Cascade Ice - Dragon Fruit

This post is part of my ongoing effort to dig up information about a small company who produces a good product, but remains difficult to find anything on. I first began writing a review on another of their beverages, but became befuddled and stymied by a lack of info on Unique Beverage Company, and I know for sure is that they exist. Moving on.

This Organic drink was suggested by a close friend, who fell into a brief bacchanalial love with it, and I soon followed suit. The first breath out of the bottle is pleasant and fruity, and the quaff equally so. It is mildly sweet, only 32 grams or so in the 20 oz bottle, with plenty of vitamins to go around. It doesn't leave any unpleasant lingerings, and isn't too strong like many dragon-fruit drinks are.

This can be sipped or chugged, working equally well as a thirst-quencher and casual sipper. It can be had, as far as I can find, only at Albertson's, for about $1.29 or less. It works great for after a hearty workout at your local gym.

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)

I'll give it a 4.5 for 5, still a bit much sugar, and hard to find.

-- WiseGuise

Sobe Life Water - Goji Melon

Yep, I think the pic says it all. If you can't tell, there's about .75 ounces left in the bottom of that bottle. You see, when I get new drinks for review, I try to stow them away in the fridge until I'm ready sit down at the computer and commit my loquacious opinions to digital paper. Sometimes, however, the temptation to crack one open and sneak a taste before I'm ready to write is just unbearable. I rationalize this by saying it will give me longer to meditate upon the drink's flavor and unique character as a beverage so that my review will be enlightened with the wisdom that only comes with the passage of time. In reality, I'm just thirsty.

Such was the case when I bought this unsuspecting bottle of Sobe Life Water Goji Melon. It was the end of a long, hot day and I had stopped by the grocery store on my way home to grab a thing or two. That's when I spotted this new flavor, beckoning sweetly to me from the cool, cool shelves of the refrigerated drink rack. Melon flavored! And I was...so thirsty. Sweet refreshment awaited, and I could not shun her embrace!

I tried to pace myself, but gradually the portion I left to my future review-writing self shrank to less than a measly ounce. No matter! That's all I need.

This drink smells great, like a berry-enhanced melon flavor should. True to Life Water's standards, Goji Melon has only 24g of sugar per 20 oz. bottle. (Again, let's use Coke's sticky-sweet measuring stick - a 12 oz Coke has 39 grams of high-fructose corn syrup goodness!) Goji Melon tastes like mildly sweet Melon-berry and is very refreshing. It has a nice watermelon-y aftertaste as well. Yes, SoBe's parent corporation is the Fizzy Juggernaut, PepsiCo. However, the low-sugar, no carbonation, herb-infused Life Water is a big step in the right direction, so I'm happy to throw a dollar or two their way. My only concern: has anyone done an evaluation of the sugar substitute called Erythritol? I just discovered this as ingredient #3 on the ingredients list, but haven't found any major studies on it. My ears are wide open!

Rating: 4.5/5 stars (Barring evidence that this Erythritol sweetener causes Leprosy or Thoracic Geysers or something)

http://www.sobelifewater.com/

-Danithius