Food

Man has an ingenious solution to beat the Irn Bru sugar tax problem

Its a widely-known fact that Scotland is one of the few countries in the world where Coca Cola is not the best-selling soft drink.

Thats all because of Irn Bru; the rusty, sweet beverage, full of delicious girders.

Despite the nations love for it, people got a bit up in arms recently after AG Barr, who make the drink, changed the recipe to comply with the sugar tax.

A petition was made, stockpiling was done, but no-one could save the original recipe and the low-sugar version was introduced at the start of this year.

Of course there was a backlash, but Irn Bru could do nothing but stick to their guns.

Despite their protestations, Scots and expats still say they can taste a difference, and cans of the old formulations are on auction sites at about £40 a crate.

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A new BBC Scotland video shows a new way that might just satiate the thirst for the sweet stuff without spending a fortune, though.

It features a man named Lee, who was devastated to see his beloved drink change, and decided to take action.

Heres his solution:

So all you need is a SodaStream (or other unbranded carbonation device), some water, and a bit of cordial.

These cordials and syrups are relatively hard to come by, but can be purchased.

This Mr. Fitzpatricks one looks quite fancy and is a pricey £4.15 a bottle, but doesnt have the dreaded aspartame that people seem to be avoiding.

Slush syrups – such as the Jak Products one Lee used and this Snowshock one – could be a more cost-effective option, and should give you ice-cream van nostalgia for your youth.

If an Irn Bru loyal like Lee is happy with this replacement its saying something, but a spokesperson for A.G. Barr says: IRN-BRUs still fizzin with the same secret recipe essence thats mixed by Robin Barr, and its still made with sugar, just not as much as before. Still tastes great, nae hassle.

They jurys out.

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