San Pellegrino - 7 Reviews

It's not often that we find "regular" drinks on the shelves everywhere but today I found this while buying a seasonal corned beef sandwich. I was surprised when we hadn't reviewed it because both Jay and I enjoy a nice can of San P when given the opportunity. It's more calories than we like but they're good so we like it. How did this far? Well it fared well because sitting next to me is an empty can. It's very fruity and all of the orange and pomegranate juice comes through nicely. It's not overly sweet or fruity. It hits you right in the sweet spot. If you gave this to a scientist and said, "Dr. Scientist? Why are there so many calories in this juice?" They would probably say something like, "You mispronounce my name. It's 'Craig' and it's because there are a lot of calories in fruit and you know…€¦.sugar."

So fruit has calories. Calories are displayed as "joules" in the UK, right? That's cooler. American's hate calories. Joules sound way cooler. We should switch. Let's take the metric system while we're at it. Oh, and get rid of daylight savings time. Just rip those bandages right off all at once. Be on the right side of history, friends.

It would be unfair to call this soda, because it really isn't. I could see how someone could mistake it for soda, but in reality it's a sparkling juice; the juice being grapefruit juice in this case. Now me and grapefruit juice have an on-again/off-again type of relationship, I like grapefruit flavored things, but in moderation. I can't really stomach a full glass of the juice, but a little bit here and there or mixed with something I can handle.

Which is why I love this drink. It's only 16% grapefruit juice but in my eyes it's the perfect mixture. It's just the right amount of sour without destroying my taste buds for weeks. San Pellegrino is good like that, knowing the perfect mix of things for their drinks.

I don't often think about quitting Thirsty Dudes. It's fun and it's a hobby. Sure, I would like it to explode to the point where the hardest thing I have to think about is which Lamborghini Countach I am going to go to Jay's to get tacos, but that's in the future. The only thing that makes me want to not do Thirsty Dudes anymore is really good drinks. When we drink something stellar, we often never get to drink it again because of where it came from or the fact that at any given time, we all have at least twenty other drinks in queue that cannot be ignored. I have broken that streak a little bit by buying cases of really good drinks but it takes me forever to drink them because, as previously mentioned, there isn't enough time in the day.

This drink made me think about it for a second, though. It's really good. It's rightfully bitter, like a blood orange should be. It does the fruit justice. Just a little bit of sugar to cut it and make it so you keep coming back. Blood oranges everywhere should consider this the apex of compliments to be in this drink. You might be saying that they're just fruits but come on, if you were a lemon, would you rather be in a lemon Brisk or a San Pellegrino Limonata? It makes a difference. Don't think that it doesn't.

Although this drink may be an acquired taste, who would want to go for a second one when it tastes like this? I don't hate the San Pellegrino Chinotto and I understand that it is an Italian staple, but this is something else.

Someone recommended this to me not too long after we started the site and I never found one that wasn't in an eight pack. If it was something that wasn't questionable, I might have gotten it, but since it was called a bitter, I didn't want to splurge and get an eight pack and have seven other ones lying around never going to be drank. Drinking this makes me appreciate my decision.

This drink tastes medicinal. The flavor seems like it might want to be cherry, and if you sip the smallest sip, you might taste it, but anything larger than that you get an onslaught of a medicine you were not prescribed. Oh, it's bitter, there is no doubt about that, but what is that good for? "Oh, I love a nice, bitter drink that doesn't have a taste as much as a tongue reaction when I drink it." Who is saying that? Who wants anything overly bitter? It's like asking for something too sweet or too salty. Does this accompany anything? I'm just so confused as to the purpose of this. I'm glad it was cheap, I'm glad it came in an awesome bottle, I'm glad I'm not obligated to drink the whole thing.

I didn't know, but did you know that in Europe, their lemonade is carbonated? Here is the good ol' U.S. of A, we don't carbonate it, nor do we offer the ability to get it. Here, we have it on lockdown. No bubbles or sparkles. Restrictive? I don't know. I think a little variation might be good. For this variation, I need to look no further. This San P is wonderful. I don't like the "original" flavor of San P. It's bitter. This is a little bitter, but a natural fruit bitter, not seltzer water bitter. My mom used to drink that stuff and it used to be gross. This, I feel like I could drink all of the day. It's a great lemon taste with just enough sugar that you don't feel guilty for slaying the whole can, but why should you? You're your own person and you dictate your life and if you want to drink a "whole can" of this in one sitting, hey, that's your nightmare, Jack.

I can't pick a favorite between this and the Aranciata. I do like them both better than the Chinotto, though.

What we have here is a proper drink. Here's how it goes.

Step 1: Birth
When an orange is born, it is just an orange. No one touches it. They don't rub other stuff on it, nothing. Not ignored, just not messed with. This is a fruit in its purest sense.

Step 2: Adolescence
When an orange starts to grow up, it turns into orange drink. Too sweet for normal consumption, good once a year, kids love it. Kids are kids, and kids love kids. Adults don't like kids, so adults don't deal with kids. This isn't a great time for orange.

Step 3: Rebellious Stage
This is an interesting time for an orange. At this stage in the game, he doesn't know if he will go to college, or become an artist, or just be a vagabond and wander the country getting dirt in his pores. He will fraternize with other fruits and end up in punches and mixes like orange mango juice, orange lemon pop, and banana orange smoothies. It is a wonderful time because at this stage, an orange can be whatever it wants to be.

Step 4: Adulthood
Oranges exclusively make up orange juice. Different brands. Different qualities. It all depends on how you were brought up, but at the end of the day, every orange's carton says the same thing; "Orange Juice"

Step 5: Seniority
Oranges in this stage are refined. They know who they are and stick to what they know best. What they know best is water and themselves. The things they know to survive. San Pellegrino Aranciata is seniority aged orange. It's a tad bitter, but with a real orange taste with just enough sweetness to make it drinkable by most everyone. This wonderful drink tastes like a high quality sparkling orange juice. Aged to perfection, this stage is what all oranges strive for.

I don't like regular San Pellegrino. I'm not a huge fan of seltzer or sparkling water. My girlfriend loves it and always asks for soda water with lemon any time we go to a restaurant. I try it once every three months and hate on it every time.

This is different. It's got a dry cola taste with a strong, citrus taste to it. It tastes like an orange rind would taste, but not like an orange juice pop might. The chinotto isn't an orange, but it's got to be from the same family as it's the same shape, color, scent, and so on.

I like this. It's different. It's very bitter and it's a dry cola taste. It's a sipping drink. A large gulp might be too much, much like eating a handful of orange peels, which you would never do unless you hated yourself.

This was recommended by a friend who told me it was an Italian favorite and an acquired taste. You can probably get it at most larger grocery stores or any Italian market.