No Sugar Added - 718 Reviews

Spindrift has expanded their company with a seltzer line. If you are a fan of their sodas, which are just juice and cane juice added to sparkling water, but think it's a bit too sweet then this is the drink for you. It's the same idea as their sodas, except without the sugar. In this case it's sparkling water that is flavored by small quantities of tangerine and lemon juices. The result is possibly the best seltzer I've ever tasted. It's very mild, meaning lightly flavored, but without being overly seltzer. This is the answer to less sugar in your life for those who are soda junkies. Actually it's probably not enough for the junkies, but I certainly like it.

If you've been anywhere near a pop radio station in the past five years you've probably hear Katy Perry sing about her “Teenage Dream.” Yes, I sometimes find myself a sucker for homogenated radio pop and I have no qualms with that. The reason I bring this up is because when I found this bottle of juice in a Whole Foods in Salt Lake City I thought I was going to get to know my middle-aged dream. I don't know any teenager who would be this excited about drinking a juice, but I know my fair share of people over 35 who would be pretty stoked. This juice combines kale, pineapple, cucumber, spinach, oranges, lemons and matcha green tea. I am a fan of greens (minus celery) and I'm not an complete idiot, so I absolutely love pineapples. On top of that I have never met a matcha drink (or food ) that I did not develop an instant crush on. In my mind I was going to take some long night drives to some beautiful overview and just spend some quality time with this juice.

Like a pop stat that did not live up to their record labels expectations, this juice failed to rise to the top of the charts of my taste buds. There are watered down pop songs, and then there are juices like this that rely too heavily on the greens side of their ingredients in a general way and not showcasing the pineapple aka the hook of the song. It just tastes like sweetened greens with a hint of citrus to it. It's hard to make out the individual fruits and vegetables, which is rare in the cold pressed game. This drink is the juice equivalent of Destiny's Child without Beyonce.

Even after all of that it's still a great juice, it's just unfortunate that it didn't go where I wanted and as a result it will probably slip through the cracks and not make it to anyone's top ten lists.

"They can't all be winners" is a perfect phrase for this drink. Based off the other ones that I reviewed, this is at the bottom of the totem pole. Also, I mean no offence to anyone who may find fault in my zero knowledge of totem poles. Are the best guys on top? I mean, I guess he's the most protected but he's also the guy who has to fall the furthest and would receive the most damage from falling. I guess no one wants to be the guy on the bottom because he's kind of an open target. Everyone else is on his shoulders and can't go very fast to defend the weapons that are slicing his innards up. But I digress.

Mixed fruits? Eh, it kind of tastes like a spicy candle. It's slightly plasticy tasting. Sure, it might be good for me but I don't get a lot of cheerful fruitiness out of it. According to the all-knowing label, it's got pineapple, grape and apple juice in it. That is a mixed variety of fruit but the turmeric is strong in this one. It does not taste like a spicy fruit punch but now that I think about it, I don't know if I would have wanted it.

I would be fine skipping this one for the other ones and I do not want to be anywhere near this guy's position wherever it may be on the proverbial totem pole. I feel like there are better roles than that in war.

There have been many reviews on this site where Mike or I have proclaimed that apple juice is one of the hardest drinks to write about. Unless it solely from a specialty apple, most apple juices taste pretty much the same, with various degrees of being watered down.

I can unfortunately say that this is not the case with Positive Energy. Sure it has a general apple base, but the addition of caffeine from green coffee beans leaves it tasting like the juice is going bad. We've been sent a jug of straight caffeine in the past, so I know what it tastes like all on its own, and I'm sad to say that the caffeine taste is stronger than the apple taste in this beverage. That is too bad because it only has the same amount of caffeine as one cup of coffee. The loss of flavor hardly seems worth it.

Dark green tea. Sometimes the title says it all. When it doesn't, it can be co-labeled as a bottle of lies. This is a dark green tea. It's nicely bitter but bold and flavorful. It's unsweetened so all you babies can go cry in the corner like you hit your brother and mom caught you in the act because this is not taking any crap. Green tea isn't for everyone but should be. It's a wonderful drink that is better for you than even the dietest of pops. That's right. Dietest. You know what I mean. Long live Ito En. Long live green tea. Long live Jethro Tull.

