No Sugar Added - 718 Reviews

It's the time of year again when the sun is finally starting to shine in Buffalo and the temperatures are on the rise. That also means that it's time for Polar to release their Summer line and this year it's a doozy. Some old favorites like Mango Berry are back, but more importantly are the new flavors like this little guy right here. I don't know who the genius is that thought this up, but I would certainly like to shake their hand, scratch that…€¦give them a huge hug of thanks.

I never knew that pineapple was a flavor that I was missing from seltzer, but now that I have it I don't think I'll ever be able to look back. This is really 85% pineapple 15% grapefruit. I'm completely fine with that ratio. It could have been 100% pineapple and I wouldn't have complained, but as it is the grapefruit rounds out the edges a bit. The amount of this I will be drinking this summer is out of control. If Polar really wants all of my money they will make a pineapple vanilla. I would pre-order case upon case of it.

This is pretty darn tart, in a good way. A bulk of the flavor comes from a combination of passionfruit and lime juice. The rest of it is the guayusa. If nothing else this is very interesting. It's the type of drink that requires a learning curve. If you go into it blind I would expect that you wouldn't really enjoy it and that it would just taste weird. When you know what you are getting you can start to enjoy it. The more you drink it the more you enjoy it. It is a bit odd drinking something that is passionfruit flavored that is not super sweet, but life goes on and by the time I reached the end of this can I was totally on board, even if I was tentative with the first few sips.

Most seltzers/sparkling waters keep things simple with just carbonated water and some sort of flavoring, usually under the umbrella of “natural flavoring.” Who knows what those natural flavors are? They could be any sort of weirdness that exists in nature, but has a similar taste to the flavor the company is trying to put forth. Who is to say that snail spit doesn't taste like blackberries?

Spindrift lets you know what you are getting, and I feel that due to the percentage listed they use more of it than most companies, which is apparent also in the taste. This can says it contains 7” juice and that comes from the “fresh orange juice” and “alphonso mango puree” listed in the ingredients. Sure that little bit of juice gives you 1g of sugar per can, but isn't they tiny amount worth knowing what's in your drink let alone how superior it tastes. It still very much tastes like a seltzer and not a sparkling juice, and that is the way it should be in this beverage. Both orange and mango are present enough to be noticed and taste real, but still faint enough to drink it without thinking about it.

Okay, I should probably go back and re-review the cherry version of this. I just read what I wrote and after drinking the tropical version I think I was just being difficult. Pretty much my main issue with the cherry was that I misunderstood what it was and had prepared myself for yerba mate and was shocked when that was not what it was. How can I hold the company responsible for me being a dummy? With this can of tropical I knew what I was getting into and I found it to be a much more enjoyable experience.

Like the can says this is “Healthy Energy.” Most energy drinks are full of chemicals that you are not quite sure how to pronounce. This is juice, water and guayusa leaves. There isn't even any sugar added. All of the sweetness comes from the juice and trust me it does its job. It does have a base guayusa flavor, which can be a bit odd when you're not used to it. Not to worry though because you quickly become acclimated and after a few sips it no longer stands out. There are a handful of fruit juices in here doing the rest of the flavoring, but to me the tropical they speak of seems to be a mixture of lime and passion fruit. It's a combo that I have never had before and I need to have a lot more of.

This is bubbly, sweet, and pleasant tasting. I would enjoy it even if it weren't functional. As it is I also get the added bonus of a bunch of caffeine, antioxidants, and potassium. I feel like I'm winning all over the place. It could also be that the caffeine is hitting me pretty hard.

Before I can say anything else about this product I have to acknowledge the fact that this is the second can I have drank and both of them made the craziest noises when I cracked them open. It was like I was opening a vault door to some sort of cryogenic chamber. Highly pressurized air came rushing forward and for a moment I was in a scene in a science fiction movie.

