Better Libations | Healthy Drink Reviews

Ahh, pineapple and coconut.  One of the tastiest flavor combinations to come out of the tropics.  (And responsible for the inebriation of countless sorority girls across the country).

Aroma: The second I crack open the seal, I’m greeted by a distinctive citrus-y pineapple tang.  The pineapple scent seems to be right on target – I hope this carries through to the actual taste!

Taste: The sweet tang of pineapple (and possibly a little mango or citrus) does indeed take center stage in this drink.  It tastes light and almost a little creamy.  At first I was concerned that the pineapple would overpower the rather delicate flavor of the coconut water (which has a much lighter flavor than cream of coconut), but it seems to balance out just fine here.  Sweet pineapple-citrus up front, and slightly nutty coconut on the back end. 

Health Factor: Like all its coconutty siblings, Pina Tropicale pulls off an amazing level of sweetness with only 12 grams of sugar in the entire 14-ounce bottle.  Part of this is simply because of the nature of coconut water – it always seems to deliver a big sweetness punch without a lot of sugar.  But out of everything I’ve tried so far, Zico ranks the lowest in total sugar grams per ounce.  That’s quite the accomplishment!

Overall: While deciding my final rating, I had to think long and hard about the flavoring of this drink.  I could nitpick about wanting a slightly sharper, fresher pineapple flavor from it.  I felt like it could be a little more full-bodied.  But after pondering it for a while, I concluded that it is meant to be a light, refreshing sports drink, and it does has a wonderful flavor for that.  And like the other flavors, it kept me coming back for more until the entire bottle disappeared with alarming speed.  I’m taking it for what it is – a light, tasty, and very refreshing sports drink.

Rating: 5.0 out of 5

-Danithius-

User Ratings: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Zico Coconut Water coconut water, drink reviews

Hola Libationaros!  Today I’m pleased to kick off another multi-flavor review run – this time for Zico Coconut Water.  Recently I became addicted to coconut water both because of its taste and its natural hydration properties.  Due to a particularly intense workout program that WiseGuise talked me into, I’ve been exercising six days a week at an intensity level that usually has me drenched in sweat by the time it’s over.  (And thus in dire need of good hydration).  So, it was almost too perfect when Zico offered to send some of their new flavors to us for review.  I searched my living room for listening devices, but found nothing.  Yet.

As I write this, I’ve just finished with an intense Yoga session (don’t laugh – this yoga will CRUSH YOU), so I’m ready for some serious hydration.  I have a lot of flavors to choose from here, but it so happens that a total fitness-buff friend advised me that chocolate milk is a great post-workout recovery drink.  And I just happen to have a bottle of chocolate coconut water right here!

Aroma: Off goes the plastic wrapping, off goes the screw-on top, and off goes the inner seal.  (Wow, I’ve seen band-aid packages that take fewer precautions than this).  Now we get to the good stuff – a rich, fudgy scent that reminds me of a cross between a dark chocolate truffle and… let’s say Cocoa Puffs. 

Taste: This is not my usual experience with coconut water.  They have somehow made this light, mellow juice into a thick, rich chocolate experience.  And yet… as I drink more, I find that it goes down just as easily as the regular stuff, leaving me feeling refreshed and revitalized.  As a matter of fact, despite the differences I’m finding this flavor just as addicting as I found straight-up coconut water.  I just want to drink more and more and… oops, it’s gone. 

Health Factor: I am always impressed with coconut water’s ability to achieve perfect sweetness with so little sugar, and this is no exception.  18 little grams manage to sweeten the whole 14 ounce bottle, and it doesn’t lack for anything.  On the other hand, pretty much every chocolate milk that I can find (even in health food stores) packs a sugary wallop of 25-30 grams per cup. (A cup is 8 ounces, for the record).

This coconut water also packs a nice amount of vitamins/minerals such as potassium, calcium, vitamin A, iron, phosphorus, and magnesium.  One bottle has just over 100 calories and only 2 grams of fat.  I’d take this over chocolate milk any day!

Rating: 5.0 out of 5 – A chocolate sports drink?  A chocolate sports drink??  Your prayers have been answered.  (Hell, screw sports, I’d drink this any time).

-Danithius-

User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Zico Coconut Water

This infusion comes from the good people at Honest, whom we have come to adore over the years for their healthy, tasty drinks.  This line came out of the blue for me, Danithius was apparently more on the up-and-up with things going on in the world of cacao.  Cherry and chocolate is one of those beloved flavor combinations that conjure childhood memories of eating chocolate cherries until you get sick.  But this tandem of tastes goes well beyond that.  The two are sensually-charged alone, together they create something akin to a ‘flavor explosion’, but less overdone and cliche.

