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Cascade Ice - Orange

We've been getting a lot of hits lately on searches for Cascade Ice (website still says coming soon), and I have never had a reply to my emails asking for information, so I'm curious why they don't seem to be interested in getting broader exposure since their Ice Water drinks seem to be rather popular. In any case, I'll just quite my griping and do the review.

Smells like orange Otter-Pops. Tastes much better, pulpy and sweet, very orange. Doesn't quite taste completely natural, I'm wondering how they get that 'orange essence.' Still says organic, and there is absolutely no chemical aftertaste, so I will take their word that it is all natural. Loaded with vitamins, like all the others.

I say stick this in your kid's face instead of Sunny D, it tastes better and it isn't naturally infused with chemicals and HFCS. And it's refreshing, just like the bottle promises! Now if only these guys would get some serious advertising behind this product, it would fare a whole lot better against the sodas false-flavored beverages of the world.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

-- WiseGuise

Fizz-Ed - Red Raspberry

I've been seeing this in the fruit-juice aisle of my local evil-conglomerate Wal-Mart for a while now, but haven't been able to muster up the nerve to buy it until yesterday. It was $2.50 for a 4-pack, so that makes it about 75 cents a can, not bad. I stuffed it in the fridge until I got home from gorging on Thanksgiving food and cracked one open watching the news.

I didn't expect too much when I purchased this, but it fit our guidelines quite well. Apple & Eve, a company that also produces Seneca fruit juices makes this, so it's a smaller company. Check
It contains no HFCS, CF, or any other added sugar. Check
Sold at Wal-Mart, so it's most likely available everywhere. Check
It's 70% juice and carbonated water, so I ignored the 'fizzical' jokes and tossed it in the cart.

It's not often I do a double-take when drinking something, but this one honestly got me. The smell is very much like a sparkling cider, but the taste is slightly better than that. The tangy-sweet juice hits your tongue right along with the carbonation, but it bubbles away and leaves the taste of the raspberry for you to relish, with an undertone of the black currant, lemon and acerola flavors. The sour tang of the raspberry lingers, and it isn't at all unpleasant. After I finished the first one, I immediately grabbed another. Now I see why they pack them in four. Sneaky bastards.

This is possibly my favorite soda I have reviewed as of yet. 20 g sugar a can, not bad. Carbonation, not good for you, but just the right amount. May I have another?

Score: 5 out of 5, as long as you know it's carbonated and oh, so delicious.

-- WiseGuise

**Danithius Review Rebuttal!**
Wow, I'm impressed. This is awesome - great berry flavor, reasonable sugar. I'm in total agreement with WiseGuise, I give it a five.

Sobe Life Water - Yuzu Black Currant

The Vibrance of Life Water, cir. 2008

SoBe scores another tasty entry into the Life Water brand. Yuzu Black Currant, like any good berry drink, has a good mix of sweet and tart. It has a pleasant berry flavor, and like real sweet-tart berries, it leaves a dry feeling in the back of your throat.

And get this: it has juniperus communis berry extract in it!

What, why are you staring at me? Oh, you don't know what that is??

It's the extract of juniper berries, which are used to make gin. Oh sure, now you're all excited. Stop touching me.

Anyway, aside from that it has Acai extract and black carrot juice. All sorts of interesting stuff in here! I liked it - the flavor fits nicely with the image of its title. That said, I like the other flavors more. (Orange Tangerine and Goji Melon are my two favorite SoBe love interests).

Rating: 4.5/5

-Danithius-

Honest Tea - Organic Honey Green Tea

I promised you another Honest Tea review, and here it is. I decided to keep it simple this time, no fancy Ade's or fruit-flavored teas, this is a straight up green tea, and 'just a tad sweet.' I just got back from the gym and I wanted something refreshing without a lot of sugar, and what should I find staring at me pleadingly from the beer-infested recesses of my food-prison? This chilly little bottle.

The aroma is nothing special, it smells like tea. But the taste is amazingly layered for something with only five ingredients; water, cane sugar, tea, honey and citric acid. An initial sweetness bombards your tongue with an herby background, then the sugar fades away, letting the dry, slightly bitter tea leaves take over. As the tea flavor mellows off, a hint of the honey appears at the back of your tongue, tempting you into another swallow. If you chug it slowly, all the flavors blend together and trick you into stopping to enjoy it.

Even with the 20 g's of sugar per 16.9 oz, it was still slightly too bitter for me to fully enjoy, although I sure wish I had another bottle right now. Which reminds me, you can find Honest Tea in many health food stores, Albertson's, and wherever else you are lucky enough to spy it. Order online if you're desperate.

Score: A reluctant 4.5 out of 5.

-- WiseGuise

And in case you missed it

Here's the latest propaganda from the Corn Refiners lobby.





-- WiseGuise

Artificial Sweeteners-The Bitter Truth: A WiseGuise Diatribe

You will have noticed if you are a regular reader of this blog (or possibly if you accidentally stumbled upon it), that one of our biggest gripes in beverages is the sugar content, but I often prefer some sweetness. Pondering this conundrum, several questions fight their way up to the cerebral cortex of my frontal lobe.

• Why do humans put sugar in everything?
• Why do 'they' replace our beloved sugar with substitutes?
• Why do YOU care so much about sugar?

Humans naturally have a 'sweet tooth,' since sweet is one of the most important tastes after salt (why salt? hint: it keeps you alive). Like salt, sugar can be used as a preservative, since if you don't get it wet, sugar can last indefinitely. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that your body breaks down easily, causing the 'sugar rush' that keeps your hyper-active kids running nonstop for days. Basically, we all love sweets.

Problem: Sugar has a relatively low nutritional value, being simply carbohydrates, and there are a large number who support the idea that it is making us fat. Well, not me, you. The other health problems related to excessive sugar intake range from tooth decay and diabetes to gout and possibly cancer. And nobody likes cancer.
There are, of course, alternatives. Honey is popular, but its distinct flavor and variation keeps it from use in many products, which want a simple, homogenized taste, like the beverage industry. HFCS is currently the most widely used sweetener, but I've gone on about that one before.
So what does the industry do to alleviate this 'problem'? Use low or non-calorie sugar alternatives! Sounds simple, right? Well, it was possible (in the US) until stevia was banned (in the US) as a sweetener in the early nineties. There are myriad other substitutes, some of them low or no calorie, like erythritol, but still are not seen in wide use. But pseudo-health-conscious people still want their sodas, dammit. So what was the burgeoning diet industry to do? Ah-ha! We'll make sugar. With no calories. Sweet.

