Aaahh, the '90s. Remember the tracksuits, the sick techno beats, the youth club discos, the gully guzzling/park drinking, tasting those first legal beers and then thinking "this is gross, give me something blue and fizzy?"
Yes, for many of us who came of age in the 1990s and indeed the early 2000s, alcopops were a hypnotising phenomenon that captured the tastes and the money of a, less discerning, youth.
To be blunt, they were blinking disgusting and we wish now we'd have saved our money to buy better clothes, or at least a deluxe kebab en-route home from the club (because they were a thing then, too.)
There was no finer time for craving the sweet, fizzy, tooth-decaying and liver-frosting alcopops and weird ciders.
Make sure you've a strong stomach reading this list, they might bring back memories (aka involuntary gagging).
1. Hooch
The original, the legend, the one that was forced to have a £1m image revamp to make its packaging more "adult", Hooch is the one that everyone remembers - even if they would rather not.
You can still buy it, and yes, it's quite refreshing.
2. Diamond Zest
Those cheeky beggars who made Diamond White (more on that later) saw a great opportunity to make cider even more appealing to a certain generation, by hitchhiking on the Hooch train and brought out this Zest-y little number.
3. MD 2020
This stuff was weird, right?
Did you shoot it down? Did you put it with a mixer? Whatever you did, it was grim. And what's a red banana?
Was that flavour just banana and red colouring?
It's so confusing and not fun.
4. Lambrini
Oh wow, well, this was the, erm, classy stuff. Forget your Prosecco, this was the party wine of a certain time.
We can taste it now.
Oh God. Pass the bucket.
5. Tequila Rose
This was weird. But...kinda nice. The pubs where we frequented just sold it in the little mini-bar style bottles. And it was a little creamy treat.
We actually don't have anything bad to say about this, do you?
6. Reef
Reef was a refreshing change of pace as it wasn't a fizzy load of sugar in a bottle, it was just like a sugary orange-juice, um, with added alcohol.
It still would burn your throat if you imbibed too much of it, though.
7. WKD
Oh God, the big gun of alcopops that took us through the late '90s into the '00s.
Thanks to Charlotte Church it also makes up one half of the now legendary, cheeky Vimto. The other half being... your nan's Port.
8. Bacardi Breezer
Oooofff, we drank a fair few of these in our time, pretending, as with Reef, they were more fruity, ergo good for us, than say, a WKD or a VK.
The watermelon one was the one that no one wanted by the way..... or was that just in a pack of Jolly Ranchers?
9. Archers Aqua
Another one for when people thought they were a bit "la-dee'dah", Archer's subtle (read weak) alcopop which came in various fruity flavours. Another throat stinger. You can still buy these too!
Go on, treat yourself.
10. VK
You can also still get these in shops. Vodka Kick is it's full name, blue sick is its game.
We're not sure what flavour VK Blue is, as other colours are Tropical Fruits (kind of greeny-yellow) or Orange and Passion Fruit (unsurprisingly, orange coloured) are said - in Tesco's ingredient list - to contain actual fruit juice.
11. After Shock
Eeeewwww we can still taste it!
The only benefit of After Shock (and a refreshing Jägermeister) is that if you've got a loose cough or sore throat, it'll sort you right out.
Thank us later.
12. Metz
You may not remember the bevvie but you will remember that bloody awful Judderman advert that went with it.
A black schnapps drink, Martini Metz first made an appearance in 1996, but it was in 2000 it mad its mark with the terrifying aforementioned advert, which was enough to give anyone nightmares.
14. Two Dogs
Another hard lemonade, originally from Australia, this sort of fell by the wayside when everyone changed over to Hooch.
15. White Lightning
Gee whizz, if this list isn't giving you the heebees already this is really the bad stuff. You were either a White Lightning or a Diamond White drinker - both were equally poor examples of cider and equally poor life choices.
16. Smirnoff Ice
This must be the king of alcopops, right? Strutting its stuff onto the scene in '99, that little bit more expensive than others, a notable brand.
Yeh, Smirnoff Ice thought it was the dog's and.. yeh, it was still too fizzy and gave you a stingy throat.
17. Cinzano
Were you 17, totally bricking it in a pub and too scared to order an alcopop as it would seem.... obvious?
Then of course you'd order the only thing you could think of in your parents' drinks cabinet that wasn't expensive whisky or Bristol's Irish Cream, but looked posh as hell to a naive '90s teen!
At the same time trying to coolly reference the Joan Collins ad of the '70s just dying not to give the game away.
Walk away feeling like Joan but really acting like Leonard Rossiter.