With all the cocoa sediment, this one really needs a good shake.  After a twist of the ‘organic’-emblazoned lid, I get the first lusty aromatic experience.  The cherry cacao scent is strong with this one, at once sharp, sweet and earthy.  A smokey scent is present, but just a hint.  The taste is sweet with a hint of the cherry tartness, and a smooth background flavor of the cacao and chickory.  One might expect this to be thick and creamy, like a chocolate milk, but it has no milk products in it.  It still has a creamy quality to it, with a smokey hint from the roasted ingredients.

It’s like eating chocolate dipped cherries in front of a fire on a moonlit night–inside of a bottle.  Only fifty calories, delicious, a sensory overload and organic/fair trade?  Yeah, that will pass our guidelines.  If this came by the quart, I would chug it straight from the bottle.  Beware chocolate lovers and those with experienced palates, this one will draw you in and leave you wanting more, like a low-calorie, amazing one-night stand.

Score: 5 out of 5. Not your average chocolate beverage, but far above average; and not bad for you.

– WiseGuise

** Danithius Review Rebuttal **

Cherry is the PERFECT flavor to round out Honest Tea’s cacao-drink trio.  The spot-on sweet cherry flavor in this bottle dances beautifully with the cocoa and roasted chicory essences.  This is the perfect flavor to introduce you to the CocoaNova line; it has the familiarity of a cherry cordial and yet feels somehow exotic as you explore the roasty richness of Honest’s cocoa blend.  Another 5.0 in my book!

User Reviews: (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Honest Tea fair trade, organic

Today it’s time to tackle another cacao-infused entry from Honest Tea.  I was a big fan of the Mint Cacao flavor, and I’m anxious to see how the mocha entry measures up.  I’m definitely down with coffee/cocoa combinations, though.  Really, the two flavors are practically made for each other.  The beans themselves go through a very similar process – coffee and cacao beans are both fermented, dried, and roasted in order to yield the tasty, tasty products we all know and love.  (OK, not all coffee beans are fermented.  But typically the good ones are).

Aroma: I shake up the bottle and pop the top.  The deep, heady aroma of melted dark chocolate wafts up to my nose, enticing me to take a sip right away.  I have to restrain myself in order to take another whiff, and this time I can detect the roasted coffee scent mingling pleasantly with the chocolate.   OK, enough smelling!

Taste: There are so many flavors swirling around in this drink.  It does indeed taste chocolatey, but similar to the Mint Cacao flavor, the chocolate in this a raw edge to it.  A tang, a little bite, a tinge of brightness.  That tang actually helps drive the sense of sweetness for the whole drink, aided by a little bit of organic cane sugar.  The full roasty flavor from the coffee, cocoa, and roasted chicory stays with you as the sweetness fades, leaving a warm depth of flavor to keep your tongue company.  I said before that I found my new morning drink of choice in the Mint Cacao flavor, but I’m taking that back.  This is my new morning drink of choice!  (The mint will now be my afternoon refresher of choice).  I don’t think it’s even possible to produce a more perfect morning beverage.  Until they invent a method for juicing rainbows. 

Health Factor: It still amazes me that Honest manages to get such sweetly balanced flavors out of so little sugar.  This 10 ounce bottle packs a mere 13 grams of sugar, and yet it lacks nothing for sweetness.  It has a total calorie count of 50. It passes every BL health-test that we can throw at it with flying colors. 

Overall Rating: 5.0 out of 5

-Danithius-

User Ratings: (3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Honest Tea

Honest Tea, Ancient Mayan-Style

Hey there, fellow libation-liberation fighters!  Recently WiseGuise and I were almost giddy to find out that Honest Tea has started producing a cacao-based beverage.  No, not like a hot cocoa or a Yoo-hoo kind of deal.  This is OLD-school chocolate, the way it used to be quaffed by the ancient Mayans!

My ears have been abuzz recently with news about several companies that are putting cacao beans through a process similar to coffee beans, roasting and brewing them to create delicious and healthy choco-drinks.  I’m excited to finally dig into one!

Aroma: I shake up the bottle, pop the top, and inhale deeply.  Fresh mint and sweet chocolate are the first scents to greet me, and as I investigate further I can detect traces of the roast.  It doesn’t smell as deeply-sweet as a normal chocolate drink – it smells more fresh and slightly tangy, like a raw drink as opposed to a refined, sugary one.

Taste: Now that is something.  It is somewhere in the land between a chocolate drink, tea, and coffee.  The warm roasty flavors of the cocoa and chicory root are countered superbly by the cooling peppermint.  This drink has plenty of body and is sweetened juuuust right – definitely one of Honest Tea’s talents.  But don’t go in expecting the creamy-sweet mouthfeel that refined chocolate drinks have.  This is more of a flavorful tonic that could very well replace your daily coffee or tea if you had such a mind. 

