Better Libations | Healthy 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

User Reviews: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

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

User Reviews: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

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

User Reviews: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

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

The first of my share of the Purity.Organic drinks is also a ‘functional’ drink, and lower in sugar than the others.  The function of this drink is balance, according to the front of the bottle.  This one is infused with Maca, a plant grown in South America at high altitudes, where little else grows.  It is supposedly high in antioxidants, and has other bueno health effects as does cranberry.  The combination with lime makes this particular beverage very appealing, at least to me.

With a crack of the seal, I get strong indicators of cranberry and lime, a good sign for a beverage that is mostly water and white grape juice.  With one sip, I know I’m going to like this.  The tart of the cranberry leads in and followed closely by a bit of sour from the lime, then finishes with the natural sweetness of the cane juice and fruit juices.  The sweetness is light, only 28 g per 16 oz bottle.

I’m quite impressed with this, my first experience with Purity.Organic.  The flavors are well balanced and the sweetness doesn’t take over and cover them up.  I can definitely see myself consuming this rapidly during or after a good workout, run, hike or bout of video-game play, all exhausting activities.  I wish I had seen these before, but I’m not surprised since the closest place I can find that carries them is a restaurant I rarely go to.  Look for them yourself if you are interested.

Score: 5 out of 5. Sweet-sour-tart functional drink from the heavens–or wherever Purity.Organic is located.

– WiseGuise

User Reviews: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

5-Star Reviews, Purity.Organics all natural, organic

I haven’t reviewed an iced tea in a while, and this one was politely donated by my girlfriend and purchased from the local Good Earth health grocer, and couldn’t say no.  This is not my first Steaz, I have sampled their tea before, but never managed to sit down and review one.  In a world of sub-par teas, it’s nice to find a company that focuses on theirs and strives to make them flavorful and conscientious.

After my last experience with a mint flavored tea, I was hesitant to try this, but my worry was needless.  Scent-wise, the mint isn’t overpowering, and the tea is tangible.  Flavor-wise, it’s tangy and pleasantly minty, finishing with a soft tea flavor and a perfect dryness.  This is what Lipton iced tea should taste like, (minus the mint) with less than half the ingredients and 6 g less sugar.  Iced teas have been pushed out into the market as something that should be syrupy-sweet and lemon-sour, with hardly any recognizable tea flavor and a generic taste.  This doesn’t have to be, and this tea shows it.

This entire line of iced teas are all natural, organic  and fair trade, and at least with this particular tea, only 20 g of sugar in the 16 oz can.  Light on sugars and organic like Honestea, environmentally conscious and next-door sexy like Hayden Panettiere.  Okay, that last one is only opinion, and I’m probably going to get in trouble for it.  If you like iced teas, these are definitely worth a try.

Score: 4.5 out of 5. Pleasant and minty and definitely not generically flavored.

– WiseGuise

User Ratings: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

4-Star Reviews, Steaz all natural, green tea, organic

Yes, finally, the last oogave review that I’ve been putting off for a week.   Christmas shopping has been wreaking havoc on my posting, among other things.  Let’s get down to it, shall we?  Yes, we shall.  I ended up with the other citrus offering from oogave, Mandarin-Key Lime.  This simple soda has only four ingredients, as long as you count ‘natural flavors’ as a single ingredient.

The freshly opened bottle tickles my nose with a citrus-y mandarin feather, but I’m having a hard time detecting the lime.  With a swig, I get that first rush of sweet from the agave, then an orange tang, followed by a hint of lime.  None of the flavors really overwhelm the others except for the sweetness; at least you can say that oogave knows how to play it mellow with the flavors, if you’re into that sort of thing.

I think that Esteban could really play around with the flavors a lot more, make them familiar but interesting.  The sweetness always seems to take control of my taste-buds before the real flavors get a chance to take them for a ride.  I really wanted to like this soda more, but the sugars are the only thing my tongue has any memory of now that I’ve finished the bottle.  Although, I do feel fuller.

Score: 3 out of 5. The understated flavors disappear under the agave sweetness.

– WiseGuise

User Ratings: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

3-Star Reviews, oogave all natural, independent company, oogave, organic

As is usual when we receive a group of drinks to try, we split them up according to our preference, expertise, or just at random.  In this case it was all three.  I chose Esteban’s Rootbeer as my first, since Danithius had already tried it, and I gave my rebuttal.  My second oogave choice was this fruity number, since I am fond of citrus in mostly healthy ways.