The first artificial sugar was accidentally made back in 1879 by a chemist screwing around with coal tar derivatives. This went on to be known as saccharin. It was stable, and sweeter than sucrose, but had an unpleasant bitter or metallic aftertaste. If that isn't enough to turn you off to it, (oh yeah, it's still out there) just look at how it's made. By the way, the U.S. Congress decided it would be cool to repeal the law requiring saccharin products to carry health warning labels. Thanks, republicans!

More recently, other sweeteners have become popular, namely aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal and phenylalanine) and sucralose (Splenda). I have been unfortunate enough to try beverages with these sweeteners in them, even without my knowledge, and I can STILL taste them. Why don't I like this? I want the sweet taste, right? Yes, I do. But not with that false, almost plastic aftertaste. And although there have been some accusations to the contrary, these two have been deemed relatively safe to ingest, with no real adverse side affects noted. (Side note: packaged Splenda contains bulking agents, giving it 86% the caloric content of sugar, ergo it is NOT low-calorie)

As far as I am concerned, there is no substitute for natural sweeteners, HFCS and CF excluded. I love sweets just as much as anyone; hell, I still drink sodas on occasion, but I still look for the ones with real, natural, relatively unprocessed sugar in them. The key is moderation. I don't drink a gallon of soda per diem like I used to, instead I rely water, tea and fruit juice for my fluids. If you can't understand that you shouldn't drink that 44 oz cola every day, or that 44 oz diet cola, than I doubt even a higher power can help you. If you don't want to drink empty calories, drink water. And if you still whine because you like flavor, try non-sweetened waters like Hint or Alaya's Herbal Water.

-- WiseGuise

Hansen's - Sarsaparilla Soda

This little brown number is from Hansen's Signature line of all-natural sodas, known for their varied tasty beverages that I have personally enjoyed for fifteen years. This particular soda is apparently flavored with sarsaparilla, an American root. It is one of the main flavoring ingredients in root beer, along with sassafras. And guess what? It has super-powers!

Instead of letting this bottle languish in the chilly depths of my personal food-prison, I drank it almost immediately. It smells just like root beer--surprise! And it tastes like. . . wow, like a creamy root beer. Sweet and smooth, not much of a kick or bite, unlike ginger beer. IF you like that sort of thing, check out Danithius' Ginger People review.

I was honestly hoping for more of a spiced flavor, but was instead greeted with a melody of vanilla and familiar root beer flavors, almost like a cream soda. There is actually very little sarsaparilla, encompassed by the last ingredient, 'Natural Flavors.' And at 45 g of sugar in 12 oz, comes in just under (correction, well over) Coke. Yikes. But if you're looking for a natural, sweet, root-beer-like soda, this might just be your ticket.

Score: 3 out of 5. Lots of sweet, not enough kick.

-- WiseGuise

Tazo - Iced Apple Spice

Tazo Apple with Book and Headphone, cir. 2008

This little number caught my eye at a local grocer, and next thing I knew I was walking another liquid impulse buy back to my car. As you can see, this is a nice, deep apple-red. I wonder how they got it so red from the listed ingredients... perhaps they souped-up the rose hips?

Let me warn you, this stuff smells awesome. It's a spicy herbed-apple cider smell. Pungent, earthy, rich smell of autumn with a hint of sweet. Mmm. I sat there smelling this for 10 minutes straight before snapping myself out of it long enough to actually take a sip.

Wow. And it's got flavor to match. It didn't let me down after my fragrance binge. This juice drink is perfectly sweet, perfectly spicy, like a juicy apple cider spiced with just the right amount of cinnamon, peppermint, and lemon for zip. Delicious. It's all natural with 40% juice, decent sugar content, and interesting herb twists. I have to give this a 5. I'm on my way to the store to get another one right now.

Rating: 5.0/5

-Danithius-

Hint - Pear

I shall return for now to drinks that are more unfamiliar, and closer to our guidelines. In that spirit, I bring you: Hint. I first tried this early in the summer, two flavors I should have immediately reviewed, but I was shirking my duties at the time. For shame.

The bottle speaks confidently of its company's "Award Winning Product," and advocates us to 'drink water, not sugar.' I most wholeheartedly agree. The only ingredients in the bottle are water and natural flavorings.

This has the most pungent pear aroma I've ever experienced in a beverage, and the taste is right on as well, hinting of a pear-y sweetness while still having no sweeteners, or calories for that matter. You can chug it, and it tastes like good, cold water, and then retreats down your gullet leaving a pleasant pear aftertaste. This is definitely easy to enjoy slowly, letting the flavors mellow on your palette while you read Dostoevsky or your other favorite Russian author.

If you can ignore the eye-roll inducing pun joke on the side of the bottle, and the pear ones as well, you may enjoy this one as much as I did. Available in many health-food and grocery stores, online as well. And for now, the company seems to remain independent.

Score: 5 out of 5, the perfect beverage for those who still like some flavor in their life.

Zevia - Natural Orange

Zevia on Maple, cir. 2008

I typically avoid diet sodas of any kind, but one sweetener has come to my attention more than once, and I've been looking around for a chance to try it. I heard about it first from an anecdote in The Four-Hour Workweek. It's called Stevia. It's South-American herb with the nickname of "sweetleaf" - extracts of Stevia can be 300 times the sweetness of sugar.

Stevia has been outlawed by the FDA as a sweetener, reportedly after only one anonymous complaint... probably by a corn industry executive...

The FDA's official stance is that "no one has ever provided FDA with adequate evidence that the substance is safe".

Psh. You've passed a lot more fishy stuff than this, FDA. Any negative studies you can find on Stevia are nowhere near as freaky as some of the fake sweeteners on your approved list! (You'll notice on their site that they are still defending Saccharin.)

Stevia has been used for 30 years in Japan and for centuries in South America with no reported ill effects. Google it, there's a whole mess of controversy out there.

