Better Libations | Healthy Drink Reviews

Welcome back, healthy libation-lovers!  It’s once again time to announce the 10 best healthy drinks that we’ve reviewed in the previous year.  In deciding our favorite whistle-whetters, we took into account a variety of factors, like flavor, sugar content, originality, and corporate eco-friendliness/overall philosophy.  This year had some exciting changes in the beverage industry, as we saw companies big and small getting on the healthy-alternative bandwagon. Buckle up, grab your own favorite beverage and read on!

Red Bull – Simply Cola

WiseGuise: This is Red Bull’s delicious attempt to break into the cola market with an all-natural soda that is loaded with complex flavors, coming off very well against its mighty competitors. I once believed this to be a flash-in-the-pan sort of thing, but I am seeing it more often in gas stations and grocery stores, a sign that this palate-pleaser might be here to stay.

Danithius: This stuff thrills me from a pure foodie perspective. The ingredient list reads like a spice catalog! Who puts mace and mustard seed in their cola, for crying out loud?? But it works so well for it, delivering a complex, refreshing, and very delicious cola. Yes, it is still loaded with sugar. (Why do you think it’s number 10?) But when you’re in the mood for a good cola, it’s hard to do it better than this. All-natural, excellent flavor, and it’s not too sweet.

Fizz Ed Pomegranate Cherry

Danithius: Fizz Ed is still in the game after making last year’s list, churning out a couple of new flavors to add to their previously sparse repertoire. We like them because they are working for positive change in the beverage habits of kids and adults alike. Smaller can sizes, low sugar, and real fruit juice sweetener make this stuff sing. This new flavor in particular has a sweet-tart flavor that rounds out their selection nicely.

WiseGuise: Although I haven’t tried this particular flavor yet, I found all others to be enjoyable, and have to agree with Danithius. Fizz Ed is doing what we need to see more of: healthier drinks that appeal to a younger generation and adults alike.

Function: Night Life

WiseGuise: This first top score for Function came with some sensuous claims about its additives’ effect on sexual potency, and an equally impressive flavor. Function’s other drinks also deserve an honorable mention, the majority pleasing to our mouths, minds and souls. Function is a company dedicated to helping people live better through chemistry. Keep it up, Dr. Alex.

Danithius: I have not yet had the privilege of imbibing this purported virility-enhancing “sexy tonic”, but I do support the idea behind the brand. A medical doctor who’s devoted his life to formulating healthier drinks for a thirsty populace? Kudos to you, Doc.

Sweet Leaf Mint & Honey Green Tea

Danithius: This stuff makes your taste buds sit up and sing. I was immediately addicted. It’s simple, it’s fresh-tasting, and it’s delicious. It does have more sugar than similar flavors over at Honest Tea, but wow, do they use those sugar grams well! And it is still a lot better for you than many of the syrupy-sweet alternatives out there.

WiseGuise: I still haven’t tried this?!? What is wrong with me? Being the fancier of tea that I am, I feel slightly ashamed of myself, I think I’ll go brew myself a glass of tea right now.

SoBe LifeWater – Fuji Apple Pear

WiseGuise: What would a Best of list be without LifeWater? SoBe remains a heavy hitter for us, nailing home-runs on flavor, sugar content and overall appeal. This is quite a popular flavor, I’ve turned many onto LifeWater with this, even those leery of ‘flavored waters.’ The jury is still out on stevia and erythritol, but until we hear otherwise, we will continue to enjoy these magical offerings.

Danithius: I love this stuff! It is the first zero-calorie LifeWater that I tried, and it left a big impression on me. I didn’t think I would ever like a “zero-cal” drink, but with its combo of natural erythritol and stevia leaf extract, SoBe won me over with this one.

Oogave Watermelon Cream

Danithius: The folks at Oogave were kind enough to send us a sampler pack of their flavors, and I really loved this Watermelon Cream. It was deliciously sweet without packing in a lot of sugar grams – evidently a trait of their singular sweetener, agave nectar. And Oogave’s attitude as a company was equally refreshing, putting an emphasis on consumer health and moderation. Now that’s a much-needed yet all-too-rare outlook that I wish Oogave could somehow put into virus form and sneeze all over their big-soda counterparts with it!

WiseGuise: Although I personally found some of their drinks too sweet for my delicate taste-buds, I found the grapefruit soda rather intriguing, something I have not come across before or since. It’s a tricky flavor to use, but they managed to make it enjoyable. Oogave is doing right by departing from the main soda flock and using an alternative, natural sweetener that I wish I saw more of, in moderation, of course.

Honest Ade Superfruit Punch

Danithius: Honest Ade is an excellent addition to Honest Tea’s lineup of healthy beverages, and this flavor in particular really got me by the brain banana. And only 12 grams of sugar per serving? That’s icing on the cake. (Sensible icing. Not that three-inch thick crap you buy at CostCo.) I really don’t know how they get so much sweetness and taste with such a low sugar content, but I love it! This Superfruit Punch uses the juice from well-known antioxidant “superfruits” goji and yumberry. And the best part is, they don’t charge you forty bucks per bottle for it! (Nor do they try and get you to sell the stuff to your friends and family).

