Magma
Magma - “Hell fire in a bottle”
Mar 7, 2002, 11:25

Six weeks after its UK launch to the drinks trade, Magma - the cinnamon based shot brand which has an ‘after burn’ like a Tornado jet fighter - has been slammed by some of the establishment as possibly the worst tasting spirit drink in the UK!

A team of influential commentators writing in The Grocer, a well-respected weekly ‘bible’ for the grocery industry has slammed Magma as “the most noxious, nauseating and comprehensively disgusting concoction possible”. Another member of the tasting panel said Magma was “absolutely awful” while another described the brand as “Hell fire in a bottle”. The last member of the tasting panel, a partner in a double glazing business in Truro, Cornwall and a target consumer said “that Magma was more a knock and chew rather than knock straight back” and that “the cinnamon flavour”, a core brand characteristic, “had a kick not unlike a Blackpool pleasure beach mule” he went on “Magma’s full power kicks in with mouth burning chilli”.

Forming part of The Grocer’s regular analysis of drinks products on the market, the tasting panel gave Magma the lowest ever score in its history - a mere 14 out of a possible 100 points - half the panel gave it no points at all! But have they missed the point? Is Magma a brand that’s gone too far, or is it the spirits industries equivalent of Damien Hurst, the contemporary artist who shocked the art world to its roots with his phenomenally successful cow cutting escapades?

“Yes Magma has an unusual taste, and like other beverages it is not going to appeal to everyone, especially the traditionalists. However, give to a bunch of 18-30 tear olds out for a good time on a Friday or Saturday night and the glutinous, red appearance and vivid aftertaste becomes the ultimate drinking challenge” says Jeremy Hill the brand manager responsible for the birth of Magma.

“We did a whole load of pre launch taste-tests in bars and clubs and nine out of ten of those who tasted Magma said they liked it and would drink it again and would get their mates to drink it! Incidentally not one of the test groups wore carpet slippers or smoked a pipe (well not during test anyway!).

“It’s not for me to comment on what The Grocer panel felt about it” continues Hill, “I just know, as do the people of who enjoy the challenge of shots brands, that Magma delivers – it looks unusual, tastes like nothing on earth and has the aftertaste that sends taste buds into meltdown, Yes it’s hell-fire in a bottle!”.