Better Libations | Healthy Drink Reviews

Straight up from down under

The wife of my girlfriend’s co-worker hails from Australia, and Bundaberg is his favorite soda from the big island.  He was kind enough to offer a bottle for her/our private consumption.  Apparently, Pepsi has started distributing it locally, but I have no official confirmation of this.  Little did he  know I swiped it and reviewed it.  Hooray for freebies!

First thing, this has an awesome little pull tab on it, but, being the American I am, I’m not quite familiar with this method of opening a bottle, so my pull is slow and careful.  It comes off without incident, and this foreign drink is subjected to the first test of any drink, the aroma test.  It smells awesome and super sweet; there’s 44 g of the white stuff in this 12.7 oz bottle.  The first taste I recognize is the spicy, dark sweet of molasses.  I catch hints of ginger and vanilla, and the licorice shows up in the aftertaste.  This is brewed using yeast, which often turns a soda fermenty and unpleasant to most people, but I can hardly tell with this, except for the malty-sweet taste and beer-like mouth-feel after I swallow.  The carbonation is light and the sweetness is surprisingly mellow and doesn’t stick to your tongue too long.

It has a nice spice and an interesting tang to it, something many American root beers lack, besides originality. The cane sugar and molasses give it a perfect, rich sweetness that the darker sugar tones down.  The flavor combination is perfect, leaving nothing to be desired of this Australian treat.  That’s exactly what it should be considered, a treat, if you can find it.  It currently isn’t distributed in the U.S.  Their slogan on the bottle, Naturally Brewed to be Better, seems apt.  I have nothing negative to say about this soda, despite the large amount of sugar in it.  This may be the best root beer I’ve ever had.

You can get it shipped your way from The Soda Shop.

Score: 5 out of 5. Root beers rarely get better than this.

– WiseGuise

User Reviews: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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5-Star Reviews, Bundaberg drink reviews

All right now, boys and girls, I’ve got the last purity.organic review for your consumption.  Thanks again to purity for supplying these for our particular and often verbose scrutiny.  This last one is an intriguing citrus and tropical fruit combination which I am excited to try.

Right off the top I can smell orange, lemon, a hint of pineapple and passion fruit. I toss back a mouthful and am greeted with a delicious multi-layered taste, sweet and tangy.  The fruit flavors come one at a time, unlike many fruit punch concoctions where one flavor takes over or they are completely indistinguishable, buried under sugar.  It is slightly pulpy, so remember to shake it, but it isn’t gritty.

This is quite easy to drink, I ended up chugging most of it, leaving my mouth and tongue feeling sweet and tingly.  The sugar is about that of a Coke 29 g per serving, but it’s 40% juice, so not a terrible amount is added.  Overall I really enjoyed this citrusy tropical extravaganza; all it lacked was some rum, a coconut, and a tiny umbrella.

I am also impressed with their efforts to get a higher return to the small farmers they purchase from, and their encouraging of sustainable agriculture.  It isn’t just some hippie feel-good idea, it can be a reality if we start purchasing our produce from local farmers, farmers markets, and store that sell and support locally grown and organic produce.  Any more questions?  Look here.

Score: 4.5 out of 5. Delicious fruity tropical punch, organic and sustainable!

– WiseGuise

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4-Star Reviews, Purity.Organics drink reviews, organic

Almost forgot the photo . . .

I’ve been absent for several weeks, much to my own dismay, spending a great deal of that time packing, cleaning and frantically moving, so my internet and beverage duties fell to the wayside.  A thousand apologies.  I’m back, thankfully, with my second-to-last purity.organic review, and a rebuttal, posted below, to the Half & Half Danithius reviewed.  Hopefully I will be much more prompt with my reviews, as I already have the next four lined up in my fridge.  Sorry for my absence and the delay with these particular reviews.  On with the show.

My first inclination at opening this is to assume it is going to be much like a strawberry lemonade, particularly from the aroma.   My first sip does not oppose this thesis, it actually reinforces it with quite a lemony kick.  Maybe more like a sour boot heel to the chin.  It leads in briefly with a berry sweetness, then the tartness and lemon-sour attack my flavor-receptors with a combo that lasts.  I thought I might build up an immunity to this, but after a few more mouthfuls, the prognosis was negative. If tastes could hurt you, this would have bruised my tongue.

The strawberry continues to remain evident only at first, but vanishes under a jaw-tightening pucker, being completely overwhelmed by the lemon.  A curious and possible cause for this may be the fact they have used lemon juice, lemon juice concentrate and lemon emulsion, compared with just strawberry puree.  There is also aronia berry (chokeberry) juice, which is naturally astringent.  Even the 28 g of sugar per serving doesn’t tone down the tartness and sourness of this beverage.  I may be stressing this too much.