OK, down to business. The makers of this soda get around the FDA by labeling it as a "carbonated stevia supplement". Smooth. It has Erythritol, a sugar-alcohol also contained in Sobe Lifewater. It can be purchased online at https://store.zevia.com/, and at the time of writing, they were having a FREE 6 pack sampler special. You only pay for the S&H. Hook it up, I don't know how long that will be good for.

This soda has a kind of mellow after-sweetness with a light orange flavor. (Think Sobe Lifewater's orange flavor, only carbonated and with a little less flavor punch). This is heavily carbonated - too much for my taste, but nothing to a hardcore soda chugger. The flavor and sweetness seem to grow on you as you drink it, but it never quite delivers the flavorful body I'm looking for. I have a feeling it will take more oomph to wean hardcore soda lovers (or diet soda lovers) off the bottle. Some intense herbs and spice will do amazing things for flavor, Zevia, just look at some of the totally non-sweetened drinks that we've reviewed!

This is an interesting entry, but not amazing. Yes, it is probably a lot better for you than teeth-rotting regular soda or the chemical sweeteners in the diet stuff, but that's not enough to make my buddy list. I'm prepared to make some small flavor sacrifices for big returns on health, sure. But to get the big points, you need to give me the Holy Grail, that perfect combination of both flavor and health. I must have it all!

Rating: 3.0/5

Danithius

Honest Tea: Green Dragon Tea

Yes, I am doing yet another Honest Tea review, but look forward to another Cascade Ice review soon. ;)
I know what some of you are going to say, and I don't care. Then you are going to say, how did he know that? None of your business. Now you'll say, this guy is kind of a jerk. Agreed. Can we move on now? Thanks.

I picked up this particular Honest beverage on discount. I had to shake it up, being a bit silty from the tea. At first smell, it reminds me of a fruity rolled-up type snack, but the high quality kind, not that crap from General Mills (another mega-food-corp). It's my first time trying this, so I wasn't sure what green tea with passion fruit would taste like. Interesting. There's a moment of sweetness, followed by a slightly bitter and dry taste, and ending with the exotic flavor of the passion fruit.

There is a blurb on the back that basically chastises the sweet tea industry for putting unnecessary amounts of sugar in their teas, noting that 'One teaspoon takes away tea's bitterness. Another adds a nice sweetness. That's where we stop.' And they're true to that, there's only 16 grams of sugar in the 16.9 oz bottle.

I can't say this is one of my favorites, but it was definitely worth trying. It is more of a sipping drink than a chugger, the tea's dryness catches up with you. Not a bad tea, but still not mind blowing.

Ingredients: Purified water, organic cane sugar, organic green tea, organic lemon juice, natural passion fruit flavor, citric acid.

Score: 3 out of 5. I would have enjoyed a little more sweetness than the 'tad.'

*Note: the variety in the plastic bottle is apparently discontinued, but still available in the glass bottle. Look in your local grocer or health-food store.*

Bomba - Original Energy

I successfully avoided the temptation to yank the tab off and throw this before I actually drank it. I purchased this grenade-shaped bottle at my local BigLots, more out of curiosity and amusement than actually hoping I would enjoy it, as I have sworn off energy drinks for well over a year. Also, they tend to not fit our guidelines, so you wont see many of them on here. That being said, this was the ONLY energy drink I found there that contained just sugar, which finally won me over. I found their quirky website (Warning: sexy PG-13 images), and learned BOMBAenergy is located in Austria, so how in the devil a box of these made their way to Utah is strange indeed. Possibly through their Arizona distributor. If you happen to see where these are sold, let me know.

Anyhow, after I resisted tossing this bottle through the window and diving for cover, I took a whiff. Oddly, it smells like Smarties, with a weird cheap-chocolate scent underneath. *shrug* And wouldn't you know it, it tastes like Smarties too. Very sweet and tart, it's also slightly carbonated. I vaguely reminds me of a certain crimson male bovine drink, but not tasting so much like rodent urine.

This small bottle (8.4 ounces) contained a whopping 33 grams of sugar (no HFCS), and excessive amounts of caffeine, taurine and several vitamins. Here's the rest of the contents, even of the bottle itself. I had to stop drinking this less than halfway through, it was just too much sugar for me. Being merely curious, this didn't break my heart too much, and I will never drink another one again.

Score: 5 for clever packaging, 1 for taste and sugar content.

-- WiseGuise

Function: House Call

Pre-Script: Once again, between work and school, my reviews have suffered drastically. I will try to get up at least one a week; I'm hoping we can break the 100 review mark before the end of the year. My apologies, keep reading, and submit suggestions! Thanks, WiseGuise.

I found this at a local retailer of all things dented, damaged, discontinued and bizarre, but it can be found elsewhere, like Albertson's, for around $1.30. After another lengthy stay in my refrigerator, I cracked this open and gave it the usual smell test, which hinted at more of a lemonade than a tea. And then I drank it. Drum roll?

I was a little blown away by this drink after my last encounter with Function, which didn't impress me much flavor-wise. This one is great, it had a sweet, mildly citrus flavor, and a smooth almost milky texture. It was unlike any other 'honey green-tea' I have ever had before. Sugars come in at 24 grams a 16.9 oz bottle, not great, but still not Coke status.
Ingredients & Info.

Although it's a green tea, it is caffeine free, also 'Physician Developed' and packed with more vitamins and antioxidants than an Orange County housewife preparing for her next botox injection. Overall, this has been one of my favorite Function drinks, and I plan on sampling more in the future.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

-- WiseGuise

Amazake Rice Shake - Go Hazelnuts

Amazake & Sake Bottle, cir. Aug 2008

This was the epitome of impulse buys for me - it was expensive, and I already had everything I came to the store for, but something about that bottle just seemed to call to me... maybe it was the hazelnut flavor. Maybe it was the name Amazake. Maybe it was subliminal advertising. Whatever it was, I gave it a shot.

Down to the nitty-gritty: like any drink that touts itself as high energy, this has a whole lot of sugar in it. 31 grams in just one cup of this stuff. (One 12 oz can of coke has 39g). Wowza. That is this drink's Achilles Heel. But the ingredients are simple enough, I like that. There are only five: organic rice, hazelnuts, vanilla, hazelnut flavor, and a bit of xanthan gum for kicks. (Actually, it makes it thicker and shake-y).