WiseGuise: Again, a drink I, sadly, have not tried. I have imbibed several other Honest Ades, and have enjoyed them all to varying degrees. These so-called “superfruits” are becoming more popular every year, so I’m curious, when will they will be demoted to regular fruits? I mean, if you never had a banana before and then tried one, it would blow your mind, man. Super banana.

Jones GABA Lemon Honey Tea

Danithius: Jones Soda has been doing some wonderful things with their product lines over the last few years. It’s almost like they got ahold of our dream diary or something… First, they eliminated HFCS from all of their soda lines, and for that alone they deserve some props. But they didn’t rest there – they also created several non-carbonated drink lines that are right up our alley. They made an organics line, an all-natural juice drink line, a Life/Vitaminwater-esque line (which we still have to try, by the way! Why can we not find this in any stores out here?), and the GABA line. I was particularly impressed by GABA. It already had the base elements of a good review, which are low sugar content and good flavor. But what really put it over the top for me is that it did what it said it would do. I get so jaded from nutritional product claims that when one actually comes through, it’s a huge surprise.  GABA says that it will give you increased awareness and mental clarity, and I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t tested it out for myself. I waited until I had a particularly long and boring meeting at work to pop open my GABA. Conveniently, I had gotten hardly any sleep the night before. But after downing my Lemon Honey Tea, I made it through the entire thing without even the slightest feeling of drowsiness. I was perfectly awake and alert for the entire time. That never happened to me at those meetings! So for me, the proof was in the pudding for GABA.

WiseGuise: I don’t think I can mention anything that Sir Danithius hasn’t already covered, Jones GABA does what it claims. I managed to sneak a few shots of it at last year’s PAX convention, which helped me get through the tedium of waiting in lines for L4D2 and shoving through tightly-packed crowds of pale, gamey game-fans. I just wish I had one right now.

Honest Tea – Organic Lemon Black Tea

WiseGuise: Honest Tea—all Honest products for that matter—has always been one of our favorite beverages around the offices here at Better Libations, and this iced tea did not disappoint. By far the best iced tea I have ever personally had out of a bottle, it rivaled a fresh-brewed tea in pure enjoyability, and that’s saying something. Honest Tea will always have a place in my heart as long as they keep making products like this.

Danithius: Mmm-mmm, Honest Tea. Really, how could you not love them? They have something for everyone. Are you a super-hippie environmentalist? Look no further for USDA certified organic and fair-trade products. A cheapskate? Honest Tea costs the same as most any other bottled beverage. A foodie? Honest Tea uses high-quality ingredients and routinely delivers fresh, delicious flavors. A rabid weight-watcher? You have a huge selection of low-calorie, low-sugar teas to choose from, some of which are even no-calorie! Honest Tea’s tea line really delivers some of the healthiest stuff you can get from the mass-market.

Zevia – Natural Twist

WiseGuise: Zevia was kind enough to send us a large amount of beverages after Danithius’ first reviews, and after they re-formulated their products. Our reactions were generally quite positive; we both have become advocates of stevia use, and enjoy seeing it in more products. This particular entry was my personal favorite, and I made quick work of my supply.

Danithius: Zevia was a part of a huge change in the beverage industry this year, namely the reinstatement of stevia as a GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) ingredient by the FDA. (The reason it got banned in the first place is still quite sketchy). The crazy part is, Zevia was operating under the radar as a stevia-sweetened soda even before that happened! They were able to do it by marketing themselves as a “dietary supplement”. Ha! I reviewed a couple of their flavors in those days, but I was not impressed with them at all. But when the news of stevia’s GRAS status hit, Zevia really took the bull by the horns and made the most of the new opportunity. They completely redesigned their flavors and their overall label design. And when this was done, they contacted us at BL to let us know about the makeover, and even sent us a sample pack of the new flavors. We were so impressed with the improvement that we gave all of their flavors a 4.0 or higher – two even scored a perfect 5.0! (Natural Cola for me, Natural Twist for WiseGuise). Zevia has proven they have both a feisty spirit and the good business sense to capitalize on a golden opportunity. They have been steadfastly advocating stevia use for years, believing in its potential as a healthy alternative sweetener. Kudos for sticking to your guns, Zevia! (Stevia really does have a torrid history, look it up sometime if you haven’t already!)

And thus ends the Top 10 Best Healthy Drinks list for 2009.  Thanks to all those drink companies who are going out and terrorizing the status quo every day.  Keep fighting the good fight!  Health-conscious libations-lubbers from the world over are cheering you on!

Awards, Lists

Here we are, folks, it’s time for Better Libations’ top 10 healthy drink picks from 2008!  In deciding our favorite whistle-whetters, we took into account a variety of factors, like flavor, sugar content, originality, and corporate eco-friendliness.  Buckle up, grab your favorite beverage and read on!

chocolatemint water

Metromint boasts a refreshing line of minty flavored waters with no sweeteners.  While most of their flavors are so simple that you could make a reasonable substitute with a bottle of water and a couple drops of mint essence, chocolatemint water delivers a delicious chocolatey taste we didn’t think was possible from an unsweetened beverage, thus earning it a place on the top 10.