It is definitely a unique flavor combo, but it was just too much for me.  Even regular strawberry lemonade isn’t even this sour.   I just wasn’t prepared for such a foray into the less forgiving territories of my taste-buds.  I’ve never quite had a drink like this before, but I’m not so sure that I want to try it again.  I never enjoy giving a less than favorable review, but I feel obligated to state my personal experience and opinion.  I can’t write reviews like this, it just isn’t my style.  Others may fully enjoy this beverage, but I had a hard time finishing it.

Score: 2.5 out of 5. A puckering excursion into the sour parts of Strawberry Paradise.

– WiseGuise

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2-Star Reviews, Purity.Organics drink reviews, organic

ImPRESSive?

A telling sign of any good apple juice or cider is its lack of clarity.  This juice is as opaque as they come, with a nice ruddy brown color.  This is a good indication that it is a pure, un-clarified apple juice without any white grape juice mixed in to thin it out and make it clear and pretty.  This is actually pressed in a cider house according to purity.organic, and is labeled as a limited pressing.

Breaking the seal, it smells just like a freshly juices apples, but stronger, as if its been concentrated.  You better believe it tastes like it too.  It is rather sweet, as it is pure, unadulterated apple juice, almost too sweet.  It finishes a bit tart, a nice follow up on the sweetness.  I don’t think I could drink too much of this at once, so it’s probably a good think that the bottle is only 16 oz.  Still, it has 54 grams of sugar, that about equals Coke, without the HFCS, caffeine, and carbonation and other junk.

It tastes great, very apple-y, and it kind of reminds me of those dried apple slices that are so delicious.  As juices go, this ranks right up there with Simply Apple, which has slightly more sugar.  Purity.Organic’s Apple Juice is definitely a much better option than any of the sugar-added juices out there, but if you’re watching your sugar intake it might not be the best choice.  Still, it’s a sweet, tasty treat.

Score: 4 out of 5. A superior though sugary apple rendering.

– WiseGuise

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4-Star Reviews, Purity.Organics drink reviews, organic

Greetings, kids!  Today it’s time to try out Purity.Organic’s Lemonade.  You may remember that I’m something of a bottled lemonade snob, in that I hate every bottled lemonade that I’ve tried to date.  (With the exception of Simply Lemonade, which is pasteurized and constantly refrigerated like an orange juice, so I think it’s a slightly different category).  So to be specific, I hate every non-refrigerated bottled lemonade that I’ve tried to date.  The Purity.Organic rep that sent us these samples did rave about the lemonade in particular though, saying that it was her favorite.  So I am curious to see how it pans out – will it be the first bottled lemonade that doesn’t taste like a plastic lemon?

Fragrance: This smells sweet and tart like a lemonade should.  But wait… do I detect a hint of concentrate-y scent as well?  (You know what I’m talking about… like that concentrate juice that comes in squeezable plastic lemons).  It shouldn’t, because this lemonade doesn’t use concentrated juice – they just pasteurize it.  Hmm…

Taste: It’s sweet… it’s tart… it’s lemony.  There is a big difference when you use not-from-concentrate juice – the lemon flavor is a lot more true-to-life and not so plasticine.  Is it as good as my refrigerated favorite, Simply Lemonade?  ‘Fraid not.  But it’s close.  (And I hate to say that, because Simply Lemonade is owned by Minute Maid, who is owned by Coca-Cola.  The horror.)

Yes, I’m being nitpicky.  But there is a little something of the fresh fruit flavor that I’m missing in Purity.Organic’s entry, something that seems to be preserved by whatever technique Simply Lemonade uses on its juice.  It’s that pungent, fresh citrus edge that is so distinctive with fresh-cut lemons.  Don’t get me wrong, Purity.Organic has a good flavor going here, and the sweet and tart are perfectly balanced.  But I’m looking for something with that last little kick, that citrusy-fresh finish – something that is so hard to find in bottled lemonade.  It’s more of an aroma than a flavor, like the smell of the lemon zest when you first scrape it from the fruit.  Am I making sense, or am I off in my own little foodie world again?

But all nitpicking aside, I have definitely found a new “best” for my (non-refrigerated) bottled lemonade list.  It tastes good.

One other issue.  I know this comes with the territory when you’re making real lemonade, but this guy packs some serious sugar.  Just be aware of it!  And don’t drink it like it’s water.  One 8 oz serving of Purity.Organic’s lemonade contains 30 grams of sugar – this is more sugar per serving than Coca-Cola.  Some of this is balanced out by the fact that they use organic cane and lemon juices, sure, but I can’t give it full points as a “healthy” drink.

