Tag: Beverage

REVIEW: Mtn Dew Liberty Brew

Meghan 16 Comments

Mtn Dew Liberty Brew

What is Mtn Dew Liberty Brew?

Honoring all fifty states Dewnited under the Dew Nation flag, this limited edition brew promises to do its country proud by packing each bottle with 50 different flavors and enough Blue #1 to put Old Glory to shame.

How is it?

Much like shave ice in Hawaii, which you can mix and match all kinds of syrups, it’s hard to decipher where one flavor in Liberty Brew ends and another begins. If I had to pick, Blue Raspberry is probably the most prominent one of the bunch, but everything’s so blended together that it’s hard to pick any individual taste out.

Mtn Dew Liberty Brew Glass

Lacking the slight citrus-lime punch featured in regular Mountain Dew, Liberty Brew somehow seems even sweeter by comparison, and no aspect of it made me want to finish my bottle. Actually, it kind of reminds me of a melted Blue Raspberry ICEE, just without the disappointment of anticipating a frozen treat and finding out the machine is broken.

Is there anything else you should know?

This is a drink best enjoyed in one sitting. Despite the cap, it gets flat pretty quickly, and I thought it began to taste unsettlingly close to cough syrup once it wasn’t fizzy anymore.

Conclusion:

Despite its distinctly patriotic branding, I’d skip on offering Mtn Dew Liberty Brew at cookouts and gatherings this summer. Just stick to buying the original stuff.

Purchased Price: $1.88
Purchased at: Walmart
Size: 20 fl. oz.
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts:: (1 bottle) 280 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 90 milligrams of sodium, 75 grams of total carbohydrates, 75 grams of sugars, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Sparkling Ice Mystery Flavor 2019

Leonard 4 Comments

Sparkling Ice Mystery Flavor 2019

What is Sparkling Ice Mystery Flavor 2019?

A new mystery flavored zero-sugar sparkling water from Sparkling Ice just in time for summer! It comes in festive packaging complete with palm tree leaves and one cool sunglass-sporting toucan. Now are those elements supposed to relate to the flavor or are they simply a ruse celebrating its seasonal debut? Hmmmmmmm.

How is it?

Sparkling Ice Mystery Flavor 2019 Clear

I’m a fan of Sparkling Ice’s drinks as they are refreshing, light, and not too sweet. This one is no different and checks all those boxes. As for the flavor, though? It’s a tasty fruity flavor is about all I can say. Interestingly this one does have peach juice as an ingredient, and I definitely smelled it upon opening. I feel like it comes through in the taste as well but just ever so slightly. However, let’s not forget what happened last time when yours truly tried to conquer a mystery Sparkling Ice. There was lemon juice as an ingredient and the flavor turned out to be… wait for it… Passion Fruit Punch.

HUH?

Sparkling Ice Mystery Flavor 2019 Ingredients

I wish there was some crazy flavor to ingredient algorithm where I could input in peach juice to see what it comes up with. Although, I am digging the glimmering foil on the packaging used for the question marks. Since I got nothing else, I’m gonna take it and run with it. It’s making me think of starfruit which would be a fun, out of left field flavor to have. Since there is a bit of peach, I’m gonna follow suit from last year. The flavor is Starfruit Punch! Boom.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Sparkling Ice Mystery Flavor 2019 Back of Bottle

The drink is clear, low calorie, and caffeine free. It also contains a few vitamins, including antioxidant vitamin A. Also, the toucan is telling us you can guess the flavor to win some prizes. As you can see on the back, there is a cruise with Holland America Line to be won, so get guessing!

Conclusion:

If you enjoy a diet beverage and want something refreshing and fruity to deal with the warm weather, this will most certainly do the trick. If you want something that will make you ponder for hours about what the heck the flavor is, because it’s kinda hard to tell, then this will also satisfy you.

Purchased Price: $1.00
Size: 17 fl. oz. bottle
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 0 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Red Bull Summer Edition Beach Breeze

Vin 13 Comments

Red Bull Summer Edition Beach Breeze

What is Red Bull Summer Edition Beach Breeze?

It’s a Red Bull. Thanks for reading the review, enjoy your summer folks!

How is it?

Ok, I’ll elaborate more, but Beach Breeze is unmistakably Red Bull.

It tastes like a sour Red Bull with an added coconut finish. The sour aspect is probably supposed to ape a fruit flavor, so I’d guess they were going for unripe pineapple?

Red Bull Summer Edition Beach Breeze Glass

If you’ve ever wondered what Red Bull’s attempt at a Pina Colada might taste like, this may be as close as you’ll get – a sour Red Bull with a fragrant artificial coconut aftertaste.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Red Bull Summer Edition Beach Breeze Ingredients List

I could be wrong about the pineapple. There’s no fruit listed in the chemical – pardon me, ingredient list. Perhaps I just tasted the “glycerol ester of wood rosin.” Mmm! It’s not officially summer until I’ve had some “glycerol ester of wood rosin.”

Red Bull Summer Edition Beach Breeze Alka Seltzer

And with that sarcastically said, we don’t need fake dyes in our energy drinks, but Beach Breeze’s color is super disappointing. This is a nitpick, but I poured this into one of my “fancy” beer glasses, expecting a cool light blue color and got what looked like the aftermath of a dissolved Alka-Seltzer tablet.

