Swizzels Squashie Bubblegum - 1L

Squash is part of the furniture in a British kitchen. There is always a bottle by the kettle, and every child learns early how strong they can make it before someone notices. Swizzels, the people behind Love Hearts, Drumsticks and Parma Violets, putting a sweet into a squash bottle is about as British as a drinks cupboard gets.

In Canada, squash is the thing people miss without quite realising it. You go to make the kids a drink after school and reach for a bottle that is not there. This one fixes that, and it brings a sweet-shop name along with it.

It comes as a 1L bottle of concentrate, so you add the water yourself and make it as strong or as weak as you like. A bottle goes a long way, it sits happily in the cupboard until it is opened, and the label tells you how to keep it after that. Make it up by the glass, by the jug for a birthday party, or pour it into lolly moulds for summer.

It tends to end up in the basket next to a few bags of Swizzels sweets and whichever British squash the household has always sworn by.