Folks, Denver has come a long way in the last ten years. I remember the first couple times I visited there that I was not impressed. I had high expectations for the “Mile High” city, and they simply were not met. I recently made a return visit and I am singing a very different tune. I had amazing vegetarian food, I got to hang out at a barcade, I hung out with some old friends, and most importantly I got to skate one of the best skate parks I have ever come across. Keep in mind I haven't skated, other than for transportation in years until that day, but I got into it. The temperature was negative zero in Buffalo and I was outdoors in the sun skating and sipping on some juice. The juice that I chose was a perfect pairing for the day I had. To be fair this juice would pair well with most days in my life, because I can't think of a time when I wouldn't want a ginger beverage.

The ingredient that were combined to make this juice were apples, water, ginger and lemongrass. While the great natural ginger flavor could have saved most any apple juice, the one they chose to use could have easily stood on its own. It had a great flavor that bordered on cider territory. That is a good place to set up camp, right on the edge of cidertown. While I couldn't taste the lemongrass (I am more than okay with that) the ginger was on point with a mild to medium burn. Overall this was just fantastic and now that I am sitting back in cold Buffalo writing this from my notes I long to be back in higher altitudes just crushing the Galaga machine and getting the little bit of air that I am capable of achieving.

Ahh tea: The drink of the gods. Sure, some people might say that it's wine but they are wrong and simultaneously dumb. Tea is the drink of the gods. It comes from the earth and goes back in. Cycles. It's all about cycles.

This tea is not like black tea and it's not like green tea. There is a certain maturity to Oolong tea that you don't get with a basic black or a green. It somehow tastes aged or weathered or something. This tea in particular is good. You know, Ito En knows what's up. They really nail it on their unsweetened teas. When Thirsty Dudes is inevitably bought out by Rupert Murdoch, I will spend the $45 that Jay and I have split from the $90 that he offered us that we idiotically accepted with no counter offer on iced tea. It's the only just thing to do. This tea though, man. It's good. It's a dark flavor that can only be acquired by way of trial and error. It's good. Rupert, buddy, we're waiting for your check and if you tell us "it's in the mail...well, we'll probably believe you."

I've drank a lot of tea. I drink it all day. I could tell the difference between a black and a green all day. I think I could probably tell the distinguish a rooibos tea, too. Oolong, though. I could easily get this confused with a green tea. It's bitter, light Maybe that's the difference. Oolong might be lighter than green tea. It's really good and I wish that it was a gallon larger. I bet this is small for a reason, like people aren't supposed to handle that much caffeine or something. It's good though. Size aside, this is wonderful. I wish I had time to ponder and sit and mull it over but there are thousands of lines of code to write. Maybe some other time, Ito En. You will not be punished for my hectic, busy life. I wish I could enjoy you. This sounds like an awful breakup. It's not you, it's me. Go. Be with someone who can appreciate you.

Oh chamomile. You're usually so boring. You are made of boring flowers and are used by old people to manage getting through the day. This, though. This is different. I can't place it but it's stronger and perhaps more floral than the typical, boring old chamomile. Also, I have to at least type this because I know you're all thinking it; Chamillionaire. There. I said it. You know what? Now that I mention him, maybe he'd be into this. Even hard rappers need to calm down and enjoy the simple, relaxing times. Sure, I'm working behind a computer as I pathetically do every day of my G.D. life but it can be stressful. You think that Chamillionaire has it easy being a rapper? You, right now, give me sixteen bars. Not so easy. See? Everyone needs time to look out the window and watch boats go by. No phone calls, just a nice flower-based tea. Maybe I'll give Chamillionaire a call. He'd probably like to hang out with me.

This is just green tea, a nice, bitter green tea. Leave this cat in the fridge for a while and just drink it up. It's good for you. It tastes great and is just what a nice iced green tea should be. No additives or sugar or anything. Bare bones, baby. This is what all green tea should be based off. No terrible aftertaste and it's not too strong that someone who isn't fully acclimated to the world of green tea can cut their teeth a little bit on. Ito En rarely leaves me disappointed. This is just another tick in the "W" column.

I certainly don't remember any historic Christmas mornings where I drank black and green tea. Certainly black tea is wonderful and jasmine green tea is equal if not better and together this is a great drink but it doesn't scream "Christmas" to me. Throw a single, measly dash of nutmeg or cinnamon or something in there. This is a fine tea but a bit of a misnomer. This is just a black and green tea which, like a girl I dated, nondenominational. Sure, this tea doesn't have as awesome boobs as she did but who does? Boobs: like a million. Tea: probably close to a million. As I type that out it's probably a closer race than I initially thought it out to be.

