Claire Baie - 18 Reviews

Folks, I think this is it. I believe we have finally reached the bottom of our cache of Claire Baie beverages. I can't say it has all been enjoyable, but at least I went out with something pleasant.
It's in the mid 90's now and it's so humid that you can feel the air move when you walk through it. It's kind of disturbing, and it really, really just needs to rain to get all of the water out of the air. I wonder how much of the humidity is just from people's sweat? Ugh, that's gross. How much of the moisture you feel in the air is other human's grossness? I needed to cool off and drink something cold and refreshing. What better beverage to fight the summer miserableness than lemonade? This is made with real sugar, and it is sweet. I really want this to taste like fresh strawberries squeezed into classic lemonade, and well about half of that came true. I would say it has a “strawberry” flavor, but it doesn't taste like perfectly ripe fruit. Most people would never complain about this, but I get picky. Regardless , it helped me pretend I was dehydrated from sweating so much, and it had a decent taste. I can't really complain. I'm sure you'll love it.

You wake up one day and your back in your childhood. You're old enough to do somethings on your own, but young enough that you still have to go where your parents drag you. It just so happens that where they dragged you on this return day is to the beach. You totally got sunburnt, but you don't care because you played in the water and dug a sweet hole in the sand pretty far back, but you still hit the water table, or what you would later learn was the water table. After everyone is exhausted and had their fill you hit up a little shack restaurant nearby for hotdogs and fries. As a treat your mom totally lets you get a Slush Puppie and it is heaven to your young taste buds. You close your eyes and take a big sip of the syrupy sweet goodness that tastes vaguely like raspberries. When you open your eyes you are nowhere near the beach. You look down and you realize that you're middle aged and your drinking something that is supposed to be raspberry lemonade, but it tastes like childhood. You forgive it for tasting more like sugar water than lemonade because for a few moments you escaped work and dug a sweet, sweet hole.

There have been so many of these that I'm not even trying anymore. If you are a rational human being and think sucralose is disgusting, then steer clear of this. If you are a mutant and it doesn't bother you, well then sit back and get ready to enjoy some berry flavoring. I've said it before but if they got rid of the sweetener altogether, this would be a good seltzer.

When I think of “classic” lemonade what comes to mind is an ice cold picture on a sweltering hot day which only contains three ingredients; water, lemon juice, and sugar. It's a simple recipe that can be hard to screw up if you keep it basic. Claire Baie did not keep it basic. They used concentrate and added a handful of other ingredients that do nothing but detract for the simple glory that should be this drink. It doesn't taste like childhood freedom it tastes like plastic and fake lemons.I could have really used a nice lemonade today too. Damn.

It always seems that the drinks that we are lukewarm about, especially the diet ones, are what companies send us the most flavors of. There has been so much Claire Baie in our lives over the past few months and I'm afraid the sheer quantity is effecting our reviews. As I've said before these drinks were not created with me as their target audience. It's true that I watch my sugar intake sometimes, but I have never been on a diet, and I am not a fan of zero calorie sweeteners, especially sucralose. There is a world of people out there who are on diets though and rely on beverages such as this to help curb their craving for sweet carbonated drinks. I think those people would be happy with this. If you drink sucralose on a regular basis you have to get acclimated to it and that weird taste probably doesn't even register to you anymore. That taste is what is holding this drink back in my eyes, but if take that out of the equation and you have a decent kiwi strawberry drink. I've had a lot of kiwi strawberry stuff in my life, but I don't think I've ever had a fresh juice where those were the ingredients. Man, I bet that would be the best. Compared to that this would be a pale imitation, but since 99.9% of the population has probably never drunk such a thing this is very passable.

In Claire Baie's most diet move ever, we have this lemon lime drink. This drink comes complete with all of the accommodations that one would desire, such as but not limited to include cup holders, passenger side mirror, AM/FM radio and color matched door handles. It also has the most, but not unbearable diet taste. Finally, the taste that dieteers can understand. I'm sure gaggles of people are just dying for that fake flavor they so crave. The lemon lime is standard lemon lime. Nothing to go crazy about.

As I mentioned, it's not the worst diet drink I've ever had so if you have some sort of brand loyalty towards Claire Baie and are into diet drinks, this is the drink for you. Otherwise, this is as average as an average drink can average.

