David's Beverage Blog – Page 3 – db^2 – A beverage review website

Nestea Pure Leaf (unsweetened)

Posted on November 16, 2014 by David

I was at the Original Hot Dog Shop in Oakland and my meal came with a drink. Everything they had was loaded with sugar after a while of deliberating I found and decided on the unsweetened Nestea. It seemed the lesser of all evils. I would barely consider this tea. It was weak and watery, a lobotomized version of a real tea. It has a slight bitterness you find in real tea, but I feel like it was from the added citric acid rather then from the tea itself.

Sweetener: None

Amount of sweetener: none (16.9oz bottle)

Ito En Oi Ocha Green Tea

Posted on September 4, 2014 by David

I love this green tea. It has a roasted full tea leaf flavor with just a bit of savory bitterness you would expect from real cup of tea. I’ve been finding these at Asian markets and specialty stores. This is Japanese green tea, and it tastes like authentically brewed tea rather then something invented in a lab. There is no sugar added and it contains 60mgs of caffeine. I’ll typically sweeten this tea before drinking. Here’s my trick: Drink a few sips, pour in two or three sugar packets then shake till the sugar is fully dissolved. Perfect flavor and sweetness that you can customize.

Sweetener: none

Amount of sweetener: none (16.9oz bottle)

Snapple Peach Passion Fruit Tea

Posted on August 28, 2014 by David

I’ve had this tea in my fridge for two weeks and still have not finished it. This is a lightly sweetened product from Snapple, but to me it tastes like an super sweet chemical laboratory concoction. It also has an aftertaste that resembles artificial sweetener. It isn’t actually that high in sugar, only 18grams, but somehow it tastes overly sweet. Nothing about this drink tastes like tea or natural or good.

Sweetener: sugar

Amount of sweetener: 18grams (16oz bottle)

Purity organic Pomegranate & Blueberry plus

Posted on August 10, 2014 by David

This is the last time I get tricked! Some drink labels will show the calories per bottle and some will show the calories per serving. I think companies attempt to fool the consumer by posting the per serving amount instead of the full calorie content. This one got me. It says 60 calories on the front label in big letters. Turns out it was per serving. The flavor of this drink was good, but it was too sweet. I tried adding water, but it diluted the flavor too much.

Sweetener: cane sugar

Amount of sweetener: 28grams (16.9oz bottle)

Icelandic Glacial Water

Posted on August 10, 2014 by David

I was really excited about this water, I bought it at the turnpike rest stop on my way back from DC. The bottle looked so interesting and printed on the label in small red letters it read, pH8.4. I though for sure this must mean that the water had a balanced pH level (whatever that meant) and I became even more excited. On taste,, dreams crashing around me. This water tastes clean, and not dead, but it has no element of taste. I would say this water is not good but also not bad. If you are looking for a better tasting water, try Nestle Pure Life.

V8 Juice

Posted on August 10, 2014 by David

Ok, ok, my wife could get me this juice for X-mas and I would be happy. Ok, maybe not, but this is a beverage that I love. I find it dangerous to have around the house in large quantities, because I am tempted to drink it until I am sick. It’s tomato juice with added vegetables, and whatever it does to my taste buds is a delight. Somehow this drink hits every flavor receptor I own.

Sweetener: Unknown

Amount of sweetener: 12 grams (12oz bottle)

Honest Tea Black Forest Berry

Posted on July 31, 2014 by David

Honest Tea calls this an infusion or tisane. I call it delicious! The Goldilocks of drinks, it has a not too strong, not too weak refreshing berry flavor that’s just right. It has a low amount of sugar and what I think is a perfect flavor to sweetness balance. This is caffeine free beverage.

Sweetener: cane sugar

Amount of sweetener: 16 grams (17oz bottle)

Minute Maid Lemonade

Posted on July 30, 2014 by David

This is a weird one so hang on. I don’t like this lemonade out of the bottle, but with a change I’ll describe later, I like this beverage very much. The lemonade flavor is good in this beverage, but a 20oz bottle has a whopping 70 grams of sugar. (I had to update my sugar visual graphic for this one.) That’s a total of 18 packets of sugar! To make this drinkable I’ll mix 20% lemonade and 80% ice cold water. It’s refreshing and the mix creates a nice balance of flavor and sweetness. Out of the bottle Minute Maid Lemonade gets a 2 rating, mixed with water it’s a 4 rating.

Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup

Amount of sweetener: 70 grams (20oz bottle)

This beverage gets a rating of 2 out of the bottle.

This beverage gets a rating of 4 mixed with 80% water.

Nestle Pure Life Water

Posted on July 29, 2014 by David

I like this water. I think it has good taste and is similar to Deer Park water. It doesn’t have that dead taste that water can sometimes have. Nestle has added minerals for taste. I’m still looking for that great tasting water that Dasani once was, but I have not found it yet. Update: After drinking a lot of this water I’ve increased the rating from 4 to 4.5.

Pepsi

Posted on July 25, 2014 by David

Pepsi is a solid drink with good flavor. Like Coke, it has a long history. Compared to Coke it’s sweeter and has less bite. Coke has more of an acidic element. I like the taste of Pepsi, but I don’t drink it often. A 20oz bottle contains 66 grams of sugar. That’s about 16.5 teaspoons of sugar. It’s a good pick me up if your blood sugar is low and you need immediate calories, but I rarely consume this beverage, it is too sweet.

Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup

Amount of sweetener: 66 grams (20oz bottle)