And the taste? Oooh, this is so hazelnutty-good. After sip number two, I was hooked. It has a rich, smooth hazelnut and vanilla flavor that is a little too perfect. Just the right consistency, and surprisingly, it doesn't taste all that sweet, despite all the sugar. Speaking of which, where the hell is the sugar?! I had to look at the ingredients again to be sure, but no sweetener is listed - it's just rice, nuts, and flavoring...

I was about to panic, but then I realized that "Oh, hey, it says on the label it's 'Naturally Sweet from the Rice Itself'". Wow. You can tell, too, because it lacks the flavor of any of the usual sweeteners. This piqued my curiosity, so I went to consult the magical interwebs. It was then my privledge to learn all about the traditional Japanese beverage amazake, from which this drink gets its name. Amazake is a sweet, low-alcohol beverage in Japan that is reknowned as a health drink. They combine certain rice grains cause the carbohydrates to be broken down into simple sugars, and voila! Natural rice-sugar. Oh, those Japanese!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5, the .5 docked because of the high (albeit natural) sugar. You're in for a real treat, just don't drink the stuff like it was bottled water, allright?

- Danithius -

PS, just found the website: http://www.grainaissance.com/amazake.html

Honest Ade - Limeade

This is my second organic, lime-flavored drink review; see my Talking Rain review. Now, as much as I like the flavor of lime, I may have high expectations from these ades, so it may color my review slightly, but I try to remain objective.

Smelling this is like sticking a freshly sliced lime up your nose, it's that potent. The flavor, however, seems a bit watered down, more so than my previous review. It still tastes just fine, and it is 'just a tad sweet' like Honest Ade proudly prints on their label, but I was hoping for a bit more lime flavor, some tartness, and this lacked that.

It's only Purified water, organic cane sugar, organic lime juice, organic lemon juice, natural lime flavor, organic lemon extract. With all that, you'd think it would be more limey. However, there was a tiny bit of pulp at the bottom, I'm only assuming that is just some of the 'natural lime flavor' (methinks lime peel).

Would I drink it again over any other sugar-laden ade? Sure. Would I wish it had more of a kick? Probably. Should I just shut up and review another drink? Yup.

Score: 4 out of 5.

-- WiseGuise

Talking Rain Twist - Lemon

Talking Rain w/ Ribeye Backdrop, cir. 2008

As illustrated by this photo, Talking Rain Twist Lemon tastes great on a hot sunny afternoon, especially when it's washing down a freshly seared meduim-rare piece of red meat. Mmmmmmm, cow.

Oh, and before I forget: Wise Guise, you'll find your severance check in the mail in the next couple of days. Nobody steals a new product line review out from under Danithius! You'll never work in this business again, you two-timing beverage whore!

Ahem. Now then, this drink has a nice sun-kissed lemon flavor with just the right amount of bite, and nothing else. No sugar, no anything, just lemon-water. Nice, crisp, clean - goes great with food or as a nice refresher.

With this tasty submission, Talking Rain has won its way back into my good graces, which is pretty hard to do after my last Talking Rain sampling fiasco. I can now officially retract my statement that all of their flavor-creator scientist people must have been flunkies that were fired from the Kool-Aid corporation. Clearly that was only half of their staff, and the non-idiot members are working on the Twist series.

This stuff is 9% juice, which includes pineapple concentrate. (Interesting choice of ingredients. I would have never guessed it had pineapple in it.) As I said, no sugar and no artificial sweeteners, so you can't get too much healthier than that.

All in all, it's great for what it is (lemon-water), and it fits in well with our M.O. as a site, but I'm going to dock a point for lack of originality. As was my problem at first with Metromint, I don't like giving full points to something that I could make at home for 1/10th of the price. C'mon, give me a lemon for a quarter and some tap water, I'll whip up five of these. (Yes, yes, I know yours is "Ultra Premium", Talking Rain. But MY tap water is "Uber-Premium". To infinity. So there.)

Score: 4.0/5

-Danithius

V8 V-Fusion

*Reader Suggested*

This has actually been on my radar for some time, since suggested to me by my juice-loving friend Annie. Once we finally received them in our state, I took an instant liking to them. These beverages are 100% juice, unlike their other alt-beverage V8 Splash, which contains only 10% juice and HFCS (and regular V8 has kill-you amounts of sodium).

The flavors I have tried are quite good, the Peach Mango being my favorite. The Pomegranate Blueberry is good but has a bit of an odd aftertaste in large quantities. The Strawberry Banana has a bit more sugar, 38 g per 12oz bottle, but still not bad. Oddly enough, the main filler in all these is sweet potato juice, although, I can't tell.

Each small bottle gives you a serving of fruit and vegetable, but can cost upwards of two bucks a bottle. I would buy the larger bottle (anywhere between $2.50-$3.20) and save some cash. I think this would be a great idea for those trying to get more fruit and veggies in their diet, or those of their kids/family. I would avoid the 'Lite' offerings, they contain sucralose, an artificial sweetener.

Sadly, V8 is also part of Campbell's, another large corporation slowly swallowing up other brands over the years. At least they have these drinks under their wide belt, possibly the healthiest thing the company makes.

Score: 4.5 out of 5, points lost for corporate hierarchy.

-- WiseGuise

Talking Rain Twist - West Indies Lime

One of my favorite flavors is lime, ask anyone. Well, anyone that knows me. If fact, just ask me, you can't trust anyone else. Now then. I spotted one of these in Danithius' fridge, so I found one myself, and have managed to post my review before him. Take that.

It has a crisp, limey, slightly sour taste, and finishes with a mild sweetness and is quite enjoyable for sipping. It smells like a key lime pie, too. This is certified organic AND kosher, for our Semitic readers.

After our dismal receiving of their sparkling water line, this is a more-than-welcome change. I was sad after I finished the bottle, and wanted to go get another. Although I wasn't too fond of the cottony tongue I got afterward, but that what comes with real citrus juices. So you can just deal with it too.

I like their little axiom I spied on the back of the bottle: As in Life, Chill For Best Results. It contains 9% 'nectar', and only 2 g of sugar a serving. The only ingredients are water, agave nectar, lime juice and citric acid. Although I probably wouldn't drink this while working out, any other time it would suit me quite well. More info about their line here.

Score: 4.5 out of 5.

--WiseGuise

Super Happy Asian Drink Hour - Ramune!

