Organic Sugar - 22 Reviews

Alternative energy drinks keep popping up more and more. I say alternative because they don't have the same ingredients or taste like Red Bull and its artificial ingredient filled running crew. Sure a lot of these products don't pack the same punch, but do you really need those crazy jitters? I didn't think so.

Komodo takes things a way I have never come across before. They carbonate coconut water and add some caffeine and B vitamins to supply the imbiber with energy. They only use natural ingredients and you can tell by the way it tastes. It's strong on the coconut taste, but I suppose that is what you want when you purchase a coconut energy drink. The flavor does fall a bit on the toasted side rather than the plain old coconut water side of things, but that may be due to the use of stevia as well as cane sugar to keep the calories down. This is something new and interesting and it's decent enough to go back for return purchases.

Back to the classic taste of energy drinks where one dumb nerd just throws a package of packs of (American) Smarties into, I don't know, like a generic fruit punch. It's not terrible and it's better than "the old days" of energy drinks. Is it because it's organic? Probably not. It's probably better ingredients so, yeah, in hindsight; it probably is because it's organic. It's not terrible but it's kind of pretty standard tasting. As far as energy drinks go, this does taste "original" in the sense that it tastes like all of the other "original" energy drinks out there.

I can also say that this is better than both of the other versions of Dark Dog's stuff. Jay liked them. Good thing he reviewed them. This is good, though. I enjoyed it and I didn't get "the shakes" which I appreciate because I am trying to work and can't with "the shakes." Keep it original, Dark Dog.

Here we have a company who understands how to do low calorie beverages. Perhaps it's just me but when I'm looking to lower my sugar/calorie intake, just reducing the amount of sweetener is a perfect solution. I don't need a beverage that is “fake sweet.” Sure zero calorie sweeteners can lower the amount of calories until they are non-existent, but they also have a very specific overpowering flavor to them that can ruin nearly any drink that they inhabit. In most cases you can taste the sweetener more than you can taste the actual flavor. Dark Dog still uses cane sugar, in conjunction with coconut sugar, but lowers the quantity to give you an energy drink that has 50 calories from 11g of sugar, yet you can also taste the flavor of the beverage with no distractions.

The caffeine in this drink comes from the trifecta of green tea, yerba mate, and guarana. Unlike the sweeteners used those flavors are very prevalent in the taste. This is essentially a sparkling tea drink with vitamins and a splash of juice added. The combination of elderberry, acerola, cranberry and lemon juice is very minimal and you can only detect hints of it when you take a sip. There is a vague fruitiness floating around the tea flavor.

If this can didn't state that it was only 50 calories I would never guess that it was a low calorie beverage. It still has just enough sweetness without loading you up with buttloads of sugar. Yes, that would be cubic buttloads the only official unit of measurement at Thirsty Dudes.

I have never tried the original Dark Dog energy drink, but I have come across images of it on the internet and I have always found the yellow can with the weird black silhouette of a dog very intriguing. I don't know who that design is marketed towards as it doesn't look EXTREME or classy, but it's always made me want to try it. Okay, so I guess we discovered that it is marketed towards weirdos like me. Unfortunately I've never come across it in a store, so I've yet to try it. The company was nice enough to send us a bunch of samples of their new Organic line, and if these are anything like the original I was right to want to try it.

The design of the cans is definitely more on the classy side of things. It's simple and clean in a way that would appeal to the stereotypical health food yuppie. It still has that strange dog silhouette, but it's smaller and your eyes aren't immediately drawn to it. There is nothing intriguing or offensive about it, and that is probably how a food label should look.

The taste of this is very different than your classic energy drinks. There is absolutely nothing candy-esque about it. It tastes like a slightly bitter blood orange juice with a bit of lemon thrown in. It makes sense because 25% of what is in the can is blood orange juice. It's lightly carbonated, which with the juice makes it taste more like a nice Italian soda rather than an energy drink. The energy aspect of the beverage comes from natural caffeine and seven different vitamins. A lot of the time when energy drinks are like this the effects aren't that strong, but this can has certainly given me a little kick in the pants to get me moving on this sluggish day. It's nothing that will make you twitchy, but it certainly did more for me than a cup of coffee would have. Now I just need to know the story behind that dog. I fear he may haunt my dreams.

What is a mojito with lemon instead of lime? Wrong? Is that it? I've had mock mojitos and they're good. I assume a "real" mojito is close enough. Mint and lime. This is mint and lemon. It's close, right. Same fruit but a different color. I know, I know. Lemons are sour and limes are bitter. Are you here to call me, a time honored professional, a dumb dummy? I certainly hope not.

This tastes like a sweeter, less bitter mojito. Didn't see that review coming, did you. Honestly, the mint is pretty faint and if they just said this was sparkling lemonade with mint in it, I would say, "Oh, cool. They put mint in it." To declare, in big, bold, caps "MINT" you're making a statement. This is a great lemonade. Compare it to a non-gingered Bruce Cost. It's got pulp, which is always a win, but the lemon is so sour, in a good way, that it out flavors the mint. Fights is fights is fights and lemon just beat mint. It's not the first time and it won't be the last. I'm hoping I can say the same for this drink because it's one of the best lemonades I've had.