So with that in mind, I’m giving this .5 points off for sugar, and .5 off for my flavor nitpickings.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5. Finally, a solid bottled (non-refrigerated) lemonade.

-Danithius-

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4-Star Reviews, Purity.Organics drink reviews

Greetings, my liquid-loving brothers and sisters!  Today I have another flavor from Purity.Organic up on the chopping block.  It’s our third and final review from Purity.Organic’s “Functional” category – i.e., lower sugar, lower calorie, Lifewater-esque beverages.  Let’s see how it holds up under the spotlight.

Fragrance: A surprisingly realistic blueberry scent with hints of grape.

Flavor: Wow.  This is downright… pleasant.  The blueberry flavor comes through beautifully, supported by hints of the grape and cane juices.  I can pick up a little bit of pomegranate flavor in the aftertaste as well, but it’s definitely understated.  Most of all, I am impressed by the sweet taste that rides with you from start to finish.  Now given, it is not exactly a miraculous feat for a company to produce a sweet-tasting drink.  However, it is impressive when said company manages to produce a sweet-tasting drink with only 14 grams of sugar per serving (about half the sugar of Coca Cola). And no artificial sweeteners, to boot.  And much of the sugar comes from natural fruit juice from local organic farmers.  Wow.  Seriously, guys, did you guys build this drink specifically for us?

Score: 5.0 out of 5 – It works for me on every level: perfect sweetness, balanced flavor, low sugar, real fruit, organic, and possibly magical.  Seriously, I’m going to order a box of this.

-Danithius-

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5-Star Reviews, Purity.Organics drink reviews

Hola, Libation-lubbers!  Today I’m going to review an entry from Purity.Organic, a drink company out of San Fran that backs sustainable, organic agriculture.  You’ll probably see a lot of these over the next few weeks, because they were kind enough to send us one of every flavor for review!  And as you know, while we don’t give preferential treatment in the reviews themselves, we do make a policy of placing company-submitted samples first in the review queue.

Let’s get down to business.  I’ve chosen the Orange Mango Tangerine flavor to begin with because it contains 25% juice and yet only has 14g of sugar per serving.  (This is about half the sugar content of your average cola, and much less than typical fruity sodas.)  And on top of that, it just sounds citrusy-fresh.

Orange Mango Tangerine is one of Purity.Organic’s three “functional drinks”, which are lighter on sugar and calories than their sweeter, juicier brethren.  This one is like their sports drink, containing calcium and sea salt intended to replenish the body after exercise.  I did just hit the gym, so let’s see how it treats me.

Fragrance: Well now, this does smell like real fruit.  Because this is a juice cocktail sweetened with cane juice, I was afraid that it would have that “from concentrate” smell or that it would just smell flat.  But this actually smells tangy like a mango, with overtones of fresh citrus.  I am officially enticed.

Taste: Lightly sweet, fruity, and refreshing.  White grape and citrus juices combine with tangerine oil to form an interesting flavor profile that I think is very well suited to chugging during exercise.  It’s pleasant, goes down smooth, and isn’t astringent at all thanks to the white grape.  If you were feeling parched, I think you could easily chug the whole bottle in a matter of minutes and be right back on your feet.  I mean hell, I just chugged the whole bottle in the time it’s taken me to write this review!

This drink has a lot going for it.  It’s all organic, it’s low sugar, it’s nicely flavored, and it’s produced by an environmentally conscientious company.  I’m hard-pressed to come up with a critique for this one…  The only thing I can wish for is perhaps a more defined flavor profile.  I realize that as a “functional drink” this is intended to be lighter than normal juices, and that’s fine.  But I’d like to be able to try this stuff without even looking at the label and tell you at least two out of the three flavors.  As it is now, I think I’d be able to pick only one – citrus.  Still, it’s a good flavor, and I really can’t complain.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 - Low sugar, organic ingredients, and real fruit juice.

-Danithius-

User Ratings: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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4-Star Reviews, Purity.Organics drink reviews

Yes, the famous pouch

I’ve been feeling a little nostalgic recently, so I bought a box of Capri Sun pouches on my last trip to the store.  Growing up in the Eighties and Nineties, these were a familiar sight in lunch boxes and floating around in coolers in summer time.  I don’t remember anyone ever saying ‘man, I hate those Capri Sun drinks.’  Let’s reexamine this childhood delight.

First off, the box now proclaims “25% Less Sugar Than Other Leading Juice Drinks” as well as “No Artificial Sweeteners” and “NO high fructose corn syrup.”  Each pouch has 16 g of sugar, which is about 21 g of sugar per 8 oz (the pouches used to be bigger, 6.75 oz, but are now 6 oz due to the infamous “grocery shrink ray“).  This is a little better than letting your little rugrats suck down superfluous quantities of sugar, but still cannot match Crayons, and particularly Honest Kids in sugar content, and they have a pouch too.