Ramune on Glass Table.
(Sorry I forgot to attach the pic on the first post)

*Wise Guise and I assembled a panel of friends, all possessing varied amounts of experience with foreign drinks, and had them try seven wacky/tasty/exotic drinks from Japan! We cleansed our palates with Japanese salty snacks in-between drinks.*

The name "Ramune" comes from the English word "lemonade". It has been sold in Japan for well over 100 years. The unique bottle design has been around from the beginning - the most prominent feature is its marble stopper, which is pushed down into the bottle's neck in order to open the drink. (The plastic mouth at the top of the bottle is too small for the marble to go through, thus avoiding any unfortunate soda-related choking deaths.) It can take some practice to drink from this bottle without having the marble roll back up into the mouth and block the flow of beverage. It's the perfect sipping drink, mostly because the bottle makes it literally impossible to chug!

Ramune comes in dozens of flavors, some of which rotate on a seasonal basis.

Joe (limited experience): "Tastes more like bubble gum. Melony bubble gum I like it, though. That gets my second vote."

Wise_Guise (moderate experience): "It's more of an apple flavor than a lemon flavor. It's a little too much carbonation for me."

Danithius (advanced experience): "Classic. Tasty Summer drink."

Adam (moderate experience): "Yep, that's Ramune"

Crystal (limited experience): "I feel like [Danithius] is trying to get us drunk. I like this one, though, it tastes a lot like Sprite."

Consensus: Melon-apple fizzy bubble gum sorta-lemony old-school Japanese soda! Worth a try even just for the unique bottle experience!

SoBe Life Water - Blackberry Grape 'Enlighten'

Not that we really need to do another review on Life Water, but it bears repeating, this is good stuff. And please make sure you never confuse this with Vitamin Water, which contains Crystalline Fructose, and such drinks are banned from site. *Submission guidelines here.*

Again I must mention that I enjoy these even more now that SoBe has changed their formula, this one having a sweet, berry-grape flavor and matching smell. I should probably sip and enjoy it, but I usually just chug the stuff, it sure goes down easy.

Sugar comes in at only 24 grams a 20 oz bottle, and they threw in some L-Theanine and yerba mate for their 'herbal content.' No surprises in here, it's all the good stuff you expect from Life Water, just behind a pretty purple label.

Ingredients: Filtered water, sugar, erythritol, natural flavor, citric acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), black carrot juice concentrate (color), calcium lactate, potassium citrate, mofidied food starch, , l-theanine, vitamin E acetate, calcium phosphate, gum arabic, calcium pantothenate, yerba mate exteact, niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12).

Score: Would you besurprised if I gave it 5 out of 5?

-- WiseGuise

Kombucha Wonder Drink: Original

This is a can of Sparkling Kombucha that was given to me by our friend/adviser/test subject Adam. He spied this at a discount store where strange and wonderful things are to be found, particularly bizarre food items. For 60 cents, how could he say no?

First, I know some are going to ask, 'what the hell is kombucha?' I'll tell you. Just be quiet a moment. It sounds like one of these exotic fruits that grow deep in the Amazonian or Thai jungles, plucked precariously from giant trees by nearly naked natives. It's not. Kombucha is actually a fermented tea created by a bacterial yeast culture, and it has been imbibed by Asians and Russkies for millenia. So it's a super-fungus that brews its own tea! 'Wait, what?' Yeah.

After pouring the light greenish fizzy fluid into a cup, I took a big whiff, and instantly caught the scent of fermentation. There was also a hint of the juniper berries used. Being kind of a fan of fermented beverages, I took a sip to test the flavor. Ferment-y, with some tea flavor. Not really catching the smaller ingredients. It's a little odd, but not totally unpalatable. I would have to try their other flavors, because I can't really see myself drinking this to enjoy it, despite the many claims to its positive effects. I also wish it wasn't carbonated.

Wonder Drink LLC is an independent company out of Portland with line of 8 kombucha centered beverages, and touts the multiple positive effects of drinking kombucha, which seems to be gaining popularity around the world, and you can even make it at home, if you can get a hold of the culture.

Ingredients: Infusion of (water, organic kombucha concentrate, organic green tea, organic juniper berries, organic spearmint leaves, organic lemon myrtle leaves), organic cane juice, carbonation.

A little too fizzy and odd to enjoy on the porch with a book, but maybe with my next body-cleansing session.

Score: 2.5 out of 5.

-- WiseGuise

Another quick update

Another exciting announcement at Better Libations -

As of today, we will also be located at www.healthdrinkreviews.com for SEO purposes. Our title will always remain as Better Libations, though, as well as our email addresses. In case you forgot:

Danithius@betterlibations.com (love letters and fiscal donations)
WiseGuise@betterlibations.com (hate mail, death threats)
drinkme@betterlibations.com (drink submissions)

The Beverage Revolution marches on!

- Danithius -

50 Reviews!!

We just reached a humble, but important milestone. We have accumulated fifty reviews in the past nine months, between me and Danithius. We appreciate all of our readers, and anyone who has commented. We hope to bring you many more reviews in the future; and please, continue to submit your suggestions and comments. Thanks, everyone.

Much love and Better Libations,

-- WiseGuise

Super Happy Asian Drink Hour - Gokuri King of Mango!

*Wise Guise and I assembled a panel of friends, all possessing varied amounts of experience with foreign drinks, and had them try seven wacky/tasty/exotic drinks from Japan! We cleansed our palates with Japanese salty snacks in-between drinks.*

Gokuri is a line of drinks produced by the Suntory Co., which has been in the alcoholic beverages industry since 1899. Some years later it branched off into other beverages. They also produce CC Lemon, one of the most popular soft drinks in all of Japan.

Joe (limited experience): "This one's my favorite so far. That's the goods."

Wise_Guise (moderate experience): "I like the bottle, it's cool. (After tasting) Oh yeah, that's mango, baby."

Danithius (advanced experience): "15% juice, that's good. And it takes that real strong, cutting mango flavor and smooths it out. It's got more mango in it than sugar, too."

Adam (moderate experience): "It's thick. Yep, I could see drinking this."

Crystal (limited experience): "That is good! Tastes like one of those candies...a Haichu...but liquid."

Consensus: Damn, it is the King of Mango!