Health Factor: This is a great way to access a lot of the antioxidant powers of dark chocolate without OD’ing on sugar.  One bottle of Honest CocoaNova has all the right measurements: 10.1 total ounces, 13 grams of sugar, and 50 calories!  And it’s all organic and fair-trade to boot.  This is the natural, healthful direction that I’d like to see all beverages strive towards. 

Rating:  5.0 out of 5 – I think I found my new morning drink of choice. 

-Danithius-

User Ratings: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Honest Tea

Simple, just like this beverage

Hello fellow libation connoisseurs, I bring you the last in our new series of Zevia reviews, just as Danithius promised.  This last round has been fun, and what a better way to end it than with a caffeine-free diet cola!  I’ve always been a fan of colas, and I have recently (last year or so) attempted to gain an appreciation for the diet version, trying to cut the excess sugar out of my life.  When I tried  Zevia’s Natural Cola, I was pleasantly surprised. It had a few things mainstream colas don’t (like no sugar) and has a pleasant taste.  It is only fitting that Zevia compliment it with an uncaffeinated version for those who don’t imbibe this stimulant.  It comes in a bright blue can, and honestly, I like the new design; it’s simple but stands out in the crowded soda aisle.

This has a light cola effervescence, lacking any strong olfactory kick, which works for a diet cola.  The soda is nice and fizzy, without being too much so, like the rest of their line.  A kola flavor is very evident, without taking over the tongue enough to obscure the citrus background flavors and the spicy sweetness given to it by the nutmeg and stevia.  I’m rather fond of this flavor combination, removing the caffeine doesn’t seem to have effected the taste in any noticeable way.

As with all the other Zevia beverages we have reviewed, this is made from all natural ingredients, has no calories or sugar, being sweetened with erythritol and stevia.  I’m seeing them in more and more stores that I frequent, which pleases me.  I would highly recommend this to anyone trying to kick a sugary cola habit, or looking for an alternative to those mainstream diet colas loaded with artificial sweeteners and preservatives.  And on the plus side it tastes great, I may like it even more than its caffeinated comrade.

Score: 5 out of 5. A pleasing and flavorful alternative to sugary, caffeinated colas.

– WiseGuise

User Reviews: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Stevia, Zevia all natural, Stevia, Zevia

Mountain Zevia: The most EXTREEEEEEME Zevia of them all

Hola Libationeros!  Today I’m bringing you my review of Mountain Zevia, the last on my list of new Zevia flavors to try.  (There is still one more to come from WiseGuise though, so keep your eyes peeled.)  This time I’m looking at Mountain Zevia, the company’s contender for the caffeinated citrus tongue-blast category.  But can Mountain Zevia outdo the citrus power punch of the “real” thing?  Let’s find out!

Aroma: Zevia, you limey bastards.  No wait, that just kind of slipped out.  But it does have that sweet intense lime scent that I remember from Mountain Dew.  Let’s see how it washes out in the flavor.

Taste: The citrus flavor packs a punch that might just be the most potent out of any Zevia I’ve tried so far.  The limey-sweet aftertaste is a dead ringer for Mountain Dew.  Of course, using Stevia and erythritol makes it largely impossible to mimic the sweet up-front mouthfeel that HFCS or sugar-sweetened Mountain Dew offers.  But that’s a sacrifice that I’ll gladly make every time if it means ridding myself of the tremor-inducing 46 grams of sugar per can. 

Health Factor: Huge points for giving me a version of Mountain Dew that I can drink without feeling dirty all over.  Healthy to the EXTREEEEME!

Overall Rating: 5.0 out of 5 – for a perfect Zevia-fied version of Mountain Dew.

-Danithius-

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5-Star Reviews, Zevia

Hi there, fellow fizzy liquid-lovers!  It’s time to take a look at Zevia’s brand new grape flavor.  Now as we all know, grape soda is viewed by traditional society as the beverage equivalent of Donny Osmond.  Typically the only people consuming it are sweet-toothed kids and a few adults that are waxing nostalgic.  However, I’m curious to see what Zevia’s twist will be on this classic soda flavor.

Aroma: The second I pop it open, a rich n’ tangy grape scent explodes out of the can and assails my nostrils.  I definitely sense an element of the traditional grape soda aroma in here.  (You know, that classic American invention that is something between grape kool-aid and concord grape juice).  But this is deeper somehow.  It smells very intense, maybe more so than any Zevia flavor that I’ve done to date.  Now I’m REALLY curious how this stuff tastes.

Taste: Unexpected!  Because of the intense fragrance, I was preparing myself for an all-out grape assault on my tongue.  But such is not the case!  This flavor is much more delicate than I imagined.  It’s light, fruity, and fizzy.  Strangely, the grape flavor really comes out in the aftertaste, floating around on your tongue like a sweet reminder of grapey goodness.  I have found this to be the case with many of Zevia’s flavors, due to their love of natural oils and extracts as their main flavoring ingredients.  This works surprisingly well with the grape flavor.  It’s different from the norm, and yet still delivers satisfying grape-y flavor.