As for the sensory experience, sadly it cannot be easily subjected to my olfactory nerves without squeezing the pouch into a cup, and let’s just face it, I’m a little too lazy for that.  As far as the taste goes, it is as pleasantly fruity as I remember, but perhaps a bit more watery.  My guess is the 25% less sugar than before.  I still enjoyed drinking over half the pouches in the box while I procrastinated on this review, just as I did as a kid.

My overall feelings on this come down to this:  yes, it has let sugar than a soda or other fruit drinks, and yes, it’s now sweetened with sugar instead of HFCS, and yes, that pouch is pretty handy, and they have a program (with Terracycle, same as Honest Kids) where you can recycle them and they get turned into purses and pencil carriers, and a few cents get back to the schools.  All good points.  But.  The original line is not 100% juice, has added sugar, and those huge boxes don’t look particularly environmentally friendly.  They are also distributed by Kraftfoods in the US, not a small company.  The truth is, there are still many better alternatives out there for your kids, most importantly water.  THEY SHOULD DRINK WATER.  Sweet drinks should be a treat for them, not a daily requirement.  I know no one likes anyone to tell them how to raise their children, but seriously, childhood obesity rates are astronomical right now, almost 20%.  So toss a bottle of water in that lunchbox, and a juice drink on occasion.

Score: 3 out of 5. A better effort from a behemoth distributor, but still plenty full of sugar and not enough juice.

– WiseGuise

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3-Star Reviews, Capri Sun, Rants drink reviews, Rants

Greetings, Libationers!  Today I’m pleased to bring you another flavor from Sweet Leaf.  Today I’m tackling their lemonade.

Now let me state from the start that I have never had much luck with pre-bottled lemonade.  It’s really, really hard to find anything that doesn’t taste like a tin can of super-fake lemon concentrate.  Sweet Leaf has had some solid entries in the past, though, so I’m willing to give them a try.

Let’s crack it open…

Fragrance – yep, smells like lemon all right.  I do detect a little bit of that concentrate scent, too.  (You know, the stuff from the little yellow plastic squeeze-lemon).

Taste – while it’s better than some other bottled lemonades that I’ve had, I still just can’t get over that concentrate taste.  It just feels fake.  The sweetness level is just right, and it could be great if it just tasted like a fresh lemon.  But there’s just no getting around the fake taste.

To be fair to Sweet Leaf, there is only one bottled lemonade that I have ever really enjoyed, and that’s Simply Lemonade.  (Which is pasteurized and kept under refrigeration like other fresh juices).  It may be comparing apples to oranges here, but in order for me to like a lemonade it has to taste like real lemons!  I simply can’t get over the concentrate taste.

Rating: 2.0 out of 5 – A worthy effort, but it still tastes like plastic lemons.

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2-Star Reviews, Sweet Leaf drink reviews

Some time ago, we (and by “we” I mean WiseGuise) reviewed a couple of drinks by a company called Adina.  They both received pretty solid scores for flavor, health, and fair trade/earth-friendly products.  After that I proceeded to completely forget about the company.   And then last week I came across this striking little asian-looking design on a bottle boasting honey lemon aloe flavor (how refreshing!).  The bottle looked completely different from the ones in our previous reviews, so I thought this was a totally new company.  Little did I know they had just given themselves a facelift!  I think they took a note or two from SoBe’s design philosophy on this one.  I like the thick glass bottle and the funky monkey on the front.

As I further investigated the bottle, I found that it was 100% organic certified, and they use evaporated cane sugar as the sweetener.  As far as the actual sugar gram count goes, it scores very well – 13g per serving, or exactly 1/2 the sugar content of Coca-Cola.  I also found out that their slogan is “drink no evil”, which I think is a deliciously scathing jab to the liquid-evil factories out there.  OK, enough about fun facts, how does this stuff taste?

Fragrance: Mmm, herby.  I smell something like fruity lemongrass with a hint of green tea.

Taste: Lightly sweet, delicate, and refreshing, with a botanical green tea aftertaste.  I’m glad they sell these in 14 ounce bottles, because I think that’s just the right amount.  This would be excellent on a hot day or after a good workout, when you really want some liquid refreshment.  No one flavor really pronounces itself, though; neither the lemon nor the honey grab center stage.  Instead, all the flavors meld together into an herby mix.  This can kind of wear on you as you get towards the end of the bottle – I kind of wish there was one flavor in particular that was held up above the rest.  Still, it’s nice.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 For a cool design, organic, healthy ingredients, low sugar, and good flavor.

-Danithius-

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4-Star Reviews, Adina drink reviews