Better Libations | Healthy Drink Reviews

Being informed of another surprise contribution to our effort, I immediately headed to our secret Libations Laboratory (which only looks suspiciously like my cohort’s garage), and was greeted by these fizzy drinks. Another welcome and generous gift by a small company valiantly fighting against Big Soda.

The Bev: I have never had the pleasure to smell any other drink with such a wonderfully pungent aroma as this, I swear it triggered the olfactory receptors connected to sweet boysenberry jam or syrup. I’m assuming the black currant juice had something to do with this. This scent set up my tastebuds for the oncomng flavor invasion. Sadly, it didn’t come as I expected it to. The flavor is much mellower than the smell, although it seemed to ripened as I sipped this bottle. I even followed the suggestion that I gently shake the bottle (in order to loosen and sediment, they do use real juice here), but still felt a little let down. I am fond of pomegranate drinks as I have posted before, and real pomegranate is a tad dry, and this is no exception.

The Info: Fizzy Lizzy has been around a few years, and has a decent catalog of carbonated juice drinks, 8 as of this posting. They have won a few humble awards, and compete with the likes of GuS, Kristall and the PepsiCo owned (and pointedly rhyming) IZZE.
The Damage: Only 100 calories per 20oz bottle, that’s not bad; 24 grams natural sugars.
Price: $1.29 for a 20oz bottle, $4.99 for a 4 pack.
Retailers: Lizzy‘s cute website has a nifty ‘find’ page to locate the nearest retailer to your zip code.
Ingredients: Triple-filtered carbonated water, white grape juice concentrate, pomegranate juice concentrate, black current juice concentrate, Vitamin C.

The End: Lizzy has a good balance between the carbonation and the juice here, Overall, I wasn’t as impressed with this drink as I hoped to be, it smells wonderful, but the taste, although seeming to loosen up once it got comfortable, still fell a little flat. Frutzzo would win in a head to head.

The Score: 3.5 out of 5 on this one, just didn’t quite do it for me.

– WiseGuise

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3-Star Reviews, Fizzy Lizzy

The Bev: I must first say, that unlike most other grapefruit sodas, this actually TASTES like grapefruit, it better, it is 70% juice. Now, for those who have never drank 100% grapefruit juice, or don’t like it, this may not be your cup of juice. Grapefruit is naturally sweet AND bitter, which can turn some people off. For those who like it, or are willing to try it, this would be a good place to start. It strikes you with it’s mild sweetness, and finishes with just enough tartness to remind you this is real juice. It isn’t as sweet as more popular sodas like Fresca, but it lacks that (IMHO) nasty Aspartame aftertaste, and the possible side-effects. It tastes just like it should, a fizzy little grapefruit. It left no aftertaste or cottonmouth, like I expected it to.

The Info: Fizzy Lizzy has been around a few years, and has a decent catalog of carbonated juice drinks, 8 as of this posting. They have won a few humble awards, and compete with the likes of GuS, Kristall and the PepsiCo owned (and pointedly rhyming) IZZE.
The Damage: Only 110 calories per 20oz bottle, that’s not bad; 29 grams natural sugars.
Price: $1.29 for a 20oz bottle, $4.99 for a 4 pack.
Retailers: Lizzy‘s cute website has a nifty ‘find’ page to locate the nearest retailer to your zip code.
Ingredients: Triple-filtered carbonated water, Rio Red grapefruit juice concentrate, white grape juice concentrate, natural flavor, Vitamin C.

The End: I actually liked this beverage more than I thought I would. I believe it balances out perfectly, but it may not be for everyone.

The Score: 4.5 out of 5.

– WiseGuise

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4-Star Reviews, Fizzy Lizzy

Fizzy Lizzy & 1980 Monte Carlo

Here is my review of Fizzy Lizzy flavor #2 – Gulf Coast Tangerine. As you’ll see from my previous post, I think very highly of the Fizzy Lizzy company and will be rooting for them until they are big enough to be acquired by Pepsi. (Just kidding, Liz).

Refer to the link above and to their web site for additional info on the company itself.

As for this particular flavor, though, I have an issue or two. The sweetness and carbonation levels are nice and smooth, which I like, but the actual taste of the juice combination brought back one memory that I haven’t been able to shake…

Do you remember drinking that old-school ‘from concentrate’ OJ that comes in little plastic cups with aluminum foil tops? C’mon, you know what I’m talking about – you’ve had it at a childhood friend’s house, or perhaps in grade school. Maybe even at McDonald’s years ago. It’s like that, but carbonated. I’m guessing the white grape juice in this drink may be the culprit – if it was pure OJ or tangerine juice, I’d like it better.

Not even to infer that this is a bad flavor, necessarily. But when I think ‘tangerine’, I picture that fresh, sweet deliciousness followed by the perfect citric bite. Maybe I’m just picky. (That’s my job, after all.) But when I first tried real, fresh-squeezed orange juice (or tangerine juice, for that matter), I knew I could never go back. Admittedly, I have sipped the concentrate stuff once or twice in the years since then, but now it’s always tainted by the thoughts of what I know I’m missing out on. If Fizzy Lizzy can capture even a portion of that essence in a fizzy-water drink, then I will be a happy camper. Till then, though, I won’t be able to give this flavor more than a 3.5.

Score: 3.5/5

-Danithius-

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3-Star Reviews, Fizzy Lizzy

Fizzy Lizzy in Repose, cir. 2008

Hello my fellow soft drink revolutionaries! It’s good to be back in America. Before we get into our wacky Asian drink adventure, let’s hit a couple little gems that we had the good fortune to come across just before my trip to the land of wind and ghosts.

Mr. Guise and I acquired four different flavors of Fizzy Lizzy, and we decided to split them up between us. You’ll see the rest come in rapid succession after this post.

First off, Fizzy Lizzy really seems to have all their ducks in a row. Frankly, I’m suspicious that they based their entire company on our guidelines for drink submissions.
Miss Lizzy has no HFCS, no added sugar, and no unnecessary “gunk”, as she puts it (artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, etc.)
On top of that, they’re a small outfit that refuses to do business with big-box stores, but still manages a wide distribution.
On top of that, they have eight flavors from all across the spectrum, and a recipe page for making ‘Dizzy Lizzy’ cocktails and ‘Lucid Lizzy’ virgin drinks.
And finally, they have a slightly intimidating (and yet somehow strangely arousing) cartoon spokeswoman who watches you defiantly from the front label of the bottle, daring you to “gently shake (her) hips before placing bottle to your lips”. Wow. Now if that doesn’t make the old schoolboy fantasies flare up again, I don’t know what will. Seriously. It’s like a hotter, soda-pop version of your fifth grade teacher. Or possibly Rosie the Riveter.

Excuse me, I think I need a drink…

OK, I’m back. Now on to the beverage itself. This Yakima Valley Grape flavor is nicely balanced. It’s a combo of concord and white grapes, with some lemon juice concentrate thrown in. It wasn’t too sweet, and it had enough flavor and panache to keep me interested till the last sip. It’s a lot like homemade grape juice…if a chunk of dry ice fell into it, of course. (The carbonation level is about medium, by the way. I like my bubbles on the finer side, personally, but this drink’s CO2 didn’t seem intrusive.) Yakima Valley Grape had 29g of sugar in the whole 12 oz bottle, and that ain’t bad, either. You can find the complete nutritional info on the drinks section of their site. I really have no reason not to give this drink a 5 star rating, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Score: 5/5

-Danithius-

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5-Star Reviews, Fizzy Lizzy