Ayala's Cloves Cardamom Cinnamon Herbal Water

Aroma: This product has a very nice herbal scent. The cardamom is the most pronounced, and it blends perfectly with the hints of clove and cinnamon. For those of you that don't know (I even had to head to the spice cabinet for a refresher), cardamom has a very mild ginger-like aroma to it, and goes quite well with spices like nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and of course cloves and cinnamon.

Taste: Firstly, one thing on the water itself. It tastes pure, and has no trace of that bottled water or mineral water taste that I have come to despise. That scored some points right off the bat. The herbal flavor itself is quite pleasant and it lingers in your mouth for a good while, making your breath feel all nice and clean. (Herbs were some of the first breath fresheners, after all.) The potency of the flavors is just right and the herbal intricacies rival any tea or other unsweetened drink. The best part is: the herbs taste real. I'm tired of people scientifically fiddling around with my drink flavors until they're virtually unrecognizable. This tastes like there were actually cloves and cinnamon sticks floating in the bottle at some point.

Price: $2.00 bottle when purchased in a case of 12 - available through their online store. At first I thought this a bit pricey, but then I realized it includes free shipping, which can be a bear when shipping heavy drinks.

Ingredients: purified water, honey, extracts from cloves, cardamom seeds, and cinnamon bark.

Other Comments: It's almost creepy how well these guys matched our drink submission requirements and our overall mission. They're a small independent company that hasn't yet been gobbled up by one of the big boys (as far as I can tell). They're locally distributed in New York City and Philadelphia markets, but they are available nationwide through their website. They have a hard-core distaste for high fructose corn syrup and anything artificial. They have a passion for healthy living. And they make some of the most interesting natural drink flavors that I've ever seen. (I'm a chef, so I got all giddy when I read about their different herb and spice-based flavors). The herb selections aren't all arbitrary, either. They have an outline of all the herbs on the label which tells you about their individual benefits.
Ayala is the name of the woman who created these drinks, and not surprisingly she is a cook and a doctor (a pediatrician, to be exact). Evidently she was looking for an alternative to sugar-laden and artificially flavored beverages. A clip from their site: "Americans are getting heavier—in fact, two-thirds of us are overweight or obese. We simply consume many more calories than we need, and a significant amount of those extra calories comes from sugar and high fructose corn syrup." Boom! Short and sweet.

Overall: Here Ayala's has succeeded in making a tasty drink with no sweeteners, fillers, or artificial crap. It's simple, yet I still don't feel as though I could whip one of these up at home for a sixteenth of the price. (See MetroMint). I am impressed with the company as well, which earns them extra points. I see no reason not to give this product a full five stars.

Rating: 5/5 stars.

-Danithius


***Review Rebuttal!***
Once again Ayala's has scored with this one. I found the herb scents pleasantly strong, but not in taste, which is excellent, since cinnamon can overwhelm the palate. The faint sweetness of the honey also made me quite happy. This is one of my favorites of theirs. I wish I had a case of this stuff, I would drink it daily. *hint, hint*

-WiseGuise