Cold brew has been making quite a splash over the past couple of years. Not only are local coffee shops serving it more regularly, but it seems like new companies are popping up every week to see you their ready to drink version. RISE only uses two ingredients in their cold brew, water and coffee beans (organic of course). The thing that makes them stands out in this sea(okay small lake, or maybe a pond?) of new companies is that they infuse it with nitrogen to make it creamy and smooth, which I will attest to, it is. To me this tastes like coffee grounds smelled when I was a kid. It was such a wonderful flavor, but then when I tried it brewed, the taste/scent never matched up. This would have made me a regular coffee drinker at an early age. Like most things that are good it is simple. That is where the power lies. The more garbage you add to a beverage the more you have to worry about things evening out. When it's a two item process, there is so little that could go wrong, especially when you know how to do a proper brew as RISE does.

In our dystopian future where machines have taken over everything and the only hope humanities has lies in the fact that they can still make delicious coffee, RISE will be king. (that's what we call a call back in the biz. People like when you explain things like that, right? )

Water is water, right? I mean sure, some companies water might taste a little different because of the bottles they use or the inclusion of trace amounts of sodium for some reason, but other than that it's all just water. WRONG! I used to be as misguided as you, but then I had special waters. The kind of waters that you would imagine only rich people could afford. Waters with a higher pH. These waters ARE different and they are deliciously smooth. This just happens to be one of those magical waters and it doesn't cost you a week's worth of pay like you might expect from something so extravagant.

Waiakea water is naturally filtered through volcanic rock and as a result it gets enriched with minerals (without tasting like mineral water) and it also makes it naturally alkaline. If you're a dummy like me, you have no idea what that means, so let me lay it out for you; It helps to remove toxins form the body and regulates the body's natural pH. It also does not decrease in pH over time and stays at 8.8. Does all of that really matter though? When you're drinking it all most people care about is the taste and it is good. It's water, but it tastes better than water. It's as if it is what all water hopes to become. It's crisp and clear, while being strangely smooth.

On top of all of that the company also donates 650 liters of clean water to Africa for every liter sold. Well played.

Do you see all of those flavors listed in the title of this drink? Well that is all that is in this bottle. There is absolutely nothing else, not even added water. It's juice plain and simple. I am a huge fan of the current juice craze. Sure it can be ridiculously expensive, so I don't indulge all of the time, but it is nice to know that people care about something healthy and simple and it's out there for the taking.

Remember when I mentioned the cost of juice? If not you should probably see a doctor because it was two sentences ago and you have a real problem with short term memory. Well, Bolthouse cold-presses their 1915 juices, just like those expensive companies do, except they charge about half the price. These are normally around $4 and they seem to be on sale a decent amount for $3, which is not bad at all.

This version of the juice is their “greens” output. Sure, when you think about it this contains the ingredients to a salad, and drinking a salad doesn't sound very appetizing, but I assure you that is not what this is like. Maybe if it had dressing included it would be. If that were the case I'm guessing a lot of people would vomit upon drinking it though. The lemon and apple in here give it enough of a fruity edge to balance out greens. You can still taste them, but in a good way. Not like you ordered a house salad with a blender at an Applebees. Is that on the menu still? This is a beverage you can feel good about drinking with no guilt and you don't feel like you're forcing it down for the sake of health. It's enjoyable all around.

I believe the Eurythmics wrote a song about this tea, or was it Heart? Billy Ocean? Taylor Swift? There are a lot of songs out there that deal with things being great in dreams and I can tell you if nothing else, this beverage is absolutely dreamy. Like most Guayaki teas the yerba mate is the main thing you taste, but this has a very faint floral, hibiscus taste to it with hints of lime. There is nothing in here that is overpowering. You know what though, dreams are never perfect though. There is always an aspect r two that seem out of place. In here I could do with a tad bit more flavoring, and just the smallest amount of sugar. When it comes to tea I almost always prefer them to be unsweetened, but mate benefits from the smallest touch of sweetener. Even in its imperfect state I could drink this forever though.

This little guy tasted pretty much as I expected it to. It tastes like it serves a more medicinal purpose than a pleasurable one. I'm not saying that it didn't have pleasant taste, but the rest of the ingredients play more of a role in the flavor than the tea does. In fact the tea aspect of it taste more like tea water than the nice strong brew that one expects from a bottled iced tea. The ingredients that make up the chia spice blend are the ones who are running this show. It's almost all cinnamon, ginger, and licorice.