Health Factor: If you haven’t yet gathered that we dig Zevia’s all-natural sugar/calorie-free sodas, then you clearly haven’t been paying enough attention.  Zevia’s sodas are a great way to get fizzy satisfaction from the flavors that you love without exploding your calorie intake.

On a related note, grape soda is one product category that could REALLY use a “diet” alternative like this.  As a general rule, fruity sodas pack a serious sugary punch, and grape is no exception.  Grape sodas usually clock in at around 45-50 grams per 12-oz can.  So, kudos to Zevia for targeting this area with a much-needed health bomb.

Overall Rating: 5.0 out of 5 – for a light, refreshing Zevia-stlye twist on traditional grape soda.

-Danithius-

User Ratings: (3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Zevia

Hi there Libationers!  Today I’m looking at this entry from Adina, a company that has been grabbing my attention more and more from the store shelves of my local health food depository.  Their funky monkey design and intriguing flavors are more than enough to pique my curiosity.  Today when I was doing a bit more background research, I discovered that Adina’s mantra is “Drink No Evil”… damn, I wish I had thought of that!  It grooves very nicely with our whole health-focus on this blog.

From what I could tell about Adina, they take their motto seriously on every level.  They’re all about fair trade, organic, and gluten-free ingredients, and of course there’s the lower sugar level aspect.  They really look like they fit our criteria for a great drink, so it’s high time to start reviewing them.

Aroma: I’m not picking up much coconut from this drink, but I am getting a nice strong tang of tropical guava.  And perhaps a dash of lychee-grape.

Taste: Wow.  This is everything I hoped it would be.  They nailed the sweetness level perfectly – it’s a nice delicate nectar that doesn’t overwhelm your tongue (or leave you wanting).  It blends the tropical guava/lychee flavors and puts them in front of a delicate coconut backdrop.  The coconut definitely isn’t the main player here, but it is still ever-present, providing a balance and foil for the sharper foreground flavors.  It’s light and refreshing enough to chug the whole bottle, and yet the flavors are distinct and good enough to sip.

Health Factor: Points for all natural, organic, etc. etc. ingredients.  But of course the big factor that we look at is sugar content.  Adina offers 15 grams per serving, which is quite the improvement over a typical can of Coke, which is 26 grams per serving.  The whole 16 ounce bottle packs 110 calories.

Overall Rating: 5.0 out of 5 – refreshing, flavorful, low sugar, and environmentally-friendly.  This stuff was practically made for us.

-Danithius-

User Ratings: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Adina

Greetings, fellow libationers!  Today I’m going to have a look at C2O pure coconut water, a beverage that has been popping up at health food stores all around our fair desert city.  The laundry list of health benefits on the front of this particular can were enough to catch my attention: 100% natural, balanced pH, fat free, and unsweetened!  A quick look at the back showed the sole ingredient to be 100% natural coconut water.  Sold!  I’m confident that this will be good scorer of the health meter.  But how will it stand up to the flavor test?

Scent: Mmmm, coconutty.  It’s like you just cracked one open and took a big whiff.  But this coconut has a bit of a green edge to it.  I guess that’s fitting, because coconut water is taken from still-green coconuts. 

Taste: This almost tastes like a raw cane sugar-sweetened beverage.  It has that tropical edge, like you just bit into a piece of fresh sugar cane.  (Which doesn’t mean that it’s super-sweet; straight fresh sugar cane is actually pretty mellow).  But the overtones are clearly coconut, offering that nutty-sweet tropical flavor that is quite refreshing.  It tastes surprisingly sweet considering the scant 11g per serving of sugar.

And it’s addicting.  Like, real addicting.  It’s watery and thirst-quenching, and the delicately sweet coconut flavor keeps you coming back again and again.  After the first couple of sips, you’re hooked.  Even as I write this I can’t keep myself from taking a drink break every 10 words or so.

Health Factor: This is definitely a winning beverage in the health factor category.  Only 11 grams of sugar, one natural ingredient, gluten and preservative-free, low glycemic index score, good pH balance, and the list goes on.  I saw it touted on one web site that coconut water is nature’s sports drink, and I can totally get behind that.  I’d take a can of this stuff over a bottle of the regular sports drink crap any day.  Still undecided?  Let’s see, a great-tasting 100% natural coconut drink, or an HFCS-sweetened neon-blue sports drink that tastes like watered-down Windex?  Hmmmmm…

My one and only concern about this is an environmental one, because inevitably with tropical products like this comes loooong shipping routes and a potentially huge carbon footprint.  This stuff is a product of Thailand, so it came a long way to be here!

Overall Rating: 5.0 out of 5. What can I say, I really liked the stuff.

-Danithius-

User rating: (2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews