Naturally Sweetened - 76 Reviews

I'm going to make some enemies with this statement, but I don't care: I don't like cranberries. It's true, I've always hated cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and most cranberry juice/drinks I've had are just gross. That was until I had this soda.

Now I'm not saying "I LOVE CRANBERRY" now. I'm just saying that this is the best cranberry drink I've ever had. That being said, I'm still not crazy about it. It's nice that it's naturally sweetened (no real or fake sugar), and yet still tastes sweet. The cranberry taste is strong yet not overpowering like straight cranberry juice.

This tastes like you took a perfectly good natural peach mango soda and watered it down with soda water. The peach and mango flavors are still there, but they're not as prevalent as you would like it to be. On the brighter side of things you're not consuming as much sugar as you would have been. If I had a choice I would have chosen more flavor and dealt with the extra sugar. I understand what Wegmans is doing here, but after tasting their 100% sparkling juices this just leaves me wanting more.

My ladyfriend and I just went on a decent bike ride. The destination was a waterfall out in a park. When I was little my grandfather took me to the park to play, search for crayfish and to go fishing all the time. The waterfall and people jumping off of it always intrigued me, but then some people died. Since then it has been embedded in my mind that if I jumped I would die. It was so ingrained in my brain that even when I returned as an adult I was filled with a feeling of dread. I'm not one to shy away from cliff or waterfall jumping, but this was my exception.

We went there today just as a destination and some kids were jumping. I decided it was time that I actually faced my fear and I went for it. It was fun. It wasn't all that high, but getting to the jumping spot was a bit tricky. I jumped swam to shore victorious and then hopped on my bike and rode back. That's right waterfall, I beat you and then went home like it was no big deal.

Now I'm back at my place and I need some energy and replenishment. Odwalla sent us a couple bottles of their new flavor, and now seemed like as good a time as any to give it a try. The first thing I have to say is that bananas are one of the most potent flavors ever, and I don't like them. They cut through all most of the flavors in this drink. It was like a mango banana cocktail. It wasn't as horrible as it could be, but it was still noticeable. Also, because this is a protein drink it was pretty chalky. I have now finished the bottle and I really feel like I need to brush my teeth. There is a slight chalky film all over the inside of my mouth.

My story really had nothing to do with this drink, but I just wanted to rub it in that stupid waterfall's nose a little bit more. I'm alive. I win. You're just running water. You lose.

I for one approve of the recent trend of sparkling juices in 8oz cans. They seem to be popping up more and more. They are just juice and carbonated water. No sugar added. No sugar needed. They are way healthier than pop, but they still give me the carbonated fix I sometimes crave. I swear it's like I'm a junkie. I get this feeling in the back of my throat and I know that I just won't be able to rest until I drink something carbonated. These little juices have been my current fix.

Ocean Spray was wise to cut the cranberry juice in this with grape juice. If it were pure cranberry it would have been pretty tart and a bit intense. This way it's a bit sweeter (naturally) with the same basic taste.

This tastes like it has to be the healthiest juice of all time. It's thick and incredibly potent, insanely potent. So potent that a serving size is only 2oz. That is a shot glass. I honestly don't know if I could drink much more than that. If I downed this entire bottle would if I would acquire super human strength. I think that's how the X-Men started. Professor Xavier ordered a couple cases of this stuff and passed it out to all of the students at his school. A few days later he had an academy of mutants. Don't believe me? Read a book! Seriously if you could keep down the entire bottle in one sitting, you deserve special powers.

It doesn't taste bad, but it tastes concentrated. I can't hold any of this against it though because they tell you to only drink a shot of it.

Mr. Coconut, why are you smiling like that? Are you hiding something from me? Really? You're not going to talk? You're just going to stare at me with that creepy smile? Great...

Before we crack you open Mr. "Creepy Smile" Coconut, I'm going to read what's on the back of you. Apparently inside you is "Sparking & Functional Coconut Water". The functional part is a little intriguing. It says you are functional in three ways: Replenish, Repair, and Revitalize. I'll take your word on those, I'm more interested in how you taste.

I can't believe you still have that creepy smile on your face. You know I'm about to open you up and drink what's inside you right? Fine. Be that way. I've never tasted sparkling coconut water before; this is a first for me. I must say that I really like it. It's light and refreshing and has a green tea aftertaste. Despite your creepy smile Mr. Coconut, you are one hell of a drink!

Wegmans is our local grocery store, and it is the best grocery store I have ever set foot in. Seriously it blows everything else away. The selection is great, the prices are low and they even have a burrito bar that has tofu in it. Pure gold. On top of the store itself being incredible their store brand is as good as if not better than most brand names.

So the other day I'm in Wegmans getting myself one of those previously mentioned burritos and I decided I wanted something carbonated, but I didn't want soda. I just couldn't deal with that much sugar at the moment. I walked to the beverage aisle and I saw that they had these as a new product. I happily grabbed a four pack and made my way to the cashier with burrito in tow. I was expecting this to be a little on the seltzery side, but holy crap is it amazing. It's nothing but juice and carbonated water, but it tastes like one of the best pops you'd ever have. There's no sugar added to this, but it's still naturally nice and sweet. Luckily it was to a level I could handle that day. It tastes like a great blend of mango and orange juice with pineapple controlling the entire ordeal.

This four pack is already gone and I can't wait to try the other flavors. If you're lucky enough to have a Wegmans in your area, don't sleep on this juice.

It's been months now since the Robbins family got stranded on the desert island (yes there is only one on the face of this planet). Margie, the mother of the group, has created an ingenious system where she boils the seawater with a plastic tarp over it so that the water evaporated away from the salt and the steam traveled down the tarp into a separate container to make it drinkable. While she insured their survival with her scientific skills, all they had to drink was bland, slightly salty water. Their thoughts constantly floated to the idea of fancy sodas, even a jug of ghetto tea would be a dream come true. Alas, all they have is mom's water.

Then one day the kids were out on my beach. Sally, the daughter, was leaning against a tree reading the autobiography of Steve Guttenberg, because it's the only book they have on the island. Bobby was bored, as young boys on desert islands tend to be so he decided to torment Sally. He started off with a rousing game of repeating everything Sally said, but as she was reading that didn't really work. Then he switched over to "I'm not touching you." Unfortunately Sally was so engrossed in a chapter about Three Men and a Little Lady that she didn't even notice. Finally as an act of desperation he started shaking the tree violently to get some sort of reaction out of her. She glanced up annoyed, and just as Bobby was about to celebrate a coconut fell from the tree and cracked him right in the skull. That of course set Sally into a fit of giggles until she noticed that the coconut had cracked open and a liquid was dribbling out. She put some on her finger and tasted it. It was kind of sweet, and very tasty. She pried the coconut open a little more and drank the juice that was inside. It wasn't the best thing she ever had, but it sure beat mom's water. Once Bobby woke up they fashioned him a helmet and had him shake trees all the livelong day so they could have fresh coconut water.

I'm no longer going to talk about my past feelings on coconut water. I have been converted and this is one of the best bottles I've had yet. If you're hot and parched, crack open an ice cold bottle and enjoy the summer.

Alo what have you done! Your mother and I leave you home alone for two hours, entrusting you with keeping the house safe and this is how you repay us? It looks like you filmed a Beastie Boys video in here! All we can say is how deeply disappointed we are in you. You've always been such a well-behaved beverage. Sure you hung out with the weird flavored nerdy kids every once and awhile, but overall you got good marks. Lately you've been getting mixed up with an unsavory crowd like that Johnny Coconut kid. I don't like the cut of his jib. Don't argue with me! I don't care if it's the only jib he's got! That kid is bad news. Just look what he's done to our home and more importantly our precious aloe juice! He's tainted it! It no longer tastes wonderful and sweet. It doesn't even taste like chalky coconut water. How on Earth did you two get all mixed together and end up tasting like some sort of cereal milk? Have you been drinking? Please tell me you're not on the pot! The fun has even been taken out of the chunks. I don't believe this. We're you supposed to be babysitting the neighbor's kids, Peach and Kiwi? Where have they gotten off to, because I sure don't taste them in here!

My first time I ever had coconut water was in Toronto. Me and a bunch of friends drove up there for a hardcore show and were walking down Spadina toward 50 Toppings Guy (a 24 hour hot dog vendor that serves veggie dogs and has over 50 toppings to put on them). A big area of Spadina is Asian markets and one of them was selling young coconuts with straws on the street. A bunch of my friends bought one, but I had my mind set on having an orange pop with my two veggie dogs. Being the curious person I am, I tried some and thought it was so gross. I avoided coconut water like the plague after that.

Jump to today, where I just got home from a show. I've had this bottle chilling in the fridge all day, waiting for me to come home. I will admit, the first couple sips brought back unpleasant memories. Once I pushed past those, I began to really enjoy this drink. It's a really smooth coconut taste. I was expecting it to have a strong lime taste, but it is subtler than I expected. I would have never thought lime and coconut would go together. On second thought, I do remember hearing the Harry Nilsson song "Coconut" growing up which has the lyrics "She put the lime in the coconut, she drank them both up". Music teaches us so much.

All of my life I have thought of coconuts as the vilest of fruits. I straight up hated it and anything that it was in. I feel like a lot of food, especially desserts were ruined for me. Mounds and Almond Joys? No Thanks!

When coconut water started to become popular I didn't understand it. None of us at Thirsty Dudes were a fan of coconut, so we kind of ignored it existence. Normally we try to give objective reviews to drinks that we know we won't like because of our personal tastes, but with coconut water we didn't think we'd be able to down enough of the bottle to even do that. A while back I got a carton of a fruit enhanced version of it. It tasted like it was curdling. So gross. Now thanks to Zico I know what my problem was. I drank it at room temperature. Coconut water is made to be drank ice cold and when it is it is actually kind of awesome.

Even ice cold it still has a remote chalky taste to it, but nothing terrible. It is crisp and refreshing. The pineapple in this isn't very strong. It's more of a general tropical citrus flavor.

Coconut water will never be one of my favorites, but I can now appreciate it for what it is. Just remember to drink it as cold as possible, or it could be completely gross.

This little guy here has been hiding from me. He got lost in the back of my drink cabinet and I forgot he existed. Now that I'm drinking it I wish that it were way bigger so that A It wouldn't have gotten lost and B That I had more to drink because it's fantastic. It's apple juice how it should be done (when it's from concentrate). It's not overly sweet or sour. It rides a nice line in the middle. If it were the olden times this apple juice would be able to roll that metal circle with a stick in a straight line all day long.

Grocery stores are magical places. Whenever I'm out of town I love checking out different stores and when I'm bored I sometimes wander around my local Wegmans. There is something very comforting about it. You're surrounded by food and rad drinks. There are also people everywhere, but they rarely if ever bother you. Whenever I'm there I feel like I'm a part of some sort of enjoyable social experiment.

In all of my times in Wegmans, with all the times that I check the various drink aisles to see if there is anything new, I rarely check the cold juice section. I hardly ever see anything new there, and I really just don't buy larger sized beverages all that often. Recently my lady friend wanted to get some orange juice so we went to said section of the store. Earth Wise instantly caught my eye. In a sea of predominately white packages the green really stood out. I was happily surprised to find that it was a 100% fruit punch of sorts. Juice with no sugar added is a juice that I would like to be friends with. I'm a sucker for blackberries so out of the three flavors they had I chose this one. It's a blend of apple, cranberry and blackberry juice. While it's in your mouth it mainly has an apple taste with a hint of berry. When you swallow the cranberry kicks in and it has the aftertaste of a nice cranapple. The great thing about it is that the cranberry isn't completely overpowering like it tends to be in most juices.

Looks like that juice cooler will be getting more of my attention on future wanderings.

What exactly is the difference between black cherries and the run of the mill kind? Are they just riper, or is it a whole different style of fruit? I love regular cherry flavored things, but I'm never a huge fan of black cherry....until now. This really turned me around. I think it's because it's straight up juice and carbonated water. No sugar added. There's some apple juice in the mix as well, which is noticeable in the taste. If all black cherry were like this I would be a converted man.

All of us here at Thirsty Dudes are huge fans of The Best Show on WFMU. It is a radio show based out of NJ, but available world wide, so don't call it local! The host of the show is the wonderful Tom Scharpling. He entertains the world via radio for three hours every Tuesday night. It is one of the funniest things I've ever listened to. Guests like Paul F Tompkins, Ted Leo, Patton Oswalt, Todd Barry and many others a frequent. If you are a fan of hilarity I suggest you check it out.

Okay now that the plug is over, on with the story. Last week I finally worked up the courage to call into the show to talk to Tom about Thirsty Dudes. The mush state of my mouth was discussed and then when asked for suggestions on things to review Tom told me orange juice. Who am I to argue? So here's your orange juice review.

