This baby caught my eye at a local grocer.  I cracked it open the next day at work and took a whiff.  (By the way, if you have noticed that a lot of my drink pics seem to be taken in the same location lately, you would be correct.  Good job, you get a gold star!  You see, for the last month or so, I’ve taken to reviewing drinks at my desk.  And there’s only so many ways to dress up a cubicle for a photo-shoot, all right??)  Anyway, it had a pungent sour-lemon smell.

And then the taste test – It had very light carbonation, with a mildly sweet honeyed-lemon taste.  It only has 29 g of sugar in its 12 oz frame, which is impressive for a lemonade.  Usually companies have to pour on the extra sugar in order to balance out the strong lemon flavor, but Calistoga has achieved a nice balance here without going overboard.  It does have a trace of that biting citrus concentrate flavor, but all in all I was surprised at the pleasant balance that this whistle-wetter offers.

At first, I thought Calistoga was a small independant bottler, but then I discovered that it is owned by choco-conglomerate Nestle, who purchased them in 1980.  Holy crap, do you realize just how many brands Nestle owns?

Sometime in 2008 Calistoga’s workforce was cut by 78% because of the poor economy.  Wow.  I know layoffs are sometimes necessary, but 78% of your people?  How are you still alive as a company right now?  We welcome any comments from current or ex-Calistoga employees.

Rating: 4.0/5 – Not quite a 5 because of the citrus concentrate taste.

- Danithius -

PS – How do you like our new digs?  Email us or comment with your feedback!

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