Swiss Premium: Iced Tea with Lemon

I was hoping to be able to find a decent bottled iced tea, that didn't contain HFCS like my formerly beloved Arizona Sweet Tea, so I scored this bottle sitting all by itself in the drink isle, a sign I mistakenly took to be good. You'll see where I'm going with that.

I opened the bottle, full of expectations, and could right away smell the instant tea, with a disturbing undertone of plastic. Being here for your service and disregarding my own safety (the bottle is PETE plastic, it should be safe, right?), I took a few sips and put the bottle down. Not only did it have the most bizarre flavor of lemon-flavored tea I have ever experienced, I could taste the plastic too. A few more hesitant swigs and I was done. It has been a while since I haven't finished a drink, but I just couldn't bear this anymore. The phrase 'Epic Fail' comes to mind.

This was one of the biggest letdowns in my history of libations, ranking up there with diet sodas. Whether or not I got a bad batch or it had just gone over (hint: don't print your expiration dates on the side of a bottle with dark fluid in it), I don't think I could ever get over this experience enough to enjoy any of their tea again.

This one is caught up in a corporate web as well, the company is owned by Dean Foods, and distributed by Meadow Gold.
Ingredients: Water, sugar, instant tea, citric acid, sodium citrate, and natural flavors.
Sugar factor: 42 grams a 20 oz bottle.

Score: 0.5 out of 5; pending my death from plastic-leeched tea, they will lose another half point.

-- WiseGuise

Cascade Ice - Tropical Citrus

In my ongoing effort to dig up wherever Unique Beverage is hiding their Cascade Ice information, I picked up this tropical punch at my local Albe's, and waited for what seemed the right time to open it, which was right after a plate of homemade mouth-burning turkey burritos. After my taste buds were thoroughly singed and anticipating liquid relief, Cascade Ice came to my palette's rescue.

Upon cracking the seal, I was happy to stick my nose down into the neck, and take a whiff of what reminded me of a big bowl of cut up fruit. A few swigs later, I was able to taste again, and caught traces of papaya and mango, not picking up so much on the citrus, which would be orange and grapefruit if I'm recognizing the fruits on the label correctly.

Overall it has a nice, sweet flavor, fruity and a tad sour. It seems a little sweeter than the others I have tried, but still has the same amount of sugar, about 32 g per 20 oz bottle. Still trying to find out about this company, which mainly produces energy drinks, but they also have a line of Cascade Ice sparkling water.

Ingredients: Water, organic cane sugar, citric acid, natural flavor, ascorbic acid, monopotassium phosphate, magnesium lactate, calcium lactate pentahydrate, red cabbage extract (color), Guarana Seed extract, niacin, panax ginsing root extract, d-calcium pantothenate, chromium polynicotinate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, chromium picolinate, cyanocobalamin. (don't worry, all those things you can't pronounce are vitamins)

Again, this one gets a 4.5 out of 5, pending any replies to my emails.

-- WiseGuise

Super Happy Asian Drink Hour - Pocari Sweat!

*Wise Guise and I assembled a panel of friends, all possessing varied amounts of experience with foreign drinks, and had them try seven wacky/tasty/exotic drinks from Japan! We cleansed our palates with Japanese salty snacks in-between drinks.*

Joe (limited experience): "A non-carbonated Squirt, plus something...is there ginseng in that? I like this. This is good."

Wise_Guise (moderate experience): "Now this stuff you can pound. It's very refreshing."

Danithius (advanced experience): "A very light grapefruit flavor. And the greatest name ever for a sports drink."

Adam (moderate experience): "It has a more bland...or like, light flavor."

Crystal (limited experience): "I don't think I like this one very much."

Consensus: Light, slightly citrus-y, great as a sports-chugger.

Function: Youth Trip

Youth Trip Vista, cir. Oct 2008

Wow, now that's an interesting flavor. It's like a grape shock-tart without the sour...with a buckwheat aftertaste. Yeah. There's buckwheat in this. I'll give that notion a few moments to congeal in your mind.

Did you black out for a second there? I know I did. Just brush yourself off and check for any major lacerations. If none, proceed with the review.

This is a crazy strange combo of ingredients, and yet it works somehow. Basically, this drink claims that it can be used in place of sunscreen. It'll give you healthy skin and cure wrinkles, too. Wow.

I'm split on the ingredients in here... the drink has a ton of ingredients I can't pronounce, but then on the other hand, it's made by doctors...hmmm. Sugar levels are just fine: only 26 g for 16 oz. It tastes sweet enough, and the flavor has enough depth and character to keep you interested till the end.

Rating: 4 out of 5 - I'm not sure if it will take the place of your SPF 30, but it has a unique taste and a lot of vitamins, so it's not a bad choice for midday quenching.

Fuze Refresh: Strawberry Banana

Note: I am aware that Fuze used crystalline fructose in many of their drinks, but it appears they may have redesigned their flavors like some other companies, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, if you'll excuse the cliche.

This odd fortified drink is in the line of 'Refresh' drinks that Fuze produces, and although I ordinarily avoid anything with banana in it, I decided to give this a try. It cost me about $1.29 at the grocery store (kind of a current price trend in the 'healthy drink' arena, eh?) and I took it home.

I was curious about the shrink-wrapped bottle that basically hid the contents from the casual shopper, and if you look in the bottle, it's obvious why. This stuff looks weird, like someone blended up a ripe banana with milk and water, kind of a brownish yellow. I can live with it though. It has a nice thick consistency, almost like a smoothie, but very blended. It tastes good, but in an odd way. Like a watered down smoothie. The fruit and milk mix well, effervescent of banana and a hint of strawberry. Very sweet, too.

Their site has some GD annoying background jungle sounds that you can't turn off, so their losing a half star right there. Their info on their own drinks is limited, many other sites have much more detailed reviews, including ingredients. 200 calories a bottle. Yikes. Don't drink too many of these, you could get fat, but you'd be totally refreshed. Upgrade your site, you guys, and turn the damn sounds off, or at least let me do it.

Score: 4 out of 5.

-- WiseGuise

Super Happy Asian Drink Hour - Skal Water!

*Wise Guise and I assembled a panel of friends, all possessing varied amounts of experience with foreign drinks, and had them try seven wacky/tasty/exotic drinks from Japan! We cleansed our palates with Japanese salty snacks in-between drinks.*

The mighty SKAL Water is a "Milk based soft drink. Tender to your mouth. Nicer to your mind. Skal Water always takes you to the cow-mooing meadow." (Actual quote from the front of the bottle.)

