Sunday 19 February 2012

Portemo



I sample a delightful drink called Portemo from a local soft drink manufacturer Maine. I think the first thing to say is the bottle itself is a work of art. The kind of camp font on the label and the fantastic thick glass bottle combine to give you something that feels a bit special.

The next thing is a confession. I don't really know what Portemo is. If you search the internet you don't find much information. The name doesn't mean a lot to me as a local so I decided to dig a bit more. I believe this is a version of a drink called Portello which is local to the United Kingdom but now lives it life in sunnier climes like Sri Lanka and Australia.

Now I have never had Portello so this is a guess and it will remain only a guess unless I can get a Sri Lankan colleague to confirm for me there is a similarity. Why you might ask the name change, I found a cryptic blog that indicates Coca-Cola owns the trademark for the name Portello so this would go some way to explain the change in identity.

Now onto the maine version itself

As you can see from the photo it has a really lush deep purple colour to it. The smell of it is berry, strong berry. To me I would guess raspberry and blackcurrant as there is a definite Vimto note to it. Taste wise again there are similarities to Vimto but sweeter. It's highly carbonated which is common with Maine and this makes it really crisp and light. It's a real winner.

Really nice drink but one which still has questions over it's true identity.

If you are from Northern Ireland I would recommend trying this out. Maine is having a bit of a resurgence lately and is available in a lot of convenience stores.

8 comments:

  1. Just downed a full bottle of the stuff.

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  2. Wow! Thats good going. Enjoyed it then?

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  3. Maine do a great range you should try some of their other drinks, Sarsparilla, Splice and my favourite Scottish Kola.

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  4. Glad to have read this. I knew this drink as Portello when I was a kid (when Maine delivered to our door). When I found it again recently I was puzzled at the rename and was starting to doubt I had read it correctly back in the day. Yeah - this is a great drink - quite original.

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  5. It's 95p a glass bottle where I live, lucky me ;)

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  6. Yes they still deliver door to door, the lorry is in our street every Friday (East Belfast). I was actually drinking some tasty Portemo just now and was curious about its origin, that's how I found this page... it does resemble Vimto. Maine also produce the old fashioned local favourites White lemonade and brown lemonade... I remember someone going into a bar while abroad and asking for a vodka and White and getting a peculiar look. �� The Maine pineappleade is also very good, and I'm really keen to try the bubblegum flavour next time the delivery guy shows up and delivers our crate of lovely lemonade!

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  7. The sell in the republic also..got a bottle today its ok tadte like cream soda american cola and a drop of red lemonade

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  8. Absolutely brillant drink - drank it as a kid - called Portello then - Maine lemonade generally is really good.

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