Oh look, another Claire Baie zero calorie sparkling water. I'm beginning to think that these drinks Are going to haunt me for the rest of 2016. It's no secret that neither Mike nor I are fans of sucralose sweetened drinks. Unfortunately most of this companies beverages use just that. We know these drinks have a market and people buy and presumably enjoy them. We are just not those people.

This Orange Mango one is the best one I've had yet though. Somehow the citrus blends with the sucralose and the result tastes like kids vitamins, a flavor I'm not ashamed to say I enjoy. Who didn't eat more than their allotted quantity of Flintstone vitamins when they were little? I certainly did. The orange and mango flavors in here are actually pretty decent. It's just that dumb sucralose that brings the whole thing down for me. So yet again if you don't mind sucralose, check these things out, if you are grossed out by it steer clear. It's a simple plan.

I had anticipated this being completely horrible. Even drinks that are sweetened with real sugar that are this particular hue of blue usually spell trouble. They are always overly sweet and taste only of sweetener and nothing of the flavor they are meant to be. This really doesn't stray too far from that equation, but at least Claire Baie didn't go overboard with the sucralose. I mean it's surely there in all its weird and unlikable ways for those who are not used to it, but it's not the only thing I taste. There is the general diet lemonade along with a vague berry flavor on top of that. I personally didn't enjoy it very much, but there must be a large group of people out there who drink and enjoy these diet sparkling drinks because there are more than enough companies pumping them out. I'm sure those people would find it enjoyable enough.

Here at Thirsty Dudes we understand that every beverage is not for everyone. Specifically there are beverages out there that are not made for people like us, aka people who aren't counting calories to try and drop a few lbs. When we come across these drinks we try to give them the benefit of the doubt and we attempt to be in the mindset of someone who this drink is actually produced for. These zero calorie, sweetened, sparkling waters are one such category. We try to find the best in the drinks, but after drinking so many that all taste fairly similar, it becomes hard. The sad truth is that when it comes to beverages like these a good portion of the flavor comes from the sucralose, or whatever zero calorie sweetener is being used. Some flavors cut through it better than others, but it's always there and I never enjoy it. There are also the unfortunate flavors such as this that the supposed flavor of the drink is weaker than the sucralose and you only really get it in the aftertaste. I love pomegranates, even as much as I love a variety of berries, but they really aren't allowed to shine in this. All I'm getting is gross diet-ness. People say you get used to it, but I still haven't and I don't think I want to. I'll avoid my calories by limiting my sugary beverage intake instead of switching out the sugar for a different sweetener that ruins everything.

Is this a treat? Eh, it's not bad. Some of the other versions of this have been less diet tasting. This, so far, has taken the cake as far as "the award for the most diet goes to..." It's not awful. It's really not. It's not remarkable. It just unfortunately falls into that "just another diet drink" pile that only people like your aunt drink. Your poor aunt, she'll never lose that weight if she keeps eating Quarter Pounders like she does. No matter how much diet drinks she drinks.

Water! Now with fluoride! It's the best thing made better. Your teeth, stomach, blood, brain, heart, liver, hands, eyes and bladder thank you. What else can be said? Water with fluoride, everyone. Water with fluoride.

There is lime in this. Why wouldn't there be? Good question but you would be surprised. This actually has a good cherry taste and lime taste. That's both tastes. Two of two tastes are good. All together how is it? It's good. I didn't polish off a whole bottle in one sitting but that's no insult to the drink itself. It's good. It tastes like a cherry limeade you would make yourself with cherry Kool-Aid and lime juice. Do you make things like that yourself at home? Perhaps. This is also made from real sugar so it doesn't taste like poison at any stage in the game. I've got a couple bottles of this line that I am now looking forward to.

We were sent so many different Claire Baie drinks to review. I don't know if we have even got through half of them and I'm running out of things to say. Most of them (this one) are flavored sparkling waters that are sweetened by sucralose. I am not a fan of this particular sweetener, so it kind of ruins the lot of them for me. The flavors of these drinks are pleasant enough, and they would have made for a whole mess of seltzers that I would have enjoyed had they just left out the sweetener. Unfortunately they did not and they all have that diet-death taste to them. It just changes the whole feel of the drink in a way that I don't see a need for. This would have been a great tangerine orange seltzer. From what I can gather of the flavor that is not sweetener I probably could drink a case of this if the sucralose were left out. Oh well. I mean this is pretty much on par with other brands doing a similar thing, but I'm not a fan of them either.