The holidays are (finally) over and now we're left with the broken reindeer yard figures and "slightly used" inflatable snowmen. We're also left with the skids of Christmas tea. They certainly do churn those cats out and having a "basically mother-in-law" that works at the general merchandise section of a grocery store, now I am the proud owner of all sorts of...things.

This thing is a fine mint tea. It has loads of mint and different varieties of mint; spearmint and peppermint. Not just one and maybe more. The green tea...eh...it's not really bitey but the mint is so present that it makes up for it. I do enjoy a good, quality green tea but the mint seems to be filling up my desire for the cheek pinching power of green tea.

It's not commonly known that Dr Dre not only has a successful headphones company to go alongside his rap career, but he also dabbles in farming, specifically beets. Yeah, there is really no reason behind it other than he thought it would be funny to have Beets by Dre as well as Beats by Dre. Of course all of this is only true in a fever dream in my brain, but man I really wish it were the case and that man had such a great sense of humor. Seriously think about it. His tagline could be “Straight Outta Compost.”

I would like to think that Suja would get their beets that they juice exclusively from Dre, because they have their finger on the pulse of what's cool from 15-25 years ago. I will only listen to The Chronic while I drink this juice. Okay, that's not true, I'm listening to Belle and Sebastian, because I am a tender, sensitive man, and not hard from the streets. I am drinking the juice though, and it pretty nice. It's a mixture of apple, carrot, orange, beet, banana, and pineapple juice with some turmeric thrown in. I could obviously do without the banana, because I have taste buds, but other than that this leaves a wonderful taste explosion in your mouth. It has that nice dirty, rooty flavor from the beets and carrots. It's a flavor that never sounds good when you describe it, but I personally really like it. The apple juice is there mainly as a base and sweetener while the orange and pineapple juice gives it a slight citrus edge. Overall it's mostly a sweet beet juice, as the name implies. It's not too shabby. It's also available in Target stores all around the US, which is nice to know I can get a quality juice wherever I end up waking in the morning.

Is it just me, or is 61 really a random number of berries to include in this juice/smoothie? I can only assume that testing was done to discover that this was the ideal amount, but it sounds completely arbitrary. Perhaps they had planned on using a nice even number, such as 60, and an executive said something along the lines of “people want more for their money, throw a single extra berry into each bottle.” I suppose it doesn't matter the quantity, all that matters is that the combination of blackberries, elderberries, raspberries, boysenberries, strawberries and blueberries makes this a delicious drink that is true to its name. Sure it has a base of apple juice and has 1/3 of a gross banana in it for texture/consistency, but neither of those flavors stood a chance against the wave of 61 berries that washes over your taste buds with each sip.

I could be crazy and imagining it, but I believe if I concentrate while I drink it that I can make out the individual flavors of the types of berries used. Blackberry and raspberry are the most at the forefront, but I'm pretty sure I can make out the others swimming around in there. To me that is a sign of a good beverage. I like it when there aren't many ingredients and you can taste them all…€¦ well except banana I never want to taste banana again as long as I live.

Good morning! I just brushed my teeth so I am going nowhere near that orange juice. Those two together are the worst combination since peanut butter and mustard that your mom used to eat when she was a kid. I don't know what that was all about. Back to that orange juice, let's have it, son. Lay it on your old man. What's it all about?

"It's orange juice, dad." is the review you're giving me? I'm telling you right now, son. You can do anything you want in this world but you will not be doing any reviews for Thirsty Dudes any time soon. Let me see the bottle. The ingredients are orange juice and orange juice from concentrate. Hmm, so it is just orange juice. My statement still stands. They have a certain flair to their reviews that your three-ish word review just doesn't have. Do your homework.

I don't know what it is about Chiquita. Their drinks are better than average and are 100% juice. There is just something missing that I can't put my finger on. Perhaps it's just that their flavors are tamer than I would like them to be. When I drink pineapple juice, I want to feel the acidity. Oddly enough that acidity is what keeps me from drinking it more often, but when I really want it, I want to feel it. This tastes like smooth pineapple. It almost tastes like pineapple smoothie, if it had the consistency of juice. This could easily have been made from the fruit-meat they removed from pineapples in order to turn them in to hats for dancing ladies (or men if they wanted to get down). It's all there, but it just doesn't hit me right where I want it to. It still gets a 4/5 bottle rating, which is not too shabby. I just want them to strive for the top. I'm always looking for perfect juice.