This was made to help with stomach issues and digestion, but if the tea had been stronger I could see this being an instant favorite. Even without the strong tea taste it still left a delicious residue on my lips.

Recently I began what I believe to be a long and happy relationship with Topo Chico. I have no idea why I had never tried it before. I always see it in Mexican restaurants, but I never went for it and I am a fool for it. It's wonderful sparkling mineral water with a little citrus added to it. I recently went to Mexico on tour and I knew I would see/drink a lot of it, and I was very excited. Little did I know that this lime variety existed and I tell you it is a game changer. This is exactly like the original, but better because of the lime instead of lemon. I'd love for everything that has lemon in the world be changed so that it included lime instead. It is the superior form of citrus.

I wish I lived in a perfect world. A world where everything wasn't such a mess. A world where everything wasn't falling apart before my eyes. A world where juice was nothing but the fruit it was named after, especially when it's 100% juice. I want mangos, nothing but mangos. I want it to be thick and syrupy, so I can pretend that I am taking a nice big bite of the most perfectly ripe mango. Since this carton cost me a little over a dollar, I should have known that wasn't going to be the case. How could the company afford it? They would be operating at a loss. Instead they have to mix in some other, cheaper fruits to keep the price point down, but retain the 100% juice certification. I'm sure they proudly display their certificate in their offices. I certainly would, right next to my framed dollar bill.

The other juices in here besides the coveted mango are apple, banana, carrot and orange. That is a lot of juice. The apple takes up the bulk of it. There is even more apple than mango, lucky for us mango is a stronger flavor and overpowers it. You can taste the apple, but it still tastes stronger of mango. The banana is oh so faint, but I still kind of hate knowing that it's there, contaminating this juice even if it's only slightly. The carrots and the orange just kind of blend it and are hardly noticeable. I would definitely call this a mango-apple juice. I think I might enjoy it more if they just were honest with the name. It tastes great, but my taste buds were expecting something a bit different. Now sit back and watch the rest of the horror in this world unfold before your eyes.

I love that Sparkling Ice is taking a step back from sucralose, well at least with their Essence line. I just could not get into the dietness of it all. These new ones though have been mostly pretty great. It's just flavored seltzer water, but the flavors have been good, up until now. This isn't bad per say, but it really teeters on the “tastes like a cleaner” line of things. I feel like everyone involved in the lemon industry should file a class action lawsuit against household cleaners because they have ruined a once great fruit. I feel like the world used to embrace lemon in all its forms, but now folks are reminded of cleaning chemicals and it's a turn off. Big money could be made. Big, big money.

Once you get past the association, this isn't bad. I could do with a tad bit more lime, but I'm always going to want more of that. It's not really a flavor for me, but I wouldn't dump it down the drain.

Back to basics. I can't tell you how refreshing seltzer is after some of the crap we drink. Look, nothing we drink is literal crap or figurative crap. Everyone puts their hearts into the products they put out but come one, after 4600 reviews, we have earned the right to start calling things "crap."

This is great. It's pure simplicity. Water, bubbles and peach. I assume they have some sort of vat of peaches just stewing all their Georgia essence into some tube mechanism that sucks up the scent, injects it into water by way of science/witchcraft and then stores the vapors for someone lucky enough to drink it.

If you like seltzer, this is just seltzer. They can call it whatever fancy name they want. It's sparkling water with flavor. La Croix? Polar? The other one? Same deal, bro. Same deal. It's all great seltzer.

In a couple of weeks I'm going on tour in Mexico. Since we all know you are not supposed to drink the top water there if you are not a local I fully expect that I will get all of my refreshment from this company. If you've read Thirsty Dudes before you likely know that it took me over 30 years of my life to be able to enjoy seltzer water. It took me even longer than that to give Topo Chico a try, but once I did I kicked myself for not having it in my life already.

For those of you who are not in the know, Topo Chico is a sparkling mineral water. The minerals give the water just a hint of a flavor that makes it stand out from regular sparkling water. To add to that there is a bit of citrus in here by the way of lemon in a way that makes it interesting and not like boring restaurant water. Overall it tastes classic and classy. It's the kind of beverage that would pair perfectly with the world's greatest burritos. Oh Mexico, I can't wait to visit and hopefully I will not get stabbed while I'm there like people keep telling me I'm going to.

