An Evening of Good Taste at Fruit Towers.

I don't think I've ever replied so quickly to an email in my life. When Innocent Drinks invited me along to Fruit Towers for an evening of good taste with some other lovely bloggers and members of the press, I didn't hesitate to say yes.

Innocent Drinks are one of my favourite brands, as a marketer I have a list of 'dream clients' who I'd love to work with. Innocent are right there near the top due to their awesome content, but sadly they do everything in-house, and I could never work in-house, I'd get so bored just working with one brand. Maybe I should persuade them to get an agency to help them out ;) *cough*

So last week I practically sprinted from the office to Fruit Towers for my evening of good taste with the juice and smoothie experts of the world. We started with delicious healthy canapes by the Dip Society and Anna Jones. Anna is the author of vegetarian cookbook 'A Modern Way to Eat', and her chocolate salted caramel brownies were so moreish! Just look at them!

After canapes and drinking our very own healthy non-alcoholic mojitos, we all sat down and were told the running order for the evening. We then split into groups and learnt all about senses, and how Innocent Drinks use their senses to determine what juices and smoothies they produce. They take everything into consideration including the colour, texture, consistency, taste, and even the way the flavours appear when you taste the drink and what order the different flavours come through.

Next up we got to see behind the scenes in their uber top secret lab, where they test and create all of their juices and smoothies. We tasted various basic tastes, such as salt and umami, and had to write down what they reminded us of. We then had to 'blind taste' cups only marked with numbers, and write down what we thought they were next to the numbers. Apparently every Innocent employee has to do this test before they're officially accepted at Innocent! 

We then went back into the main 'chill-out' area of Fruit Towers for a presentation and talk by none other than Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, the authors of The Flavour Bible, which is used by Michelin starred chefs around the world.

We all sat down, and throughout the presentation we had tasting sessions. I wasn't a massive fan of this lovely plate of carrots...

However the Avocado and Mango on a rice-cracker was absolutely wonderful. I never knew avocado and mango would go so well together! I may have eaten this entire plate...I have no regrets. The talk was really interesting and insightful, and I'm definitely going to be attempting to create my own concoctions with my copy of The Flavour Bible.

Next up on the list of fun things Innocent had arranged for us, was making our very own juices! Ellie and I paired up for this task and ran for the bike while everyone else headed for the kitchen. I mean come on, how could no one else want to get on this thing!? 

We made a delicious smoothie full of healthy blueberries, raspberries, apple, and apple juice. Sadly though, it was quite hard work on the bike, especially as both of us were wearing skirts, so our 'juice' turned into a very thick smoothie that resembled more of a compote...it was still yummy though! 

We then got to taste a bit of everyone else's, before the people at Innocent tried them and chose the winner. Needless to say we didn't win, but it was still a lot of fun! We left Fruit Towers armed with a goody bag full of juices, smoothies, a fun tea towel with the different areas of taste on the tongue (in true Innocent design and style of course), and a copy of The Flavour Bible. It was rather heavy to carry home, but so worth it.

Also, I can confirm that Fruit Towers is the coolest office ever. Bananas. Bananas everywhere. And grass. And flowers. And I love how their brand voice is absolutely everywhere and so unbelievably consistent. The quirks you see on the backs of their bottles, in their marketing campaigns, and on their social media, is seen throughout their office. It was pretty awesome getting to take a peek inside one of the most famous offices in the country. Thanks for having me, Innocent!