So I purchased a few of these to try. Nasty. I bought them in my local store. The flavor is so artificial-tasting it's pathetic. When I googled "what is fruit essence", here's what I found.
The Fruit essences are intended for aromatizing of non-alcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages, sweets, chocolates and confectionary and pastry. The Bulgarian State Standard defines the fruit essences as highly-concentrated solutions. The solutions used in the manufacture of the fruit essences are ethyl alcohol and 1, 2-propyleneglycol.
So no, it's not all-natural like they claim. Wish I would have saved the $1 a bottle I spent. You'd do better juicing real fruit and pouring it into your water. At least you'd get the vitamins and minerals from it. Yes, the NATURAL sugars as well but at least it would be NATURAL.
Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend