In the quest for the perfect summer dessert, a comprehensive blind taste test has put more than a dozen supermarket sorbets under the microscope. The results, gathered by a panel of seven tasters in Sydney, reveal a landscape where price and fruit content are poor predictors of quality, and where a select few brands achieve near-perfect scores.
The Search for Sorbet Excellence
The tasting panel, led by journalist Nicholas Jordan, sampled 15 single-flavour fruit sorbets, with a focus on lemon and mango varieties. Each product was judged on texture, taste, and how well it represented the actual fruit, with the final score heavily weighted towards flavour. The surprising conclusion? Making a bad sorbet seems to require genuine effort, while the best examples rival those from artisan gelaterias.
"I've conducted 34 supermarket product taste tests, and this is right up there with the most enjoyable," Jordan noted. He observed that while the worst sorbets weren't stellar, they were "far from hell," and the best could convincingly have been crafted in a gelateria worthy of its own Chef's Table episode.
Champions of the Freezer Aisle
The standout winner of the entire test was the Golden North Raspberry Sorbet, which earned a rare and exceptional score of 9 out of 10. Priced at £10.90 for a 1.2-litre tub, it was praised for transcending its promise. Tasters described it as if the raspberries had undergone a "superheroic transformation," resulting in a velvety, perfectly balanced sweet and acidic confection.
In the mango category, the Coles Finest Luxury Mango Sorbet took top honours with an 8.5/10. With the highest fruit percentage of all mango sorbets tasted, its texture and flavour were likened to fresh mango pulp, offering a scoopable version of the perfect frozen mango cheek.
For the best value, the panel pointed to the Gelativo Mango Sorbet. At just £6.50 for a litre, its score of 8/10 was attributed to a polite, well-rounded mango flavour that one reviewer described as if "a committee came together to make this."
The Curious Case of Lemon Sorbets
The lemon sorbet category provided an interesting contrast. The Golden North Lemon Sorbet (8/10), containing just 4% lemon juice, was voted the most lemony, likely due to a hint of bitter zest. It was compared to the classic, palate-cleansing sorbet served in Italian restaurants.
Conversely, the Coles Finest Luxury Lemon Sorbet (7.5/10), with over 19% lemon, offered a different pleasure. Tasters found it evoked "primary school nostalgia," tasting like a "blended icy pole" or lemon drops—delicious, but not necessarily a true-to-fruit experience.
The Sorbets That Missed the Mark
Not all products fared well. The Bravo Gelato Mighty Miss Mango Sorbet scored a lowly 4.5/10, uniquely failing the "does-this-taste-like-fruit" test. Reviewers struggled to describe its flavour, referencing "freezer air" and various appliances, while its texture was called spongy and rubbery.
The Amazonia Açai Sorbet Original fared even worse with a 4/10. It was criticised for a grainy, slimy texture and a flavour profile described as an "assault to the senses," reminiscent of overripe bananas, olive oil, and turpentine.
Other notable mentions included the Weis Mango Sorbet (6/10), whose powerful, almost fermented tropical flavour divided the panel, and the Coles Finest Luxury Blueberry Sorbet (7/10), which was deemed to be trying too hard, projecting a candied, generic berry flavour rather than the subtlety of real blueberries.
The key takeaway for consumers is clear: in the world of supermarket sorbet, brand knowledge trumps assumptions about price or fruit content. The gap between the mediocre and the magnificent is vast, but the top-tier products prove that a taste of summer perfection can indeed be found in the freezer aisle.