From great juice to great coconut water Purity Organic has you covered. While it is easy to screw up a juice, most coconut water is pretty standard. Unless it's something deep in the fancy end of the spectrum most coconut waters taste pretty much the same. There is something about this coconut water that is a bit different. I know this isn't the right word, but it tastes more fiberous. It's as if you can taste the shell of the coconut in this more than other brands. It's not a bad, nor a good thing; it is simply an observation.

The use of mango puree gives this a nice fruity kick that will make your hydration taste just that much better. I've met humans that don't like eating mango (I'm looking at you Mike), but I've never met one that does not like the taste of mango. When in doubt go mango, you can't lose.

Dear Bolthouse,
Why did you hide that coconut all the way in the back of the image on this label? The way the fruits are arranged makes me think that this is going to pack a powerful fruit punch, with just a splash of coconut in the aftertaste. In reality this is mostly coconut water with some fruit flavor to it. I will give you that it has a thicker consistency than most coconut water, but the flavor is still there. Actually I will say this is 50/50 coconut water/juice. It's enjoyable, but it's just not what my taste buds were expecting.

Even with the coconut being stronger than I anticipated this is truly a tropical beverage. It's made up of coconut, guava, orange, banana, pineapple and dragonfruit. Get rid of that banana (you can't really taste it anyway) and that is a party I would be severely bummed if I wasn't invited to. All of those flavors blend into a new greatness that I can only assume most people would love to add rum to. Tropical fruit and rum go together, right? I mean if I understood everything correctly it's the official booze of desert islands. There is also “finely ground chia” in here, but it's so finely ground that I can't pick it out in the texture nor the flavor.

While this drink wasn't what I expected it to be going into it, it ended up being a nice ride that I will happily take again.

If pop culture has taught me anything it's that nothing will change today. Okay, maybe that's slightly obscure, but I'm referencing one of the greatest songs ever written: New Years Day by U2. Say what you will about their later output and what Bono has become, but those first couple of records from the 80s are totally solid. As you also may have guessed today is January first and I'm at home awaiting nothing.

Last night was a different story altogether though. I threw a party at a local bar where I made people listen/dance to the songs I wanted to hear. At midnight while nearly everyone else guzzled their champagne and other libations I was taking pulls of this delicious sparkling juice. I think it's safe to say I won out in that scenario because this is just wonderful. This is just apple juice and mango juice (from concentrate) with some bubbles added. It's fruit, so it's sweet without added sweeteners. It's also apples and mangos so it tastes great. The mango flavor was a lot stronger than I expected and that was a pleasant surprise. Should I have drunk this entire 25.4oz bottle by myself? Probably not, but while I was working on diabetes, I watched a lot of those people get drunk and do things/go home with people they never would have if they were sober. Maybe that's just part of the human experience though, and I'm just missing out. Ehh, who am kidding, I'll stick with the sweet juice.

At parties, everyone drinks. It's a thing that you just accept when you don't drink and socialize with people that do. You have to prepare by either being satisfied with tap water, which I am, or bringing something yourself. I chose the latter this time and brought yet another seasonal exclusive from Polar. This time, it was the toasted coconut creme.

Now they have been pretty good this season and I thought that this would be the same. Who wouldn't like a sparkling cream soda with coconut? Well initially I was not too hot on it. I took a sip and it tasted like I was drinking the somehow bottled scent of a Yankee Candle. I worked next to a Yankee Candle in my early twenties and know the smell all too well. Unlike my stint at that location, the sentient of this drink eventually disappeared and allowed me to enjoy a tamer, less waxy drink. It tasted like sparkling coconut water closer to an unsweetened Sparkling Ice or something but I didn't get a lot of creme. I have had Polar's vanilla and if I drank either again, I might be able to pinpoint it but for now, it was predominantly coconut.

If you have a love for candles, coconut, sparkling drinks or just don't like tap water at parties, this could be the drink for you. This is not my favorite of the season but it's certainly not a bad choice for this increasingly bitter cold winter.