawberries. I weighed each ingredient out, and chopped it in the same way for each jug (weighing out precisely four grams of mint for each jug may not have been the best use of my afternoon, but in the name of fair testing, it had to be done).

I was surprised only Pimm's and Tesco gave instructions on how to make a jug. Aldi and Lidl instruct based on an individual glass, and the only measurement each give is the alcohol, and tell you to 'top up' with lemonade.

Both Aldi and Lidl state a serving is 25ml, whereas Pimm's and Tesco say 50ml. Perhaps this is so Aldi and Lidl can suggest their Pimm's dupes are super-cheap per 'serving'? Well, to avoid confusion, I went for a one-part alcohol to three-parts lemonade recipe, as listed on the back of the Pimm's and Tesco bottles.

You may spot in the photos that the jugs themselves are different sizes, but don't worry, the ratios and components inside were identical.

An interesting side note... When looking at alcohol volume, the supermarket dupes pack more of a punch (17.5 units vs 15.4 units in Pimm's). Not only is Pimm's pricier, but it's also technically more diluted than the cheaper alternatives.

Another interesting side note... We last did this taste test back in 2017 and if you're curious how much the cost of Pimm's and its dupes have risen in the past nine years, here's a breakdown of the prices we were working with then, versus now.

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