In an added note I just heard that Aldi bought this company, so now it will be easy to find at an affordable price throughout the US.

Chai. I got into it too late. It's good and I love a nice spicy, hot tea. This isn't half bad, either. Should I think less of it because it is an Aldi brand? No. It's probably something else branded to look like an Aldi brand, actually.

This had a good, strong anise taste to it mixed with whatever other magic was in here. I promptly drank it and, presumably ruined it, adding a packet of sugar. It was the morning and daddy needed a little pick-me-up.

To whomever I stole this from that works in my office, thanks. I'll pay you back in whatever the equivalent of one bag of tea is. Pretty sure that's a wet T-shirt car wash.

If I were to substitute all of the cans of seltzer water that I drink with La Croix brand, I would have to be a rich man. Perhaps that is just because the amount I drink is so obscene, but these cans are at least double the price of the 12-packs of Polar I normally purchase. Do you know what though? It's totally worth it. I love Polar, but La Croix put out the most flavorful seltzers I have ever tried. They have figured out a way for high quality fruit flavors to shine though without any sweeteners, which makes it zero calories. You could drink case after case of this stuff and not feel terrible about yourself. I bet you would have the most righteous burps too.

There is no mistaking this, it is most certainly a sparkling berry beverage. As long as you are not some sort of savage that needs your drinks to be more sugar than liquid, it is incredibly enjoyable.

I made it through New Year's Eve.2016 was behind me. I finished up the party I was DJing (not in the turd way. I play dumb old music people actually want to hear not electronic noise). I started driving home. I sneezed. That was the end of everything. That one little sneeze shut down my body. I made it home, climbed into bed and violently shook to the point that I wondered if I was having a seizure for hours. The next day I was conscious for maybe two a half hours. This morning I woke up and my body was ready for nourishment again. I drank tons of water and this carton of juice. While the water made it so I wasn't like a dried out husk, this juice gave me a reason to keep on living and not just wither away.

This is nothing but juice, the whole juice and nothing but the juice (again). There are seven different fruits that make it up and I love each and every one of them for the hope they have inspired in me. Well, maybe not banana. They are still gross. Apples, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and pineapple; I salute you and your delicious ways. It's really all of the berries doing the work though. You can taste a faint hint of the apple juice base, but the pineapple is eluding my taste buds.

I'm on my way to recovery and I'm sure several more cartons of this will help me on my way. Maybe I'll even be on solid foods again someday.

Do you like water? Do you like having your throat itched by tiny bubbles? Are you sick of sugar? Then here you go. This is simply carbonated water and there's not much to it, because there is not supposed to be. Enjoy.

I just got married a month ago (pause for applause) and ate passion fruit for the first time. What a magical experience. What a strange, goopy fruit. It's so weird. I mean, I ate a ton of it but I don't think in a million years I could get my son to eat it. So slimy. It's like all slime and seeds. Strange that anyone would eat it to begin with but they do and it's wonderful.

This drink, sans goop, tastes just like it. I was surprised. La Croix does the flavor justice. I feel like that one is hard to nail. They might use real fruit juice or whatever "essence" is but whatever science they're doing in there, they've pulled in the right people.

I have to come clean. I have had a handful of new flavors that Sparkling Ice sent me sitting in my fridge for a little while now. Every time I would open up the drawer to choose a drink they would be staring right back at me and I haven't had it in me to taste a zero calorie sweeter tainted drink. Tonight I decided t finally give in and deal with that nonsense on my tongue and what is that? The Essence line isn't sweetened at all. They are all just seltzer water. This instantly made my night better. I expected to take a few small sips and introduce the rest of the bottle to my sink drain, but now I can sip it throughout the night and enjoy it.

This is fairly lightly flavored. It just has slight hints of citrus, which happen to be tangerine. A lot of sparkling waters, sweetened or otherwise tend to go pretty strong on the flavoring, but this is subtle. I could do with a little more, but I do like what they are going for. I also like that this doesn't taste like sucralose and my taste buds would like to express their thanks as well.