Cascade Ice (All flavors)

Ahh, Cascade Ice.  The almost-as-good-as-LifeWater, but not as widely available, alternative to high fructose corn syrup-riddled drinks like Gatorade.  The thing is, these guys have no web presence whatsoever (at least at the time of this writing), so it has been very difficult to find any further information about them.  Or pictures, for that matter, which is why we’re using this oldie.  Still, they have a stand-up product and have earned a place on our list.

Iced Apple Spice

As you can see, this Tazo‘s title is actually “Simply Red”.  (It changed from the time that we originally reviewed it.)  This entry from Tazo has a wonderful spicy blend of apple, cinnamon and herb flavors that you’ll want to sip and savor every second of.  It comes in low on the sugar content meter, so you don’t have to feel guilty about savoring every last drop.  Tazo is owned by mega-coffee house Starbucks.

Pure Mind

Guayaki Yerba Mate (pronounced “mah-TAY”).  Different, interesting and good for you.  It has similar benefits as tea, with a much different flavor.  Check it out!  As a bonus, these guys are uber-committed to the environment.  Check out their page on reforestation efforts in South America.

Pomegranate Red Tea with Goji Berry

This beverage by Honest Tea happens to be our first review here on Better Libations.  By an amazing coincidence, it also happened to be our first five star review!  This baby has low sugar, amazing flavor, and a stellar company to back it up.  The rooibos (African Red Tea) and honeybush combine with the pomegranate and berry juice flavors for an all-out assault on your tongue.  We’re still in love with it, after all this time!

All Flavors

A personal favorite of BL author Wise Guise, hint has a vast array of flavored waters.  They stand tall and admonish the sticky-sweet world of soda with their motto: “Drink water, not sugar”.  As all are unsweetened, they are  perfectly suited for those trying to avoid excess sugar intake.  And they have enough flavors to keep any beverage aficionado busy for weeks!

Fizz Ed

Red Raspberry

Fizz Ed is one of our favorite alt-sodas here at Better Libations.  It is produced by a company called Apple and Eve, who specialize in healthier drink alternatives for kids.  It’s pleasantly carbonated, and it comes in an eight-ounce can. It’s sweetened with real fruit juice!  And thus, it’s a great way to get your soda fix without signing your soul away to the corn-sugar devils.  (Or your kids’ souls, for that matter, you heartless wretch).  This is one company that we can actually root for to get into our schools, as long as they keep doing what they’re doing right.

All Flavors

Crayons‘ line of juice drinks are a relatively recent discovery here in the halls of Better Libations, and they have made quite a splash.  They earn big points with us in a number of ways.  They sport an 8 ounce can (a real serving size).  They use real fruit juice and pure cane sugar as their sweeteners.  (And to offset the sugar, they include a portion of fiber in their drinks as well).  They actually make their drinks taste like the fruits pictured on the can, and not like some chemical flavoring developed in a plant off the New Jersey Turnpike.  And they proudly proclaim on their label, “NO high fructose corn syrup”.  They were practically made for us.

Clocking in at # 2 is SoBe’s better tasting answer to Gatorade and all of its high-fructose corn syrup-ridden pals.  Life Water is our personal favorite in the “Vitamin-enhanced Water” genre here at Better Libations, because they manage to deliver great-tasting flavors without any of the crap found in certain ‘other’ vitamin-type waters.  Life Water uses only sugar and Erythritol, a natural sugar-alcohol that is non-caloric, doesn’t affect blood sugar, and doesn’t cause tooth decay.  And just recently they have released a line of three tasty flavors containing no sugar whatsoever, using only the Erythritol to give them a pleasant level of (non-fake tasting) sweetness.  They may be owned by fizzy juggernaut PepsiCo, but this is a big step in the right direction, for which we applaud them.  Clearly, the market has spoken, and they are beginning to hear.

All Flavors

And finally, we come to #1 on this year’s list:  Ayala’s Herbal Water!  Ayala’s has met and exceeded all of our standards for both a beverage and a beverage company.  We loved the interesting array of herbal flavors.  We loved their simple food-for-the-body philosopy.  We loved the fact that both the drinks and the company were created by a Medical Doctor (Dr. Ayala herself).

These herbal water drinks have the best of both worlds: health and flavor.  Throughout all of our reviews, we see companies struggling with this balance.  It seems that they just can’t go too far in one direction without sacrificing the quality of the other.  But this is where Ayala’s shines.  On the one side, you can’t get healthier than unsweetened, no-calorie, no-preservative, no-nothing water, so you can drink to your heart’s content without any guilt whatsoever.  (There are also purported health benefits from different types of herbs, which are all organically grown for these drinks).  And on the other side, Ayala’s delivers enough original, tongue-tickling flavor to keep your palate happy with every drop.  You don’t even miss the sugar.

And to top it all off, Ayala’s is a Philadelphia-based independent company, not a part of mega-conglomerate Coca Cola Company or PepsiCo.  How could we ask for more?

And thus ends the Top 10 Best Healthy Drinks list for 2008.  Stay tuned for the 10 Worst, coming soon!

Awards, Lists