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.