Simply puts out nothing but high quality beverages as far as I've tasted. It so happens that all three of us purchased and reviewed a Simply drink in the past two days. All of them got high marks. They don't mess around with adding extra ingredients to their juices. They know with something like this it's best to keep things.....simple. I have to say this is the best orange juice (minus some the was fresh squeezed) that I have ever had. It doesn't taste old or weird like a lot of carton orange juices do. There is a decent amount of pulp in it, which is a bonus in my world. I don't care what my friend Kevyn says. Pulp does not make a drink seem like you're imbibing dirty dishwater. It makes it seem like your eating the actual fruit, minus the annoying peeling session. How does everyone else start to peel and orange? I always bite the skin a little, but then I get a spray of the gross bitter peel in my mouth. It almost makes it not worth it. Give me advice people!

Did you read in the paper today about how science has created a human/fruit hybrid? They are adorable and completely creepy at the same time. The article said that they have begun making demands and it looks like they are organizing for a revolt. The "fruitmans" are going to over take the world! It is up to us to put a stop to their movement. We shall call our counter movement Picabi and to raise funds for our struggle we will can the blood of our enemies (which just happens to be delicious juice) and sell it to the populace. As a warning to the fruitmans we will put pictures of their deceased on the cans.

I for one can vouch that the grape fruitman, or fruitlady, has a very sweet taste. It's almost candy like, but it still tastes natural. It's way sweeter than I expected even though there is no sugar added. If you like grape juice and want to help exterminate the fruitmans buy a can today!

Organic pomegranate juice is the only thing contained in this bottle. It's the way god, or whoever, planned for juice to be served. I love pure juice. No sweeteners or preservative added. Nothing is reconstituted. It is just mashed fruit with all of the solids strained out. It's insanely strong and tart, but why mess with a pomegranate unless that's your desired effect. For those of you who have lived under a rock for the past ten years awaiting the upcoming rapture (that didn't happen), I will now describe what pomegranate juice tastes like. It is darker than the darkest purple grape. It is actually similar to a purple grape juice, but 100% more concentrated. It also has a certain dryness on your tongue. Overall it's very enjoyable, but it's not something that you can drink a lot of in one sitting. The Folks at Smart Juice are not dummies. If they were their company would be named Dumb Juice. As a result they have these nice little 8.4oz bottles of juice. It's just enough for a little treat.

How much juice comes from a single apple? A thimble full? Perhaps enough to fill a shot glass? It always bottles my mind when I think of the quantity of fruit that is needed to produce a single bottle for our drinking pleasures.
I assume giant machines are used to juice apples now. They probably throw them into some vat by the bushel and a big machine smashes them all up and the cores, seeds and pulp are filtered out. What did they do in the olden times? I'd like to think that they juiced apples like they do grapes for wine. Some old ladies peeled a whole mess of apples and put them in a large wooden bucked the size of a shed. Then they climbed in and did a little dance on them with their dirty fungal infected feet. The lower side of said bucket had a little spout that the townspeople could open to get a glass of fresh juice for only a nickel. They were simpler times. This company knows that and that's why the machine they use to mash their apples up is shaped like a gigantic diseased foot. As a result of their efforts they produce some of the best apple juice I have ever consumed. All that is in this bottle is apple juice. No extra water, sweeteners or preservatives. Just like the hill people intended.

I decided that I was done reviewing drinks on my trip. I had emptied out the fridge in my hotel room, and we get on our flight in a few hours. I felt like I had drunk a good cross section of the local drink delicacies. Then I stumbled upon this. When I had one of these the other day it was one of my favorite drinks I had on the island. That coupled with it being passion fruit and mango left me little choice. I said to myself "self you must have this!"

This is even better than the mixed berry one. 70% juice with no sweeteners added. It's absolutely incredible. Neither of the fruits are too overpowering, but they are present and flavorful. It's a true taste of the tropics. This is made in CA, so hopefully it will make it's way out east for me to enjoy on a regular basis.

All fruit juice, all the time is what I wanted my vacation to be. I was planning on eating nothing but pineapple and avocados all week. The problem with that is that neither is in season right now. I did eat a bunch, but I consumed plenty of other food as well. Seeing as it's my last day I. Decided I should see the island off properly with 100% pineapple juice.

It's good. It's nice and sweet and not to acidic. Apparently pineapples on the island are less acidic, which means no weird pineapple vomit smell. I hate that smell. It's the only flaw in an otherwise perfect fruit. Luckily we're puke free here.