Skal Water is a major competitor with Calpis water in Japan.

Joe (limited experience): "It's not bad. It's like a sweet lime. A sherbet-lime. Not bad, but I like the first one (Calpis Water) better."

Wise_Guise (moderate experience): "Smells a little more lemony than Calpis does."

Danithius (advanced experience): "It's more like a Sprite flavor."

Adam (moderate experience): "A lot more citrus-y, little more soda-y"

Crystal (limited experience): "It's like flat Sprite, like what you drink when you get sick."

Consensus: Not so much a cow-mooing meadow, more like a flat, slightly creamy Sprite.

Super Happy Asian Drink Hour - Calpis Water!

*Wise Guise and I assembled a panel of friends, all possessing varied amounts of experience with foreign drinks, and had them try seven wacky/tasty/exotic drinks from Japan! We cleansed our palates with Japanese salty snacks in-between drinks.*

Say this to an unsuspecting friend:

"Ah, I love drinking fresh Calpis on a hot Summer day!"

And then you will see why Calpis chose to market themselves under a different name in the States: Calpico.

This is one of the first truly Japanese soft drinks I ever tasted in Japan. I wasn't sure about it at first, but it has grown on me steadily ever since that time, making it into my top 3 Far East Favorites. It's made with a process similar to yogurt, and has a lightly sweet, yogurt-lemon-milk flavor.

Joe (limited experience): "It's pretty good, actually...It's not milky, it's almost fruity. I couldn't see myself pounding this. It's like a melted sherbet-creamsicle taste."

Danithius (advanced experience): "It's kind of a sipping drink... It has a little bit of sour, like a lemon or a citric acid aftertaste."

Wise Guise (moderate experience): "Kind of a yogurty, milky taste. It's great, I like it."

Adam (moderate experience): "Tangy. Little bit grapefruity."

Crystal (limited experience): "It is a little grapefruity."

Consensus: Happy Refresh!

Super Happy Asian Drink Hour is upon us! (Plus HFCS Rant)

Greetings, friends. I'd like to preface our Japanese drink reviews with a quick word or two.

As you may remember from our flagship post, we said we would not review anything with HFCS unless we had a bloody good reason to turn a blind eye to it. A majority of these Japanese drinks do have a substance somewhat like HFCS (though it's not corn syrup, necessarily - they use all kinds of sources). Bear with me as I explain our bloody good reasons for reviewing them.

The Japanese have an interesting way of distinguishing sweetener ingredients. They are labeled specifically as glucose-fructose syrup and fructose-glucose syrup, depending on the ratio. (The one possessing a higher percentage comes first in the title.)

Quick review: regular sugar is about a 1:1 mix of fructose and glucose. Usual soft-drink type HFCS is about 55% fructose to 45% glucose. Seems not all that bad until you consider just how much is consumed in a day by the average person. So that particular mix percentage would be labeled fructose-glucose syrup in Japan. (Here's an interesting bonus fact - honey is actually the same amount of fructose to glucose, 55 to 45 percent. ) But here's the big kicker:

In Japan, they have another ingredient that is called "High Fructose Syrup", which entails at least 90% fructose. Now that's whatcha gotta watch out for! In America, we require no such delineation, we are only told that the 55-45 mix is the "typical" ingredient.

I found only one drink in Japan that possessed this super-fructose mix. And you know what? It was manufactured by Coca-Cola. What a surprise! I wish there was a way to keep a closer eye on the actual amounts of fructose gracing our palettes here in the States. If Coke can get away with it in health-conscious Japan, I definitely wouldn't put it past them to sneak it in over here, too.

So anyway, for those of you who like lists, this is why we're reviewing these drinks:

Less overall sugar content
Clearer delineation of fructose-glucose ratio
Unusual and original flavors
'Cause they're Japanese and insane

Good enough? Good. Stay tuned for wackiness.

Honest Ade Cranberry Lemonade

I get asked all the time, "WiseGuise, how come you don't do more reviews on -ades? Particularly lemon-ades? If you're so wise, why don't you impart your wisdom upon us concerning the penultimate summer-time drink?" The answer is simple. There aren't many good lemonades out there. At least, that aren't filled to the brim with sugars (particularly HFCS,) or just plain taste terrible. Look at anything you can find in a convenience store. Bleh. But, there is a real lemon behind this ugly lemon-shaped rock. It's called Honest Ade, from the good folks at Honest Tea.

I can still smell the fresh, tart, cranberry-lemon scent in the empty (100% recyclable) bottle. It's like something that you wish your grandmother would make, but can't, and never will, because she doesn't love you. That's why she gives you Countrytime. That's why I suggest that next time you're at your local grocer or health-food depot, look for this simple bottle. It's only about $1.30 - .50 a bottle, and it tastes like lemonade should; not too sweet, not too tart. You can sip it, chug it, slam it, swim or shower in it if you'd like, but I would suggest against the two latter.

It's all organic, baby, and just 24 grams of sugar in the bottle. I like it just as much or more than Honest's other offerings, and you can rest assured you will be seeing more of their products reviewed here, and potentially bathed in, if time permits.
The only bad news I have, is that Coke has moved in on Honest Tea, buying 40% of the company earlier this year, with an option to buy them outright in 3 years. Say it aint so.

I like it so much, it's getting 5 out of 5 asterisks.

-- WiseGuise

Fizzy Lizzy Red Hill Pomegranate

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

Fizzy Lizzy Lone Star Grapefruit

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

Fizzy Lizzy Gulf Coast Tangerine

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-

Fizzy Lizzy Yakima Valley Grape

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-

Xingtea

Since there are several flavors of this beverage I enjoy, I will do a general review of the product line as I have experienced it. At first it was hard to find this anywhere but the original 7-11 I discovered it in, but have since found it sold in a few more gas stations in the area. This may not be the case in other parts of the country, since I live in a near dead-zone of original beverages.

What first caught my eye was the large can with pretty colors, and then it was the prominent All-Natural labeling around the top. Then I saw it was only $1.39 (more elsewhere), and I took a small chance. It was phenomenal. I have tried several of the flavors, finding blueberry to be my personal favorite. As far a real tea goes, this is no contender; but for a flavored tea, it beats all I have tried thus far. They are sweetened mostly with honey, contain some boosts like ginseng, and are not too sweet.