Conclusion:

I love Pina Colada, and coconut especially. The last thing I drank from the aforementioned beer glass was a delicious coconut stout. The coconut here is cheap and artificial. The pineapple is essentially an educated guess, and it’s a little too sour to really stick out amongst the handful of Red Bull flavors you’ll find next to this in the fridge. For example, I tried the Sugar Free Pear flavor a few days later, and it was much better.

In fairness, Beach Breeze gave me a little pep in my step. I didn’t sprout wings, and it didn’t “vitalize my body and mind,” but it was still kinda refreshing despite the “meh” flavor.

Purchased Price: $2.59
Size: 12 fl. oz.
Purchased at: Shop Rite
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts:: (1 Can) 160 calories, 0 grams of fat, 125 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 38 grams of sugar, less than 1 gram of protein, 140% niacin, 120% vitamin B12, 365% vitamin B6, 70% pantothenic acid, and 114 milligrams of caffeine.

REVIEW: Sprite Lymonade

Marvo 21 Comments

Sprite Lymonade

Sprite Lymonade is the classic lemon and lime-flavored Sprite mixed with some lemonade. Okay, not exactly lemonade because the beverage itself isn’t an ingredient. It gets its elevated citrus flavor from, according to the bottle, clarified lemon juice from concentrate. I imagine Sprite Clarified Lemon Juice From Concentrate would’ve been a horrible product name.

It has ONE PERCENT real juice. And, somewhere, Mtn Dew Amp Game Fuel is laughing because it’s made with five percent juice, which is still not a lot, but much more than this.

It tastes like a cloudy Sprite that’s ever so slightly more lemony than the original. It’s definitely not carbonated lemonade, and it’s definitely not just Sprite. If you like the classic lemon-lime soda, I imagine you’ll also enjoy this because it isn’t a dramatic change from the original.

The “lemonade” portion tastes the part, adding a little more lemon flavor and sourness, but thankfully it isn’t as sour as a test batch made by aspiring young first-time lemonade stand proprietors.

Like with all Sprite varieties, it has no caffeine. Seriously, Coca-Cola, if you want to sell a little more of your popular drink, make one with caffeine. People love Sprite. People love caffeine. Do the math. I know you’ve probably done it in the lab, and the caffeine messes with the crisp, clean lemon-lime flavor, but I’d buy more if it had some. No pressure, Coca-Cola.

Sprite Lymonade is crisp, refreshing, citrusy, and any other adjective used to describe a good lemon-lime soda, but to be frank, it’s an unexciting variation. We have cherry, cranberry, and whatever Sprite flavors are available at Coca-Cola Freestyle dispensers, so pardon me if I feel this is a little boring, I mean, in Sprite spelling, boryng.

Purchased Price: Way too much from someone on eBay
Size: 20 fl. oz. bottle
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bottle) 220 calories, 0 grams of fat, 110 milligrams of sodium, 59 grams of carbohydrates, 57 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Starbucks Vanilla Almondmilk Frappuccino

Marvo 8 Comments

Starbucks Vanilla Almondmilk Frappuccino

What is the Starbucks Vanilla Almondmilk Frappuccino?

Imagine a bottled Starbucks Frappuccino with, instead of reduced fat and skim milk, a liquid made from almonds that are treated as if someone is trying to extract top secret information from it. They’re drowned, chopped into tiny pieces, and then drowned again.

Besides this vanilla flavor, there’s also a mocha version.

How is it?

Full disclosure: I drink almond milk. More specifically, organic Silk Almondmilk from Costco that comes in a pack with three half-gallons, which I drink even though there’s a Silk’s Vanilla Soymilk multi-pack that’s cheaper and better tasting. I mention that to show I have no issues with the nut milk.

With that said, Starbucks’ Vanilla Almondmilk Frappuccino is something I wouldn’t buy again. At first, it’s decent coffee drink. But in the middle of every sip, a weird, acrid taste pops up in my mouth. It’s similar to what I experienced with Starbucks’ bottled Smoked Butterscotch Latte. It’s not so horrible that I’m spitting it out and pouring the rest down the drain, but the next time I’m looking for a non-dairy coffee drink, I’ll avoid this.

I’m not sure if it’s the nut milk that’s causing this or something else because the Smoked Butterscotch Latte doesn’t have almond milk and I also recently tried Starbucks’ Almondmilk Caffe Latte and Caffe Mocha which don’t have that acrid taste.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Because the almond milk tends to be thinner than cow milk or soy milk, I thought this would also be that way. But thanks to our friends carrageenan and cellulose gum, it’s as thick and creamy as regular bottled Frappuccino beverages.

Some of you astute readers might’ve noticed I’ve used two different spellings for almond milk. When used in product names, I’ll respect the one-word spelling, but I’m on Team #AlmondSpaceMilk and used the two-word spelling for all other instances. Eh, maybe I’m just a fuddy-duddy.

Conclusion:

Starbucks’ Vanilla Almondmilk Frappuccino has fewer calories and fat than its dairy version, but its flavor makes it my least favorite bottled nut milk coffee drink. Thankfully, there are better options from Starbucks.

Purchased Price: $2.89
Size: 13.7 fl. oz.
Purchased at: Target
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bottle) 180 calories, 5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 120 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 28 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.