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-

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

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

SoBe Life Water Orange Tangerine

Aroma: Let's see, how to describe it...somewhere between actual orange juice and orange Kool-aid.
Taste: This has a light, "Orange-Flavor" taste with maybe a hint of the herbs that they sneaked in there. It has a good level of sweetness, and is nice and refreshing. I'll take this over say, Gatorade (or Powerade, or whatever -ade) any day, and not just because those others are riddled with HFCS. Life Water's flavor wins hands-down, as far as I am concerned.
Price: $1.00 (on sale) at a local grocer. Available nationwide.
Ingredients: filtered water, sugar, natural flavor, citric acid, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), sodium citrate, modified food starch, vitamin E acetate, calcium phosphate, gum arabic, acerola juice extract, calcium pantothenate, rosehip extract, B-apo-8'-carotenal (color), niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12).
Other Comments: I'm reviewing this drink because recently SoBe made the decision to stop using crystalline fructose, which we do not endorse, to plain old table sugar. (FYI, Glaceau Vitamin Water still uses the crystalline stuff). We know that SoBe was acquired by Pepsi a while ago, thus making them a part of The Machine, but I feel that they are taking steps in the right direction with this. They have also added herbal content in the change. The sugar content isn't bad: the 20 ounce bottle clocks in at 24 grams. (Remember, a 12 oz. can of Coke is about 40 grams, and don't even ask me how much orange soda has!)
Overall: This is a nice, refreshing, not-too-sweet flavored water option that I like to use in place of HFCS-riddled sports drinks. I believe there is some room for improvement and innovation as far as taste goes, but I think it's still one of the best widely-available options in this particular category.

Rating: 4.0/5 stars.

-Danithius