You know what's periodically refreshing? Grapefruit. I might drink one Squirt per year and it's a great day. Ting? Always a good time. I don't know what does it. It could be the immense amount of citrus but there is something refreshing about it. This, even being a diet drink, is a good time. It's got good flavor and sure, with every sip you know that it's not "real" but it's good. It's got the same "sharpness" that you would get from anything in this shaped bottle (read: Sparkling Ice) but I don't hate that either. This is a good time in a bottle and it's not terrible for you. I'd call that a win in my book.

Blackberry raspberry. Recipe for wonder, right? Eh, add fake/faux sugar to it and you'll be amazed at how quickly this drink is dropped pegs or rungs or steps or whatever form of dissension you so desire. It could have been good but then it wouldn't be diet. I think that's a lose/win or a win/lose depending on which you want more. Do you want it to be good for you? Than it doesn't taste wonderful. Do you want it to taste good? Than it's going to do a great job helping you gain that "freshman fifteen" you've so wanted.

Look. It isn't that bad. It's just a diet, sparkling drink but if you've ever had something like a Sparkling Ice, it's like that but less sharp. It's just a regular drink for regular people. Are you extraordinary? This might not be for you. You should be drinking something with some more pizzazz or zip. You're better than this. You're better than me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a question that I would like to pose to all of you; who are these drinks for? I'm not trying to be a jerk; I just really want to know. Who are all of the people who are buying and consuming flavored sparkling waters that are sweetened with zero calorie sweeteners? I have never witnessed anyone buy anything like this, let alone drink it. There must be market though because there are a decent amount of companies making them, and you can find them all over the place, where they are not covered in decades of dust. In my experience when someone is looking to drink a diet beverage it's usually a Diet Coke. I have seen countless numbers of them being consumed across the country. Never once have a watched anyone drink one of these though. Are Americans ashamed that they enjoy these and they purchase/consume them in secret? Do they hide them in the center of their shopping cart so that they can surround them with other groceries so that their fellow shoppers are none the wiser?

My opinion on it is if you're looking to drink sparkling water and are watching your calories, just grab a seltzer. Of course who is going to listen to me though? Very few people that is who. Would I ever purchase this drink? No, but I am not the intended consumer. I can't get down with the taste of sucralose. This is actually right at the cusp of the proportion of sucralose to the intended flavor of a beverage. While I wouldn't buy this, I will drink it since it was given to me. I don't hate it, but it's certainly not my favorite. It has a decent strawberry taste that fade into a little lemon flavor. Both of which are combating the chemical taste of the sweetener.

I understand this is made for a certain demographic, and it must sell to them. I'm just not sure who they are.

There are a whole mess of zero calorie, sweetened sparkling waters on the market. While that statement is a fact this may be the only one who's name isn't a reference to ice or being frozen. So for that, I thank you Claire Baie. Those names irrationally drove me crazy. Another difference is that this beverage has some juice in it, and as a result it is better than the rest, even though it is still sweetened with sucralose.

Oh how I wish this wasn't sweetened with sucralose. I understand it's a drink with a purpose, but tasting it I can tell how great this could have been. Actually, if they wanted to keep it zero calories they should have just forgone the sweetener altogether. I probably would have loved it that way. As it stands it's not horrible and is on the better side of the sucralose scale. It really tastes like berries and the diet taste is a bit hidden under that. It still has that coldness, which the other companies base their names off of. That coldness is simply not for me, but for what this is and compared to its contemporaries it's a clear winner.

I've been duped again. I see a larger bottle labeled “sparking water” and my mind goes to seltzer. I think, “Oh, this will be good to drink at band practice” only to take a sip and realize that it is sweetened with sucralose. This is the third or fourth time this has happened to me over the past year, and you'd think that I would learn to just look at the ingredients. Maybe I just like living on the edge. Maybe I crave the danger and excitement to breathe life into my veins. Maybe I am just dumb and I keep forgetting.

If this were a seltzer it would have a nice cherry flavor that doesn't resemble medicine too much. I would have been perfectly content with it. As it stands it is more diet than cherry, and that bodes well for no one.

I just thought to myself, “Who could ever drink all of this in one sitting?” Then I realized that it's meant for multiple servings. Yup, I was right at the end. I am in fact dumb.