I do have some grievances, though. Like I mentioned above, it can be hard to find these. Secondly, there is little information to be found online about the product. I did find out that they are now produced and distributed by Cott, and they have a line of 14 flavors or products, including 3 diet versions and an energy drink. For best results, drink on a sunny, sultry day so you can finish all 23.5oz.

Score: not widely available, but still quite tasty, 4.5 out of 5.

-- WiseGuise

The Beginning of the End of HFCS: A WiseGuise Diatribe

As those of you who read this humble blog with any interest or regularity hopefully know, we are working toward a world without a need for the ubiquitous and unhealthy sweetener known as HFCS or High Fructose Corn Syrup. This unholy substance is used in almost every production food imaginable, including beverages, flavored alcohols, corn and potato chips, soups, candy, packaged vegetables, cereals and even bread. Bread! Why does bread need sugar? Much less hydrogenated oils and enriched (processed) white flour, but that's a topic for another rant.

As it turns out, we are not the only ones fighting this massively one-sided battle. As you may have noticed, some companies (even those owned by Big Soda) are beginning to sense a change in the tide and have begun to return to more natural sweet stuff; these include, but are not entirely limited to:

• SoBe: all redesigned bottles I have found now contain sugar, and proudly proclaim it
• Jones Soda: has switched many of their sodas to cane sugar
• Steaz: I have no idea who they are, but use only organic cane sugar
• Goose Island: same as above
• Dr. Pepper: it's called Dublin Dr. Pepper
  
• Coke: known as the "Mexican" Coke, it is produced south of the border, with regular sugar, and has a better taste in many persons' opinions, including my own
  

In recent reading, I found this surprising and amusing poll. An unbelievable NINETY PERCENT of people are at least trying to avoid HFCS, as I found while reading this article on the poll itself. Also in a related article (by related I mean linked) Coke is coming out with Passover Coke, since corn is not OK on passover, despite Coke being kosher.

It seems a lot of people also prefer the taste of sugar over HFCS, as in the MexiCoke. So you may ask, why the HFCS if people prefer the taste of sugar? There are a lot of reasons, but the main ones are simple economics. First, there are sugar tariffs in the U.S., making it more expensive to import (hint: it doesn't grow well here). Second, there are subsidies for the corn industry in the U.S., making it cheaper to run that corn through the lengthy process of converting it to HFCS; and therefore, cheaper than just buying sugar. Another reason is that it mixes easier with liquids, being a liquid. Less work for the soda companies.

I have read some rumorings of bringing back a stevia-derived sweetener into use again, since it was banned in the U.S. in 1991. Methinks this was a move by other sweetener lobbies to get it out of the picture since it was competition (300 times the sweetness of sucrose!). It has been used in South America for centuries, and if it was killing people, we'd probably know by now.

In conclusion, if you are making an effort to get HFCS out of your life, keep it up, it appears to be working, and maybe one day it will be as rare to see it in a product as it was to see sugar just a few years ago. Choosing healthier drinks is just the beginning.

Thanks to my sources, Wikipedia, the Consumerist and Google.

-- WiseGuise

A quick update...

Hello Better Libationers!

As you may have noticed, we`ve taken the liberty of upgrading a few things, including our domain name. You can now find us at http://www.betterlibations.com/. Drink submissions will now be emailed to drinkme@betterlibations.com, while love letters, death threats, and random advice can be sent to either Danithius@betterlibations.com or Wiseguise@betterlibations.com.

I haven`t posted for the last two weeks because I`ve been away on a little excursion to the Land of the Rising Sun. I just needed to get away from the high-fructose rat race for a while, you see. How unhappy I was when I discovered some of my favorite drinks out here have the Devil`s Sweetener in them, too! (I had some nagging suspicions, I just never knew for sure - mostly because, well, the ingredients are in Japanese.) So that has cast a slightly sticky shadow on an otherwise wonderful vacation. That, and the Ninjas.

But never fear, I`ll be back in the states soon with some special edition Far Eastern reviews! Stay tuned!

-Danithius in Tokyo

SoBe Life Water - Cherry Pomegranate 'Zingseng'

I figured it was about time I review a drink I have been enjoying for some six or seven months this year, normally during or after one of my lengthy and exuberant workouts. Life Water has been on my radar since I noticed it does not contain any HFCS, CF, or artificial sweeteners. This does, however, contain erythritol, but I will get to that in a minute.

The first thing I noticed was the new label design, with softer colors and (wtf?) a color-blind test lizard. Next, I realized they had radically changed their formula from the previous incarnation of Pomegranate Cherry. I was then very happy to notice that this was a good thing, it tastes much better than it previously did, where the flavor didn't last and the drink seemed too watered down. Now it lasts and there is no watery cherry aftertaste. This drink goes down amazingly smooth, quite the quencher.

My cohort Danithius raised an alert on a previous post about erythritol, a sweetener used in this and other (and I'm going to assume, all) Life Water flavors. It is actually a natural sweetener, a sugar alcohol, obtained from glucose. This sweetener has been approved as tooth-friendly by the FDA, has very little calorie value, and is not even processed by your body, unlike fructose. I hope this sweetener is as good as it sounds, and I would like to know why in the bloody hell it isn't used more often in beverages. I am accusing erythritol of the enhanced sweetness in the drink, which I found to be perfect. There are 41g of suger in each 20oz bottle.

Ingredients: Filtered water, sugar, erythritol, natural flavor, monopotassium phosphate, citric acid, ascorbic acid (you should know by now that's vitamin C), calcium lactate, potassium citrate, mofidied food starch, , cochineal extract (color), taurine, vitamin E acetate, calcium phosphate, gum arabic, panax ginseng root extract, calcium pantothenate, niacinamide, elderberry juice concentrate (color), pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12).
Note: This drink is NOT vegan friendly, it contains cochineal extract, which is a pretty red insect they grind up and use for coloring. Yummy.

This drink has the energy enhancers taurine and ginseng, though not in the frighteningly prodigious amounts like energy drinks have. SoBe Life Water has a nice but nearly useless website. And in case you forgot, SoBe is owned by PepsiCo.

I was so impressed with this improved version it gets 5 out of 5.

-- WiseGuise