Popping the top, my nose is greeted by  light, grapefruit-y scent, sweet and bubbly as your favorite waitress.  The taste follows with an undeniable link to the citrus waft, although more hinted at than fully explored, finishing with a grape-y mellow sweetness with a lingering memory of grapefruit o the back of your tongue.  None of the sour or bitterness I expected is evident, which is usually associated with this particular fruit, but not necessarily in a bad way.  Many are turned off by this pithy flavor in grapefruit, which is unwarranted.  Good grapefruits are sweet.

The agave tends to coat your mouth and throat, definitely leaning this towards being a sipping soda.  The agave nectar does seem to make me feel fuller after topping off my lunch with this, I don’t need to hit the water cooler or find something else to snack on.  I am refreshed and full.  I found this a welcome alternative to traditional sodas, oogave definitely has something here.

Score: 4.5 out of 5. A tad sweet, but definitely a citrus soda I will remember.

– WiseGuise

User Ratings: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

4-Star Reviews, oogave oogave, organic

Yay! Another bad picture!

This may not seem like the Honest truth, but we have not intentionally gone out of our way to review so many HonestTea flavors, it just happened.  They are delicious, healthier and earned their spot on our 2008 Top 10 list.    Another one, which I received for my birthday a few months ago remained at the back of the rotation until recently.  Needing a pick-me-up on this wearisome Friday, out it came from its frigid prison.

I have always found the smell of iced teas to be pleasant, particularly freshly brewed tea.  This comes close, giving off a rich, earthy aroma hinting at the light sweetness.  A wash of chilled tea makes my tongue very happy here, the small amount of sugar keeps from covering up the taste of the tea, but also adds sweetness and cancels the bitterness of the tea leaves.  The lemon is faint, but adds a touch of sour to even out the taste-bud barrage.  This is about as good as it gets coming out of a bottle.

The 16.9 oz tea contains only 85 calories and 22 g of sugar.  For those of you counting, that’s much less than the 39 in 12 oz of Coke, and far less that the 48 g in a 12 oz can of Lipton Brisk Iced Tea.  And it tastes much better.  And for less than two dollars?  If you like iced tea but hate the loads of sugar, this is for you.

Score: 5 out of 5. Hits the spot, and the mark.

– WiseGuise

User Ratings: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

5-Star Reviews, Honest Tea drink reviews, organic

I have decided to venture back into the jungle and review another maté tea, as I have become an avid drinker of maté, including one of my new favorites, Sol Maté.  Bombilla is another company centered on organic, fair-trade products, created by a couple of white guys who fell in love with maté while in Argentina.  Within a few short years their products went national, and now I have brought it you, our faithful readers.

Peach is not my favorite tea flavor, it usually tastes too sour and over-peachy to me.  While the scent speaks rather fluently of the fruit, the taste of this beverage is more mild-mannered and subtle, managing to let the maté have a say.  At first, I found it a little weak, but as I continued to swill the mildly sweet liquid, the flavors came out a little more.  Maté is a taste that needs to be sipped and savored to truly be enjoyed, like any good tea.  Only 20 oz of sugar in 16 oz, and full of antioxidants and vitamins.

Bombilla has satisfied many of the things I look for in a drink and a company, providing a healthy, sustainable product that tastes good and leaves out the calories and bad karma.  It’s available at Whole Foods everywhere, or check their handy locater to find it.

Score: 4.5 out of 5. Tasty peach tea, but it didn’t thrill me.

– WiseGuise

User Ratings: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

4-Star Reviews, Bombilla drink reviews, independent company, organic, Yerba Mate

This Honest Tea was donated to our cause by a reader and friend of the BL team, to help expand our catalog of Honest beverages.  Much appreciated.

Now, I feel some trepidation when I see a mild flavor like white tea mixed a much stronger flavor like pomegranate, since it could invariably overwhelm the weaker flavor.  But Honest really seems to know what they’re doing when it comes to flavor mixing.  The pom is toned down enough to let the tea shine through, in both scent and taste.  The acai even peek out from behind the pomegranate, coming with a very mild sweetness after the major flavors play their roles and exit stage down.

At first the 20 g of sugar didn’t seem to lend enough sweetness to the tea until I got a few mouthfuls into the bottle.  It built up a little, and became just right for this flavor blend.  There’s also only 1/8th the caffeine as a cup of coffee, for those watching their intake.  This beverage was a welcome reminder of why I like tea so much, and why I will continue to buy Honest Tea.

Score: 5 out of 5. Mildly sweet with a perfect flavor combination.

– WiseGuise

User Ratings: (No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...

5-Star Reviews, Honest Tea drink reviews, organic, white tea