Can we all agree that your everyday energy drinks make you feel like garbage in the aftermath? There is too much sugar and too many weird chemicals in them, and as a result you crash and you either need to drink another one like a junky, or you deal with the “shakes,” or should I call them anti-shakes? For me at least they are a “break glass in case of emergency” type item, or at least they were until we started up Thirsty Dudes. Now I have a civic duty to feel like moose trampled me.

The main, and classic alternative to energy drinks is to drink coffee. That is also not for me. I can enjoy it if there are tons of chocolate and sugar in the mix, but I just do not like regular coffee. Again, I really don't need all that sugar into my life either.

Runa is giving people another option. It is a sparkling juice beverage that uses the Amazon guayusa as a delivery method for natural caffeine and polyphenols. Each 8.4oz can contains 120mg of caffeine, which is more than in a regular cup of coffee. We're talking more energy per square inch here people. On top of that it actually tastes great. It has a never rainforest berry flavor going on. You know if acai actually tasted the way you wanted it too, and wasn't so intense.

Sure these cans cost more than a gas station coffee, but they are cheaper than you would pay for a coffee shop coffee, so why not go for the switch and drink healthier.

Deep in the Hollywood Hills children need to step up their game with roadside stands. Kids grow up fast these days, and growing up and being popular requires money that they don't have. The days of the standard lemonade stand are long gone; the profits just weren't enough. These days the kids need to up the ante, or they will just have to kiss those new premium apps goodbye. As a result a new wave of suburban roadside beverages has risen.

It all started when some daring eight year old used her mother's seltzer water instead of the Evian that was customarily used (hey this is Hollywood, land of the yuppies). People were abuzz about this new development and there was a line around the block. From that point the children kept trying to outdo each other. They would flavor their lemonades in various ways to lure customers away from other stands. Some say there were a lot of backroom dealing and sabotage going on during this time, but there is no definitive documentation.

Then came the day that the Earth stood still. One little dreamer changed everything. That day a 100% Organic sparkling lemonade hit the streets. Since then the street stand game has never been the same. People came from miles just to sample this child's creation, and to feel good about themselves whilst doing so.

Limonitz attempts to recreate that greatness with their products. They use filtered sparkling water, organic lemon juice concentrate and organic sugar to make the finest carbonated lemonades this world has ever seen. On it's own it would be quite a product, but the company took it a step further with this drink and added organic ginger extract. The results are mind blowing. Here we have a sparkling lemonade, that not only tastes like real lemons without a hint of cleaning fluid, but also that actually has a real ginger flavor to it. It has a mind ginger burn to it, it's very mild to me, but my ladyfriend said that it had a decent bearable burn. Every ingredient is present in the taste, and there for a specific reason. It's simple, it's organic, and it's delicious. Needless to say this is going to put all of those dumb kids stands out of business before they can buy whatever it is kids “need” to have these days.

We in Buffalo do not have a Whole Foods. It has something with us having a rival grocery store and fifty miles and something. Not too far out in Ontario, Canada there is one. Jay, Jay's old lady, and myself went there and did some damage. We bought a lot of things that you can only get at Whole Foods but nothing that you can get only at a Canadian Whole Foods. I think they stock what they stock regardless of country. This 365 seems like it's an "in house" brand. What does it taste like? A little like minty pool water if you ask my coworker, Dan. Do I agree? Mostly. It's a lightly sweetened green tea with little bite and a little, good amount of mint, but somewhere in that mix, it certainly does have a bit of a "minty plastic" taste. I drank the whole thing, so I must have gotten over it, but it was just "alright." Would I drink it again? Eh, probably not. I'm not really moved one way or the other with this guy. I thought it would be good, and it wasn't awful, but it might have stumped my taste buds into making a decision. That could be the worst rating of all; one that is just...there. It's like that cat that just appears when you try to leave for work and you would normally give it a clichè saucer of milk but you've got a big meeting with the Johnson firm today and you can't be late. Those eyes...dead inside, just staring at you. Where did that cat come from? It makes no noise but is just...there...being there.

Mike hates FRS. I think it's probably in his top five most hated drinks. Up until now the only flavor I had tried was the orange protein one. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. It's a functional drink and those generally have issues. I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Mike thought maybe he was mistaken about the company, so he tried another one and absolutely hated it yet again. I still did not think this could be all that terrible, so today I cracked this open before I went to the gym. The first sip was decent enough. It had a nice berry flavor that I couldn't argue with. The problem started when I kept drinking it. Some flavor I had never tasted before kept getting stronger and grosser. I can only imagine that it was the quercetin. I hope I never have to taste that again. I was able to drink the whole bottle, but by the third sip I was not enjoying it at all. Actually I just looked it up and quercetin is found in tea, so I'm sure I will be having it again. It must be something else in here. It smells like the milk that a wheat heavy cereal had soaked in. Now that I realize that I feel like it kind of tastes like overly sweetened wheat, which is really gross. This will not enter my body again.

I often praise Jay. Today will not be that day. Today, I dislike him quite strongly. He gave me this FRS a while back, reviewed the other one and claimed it was great. "Awesome" I said to myself. I didn't want a repeat of my last FRS drink. I threw this in the fridge and actually looked forward to it. Mistake.

This drink is as thick as the day is long. Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Nope. I'll compare it to the color and viscosity of dog puke. That odd, off-yellow, creamy-ness. It doesn't have any dog food in it, which I guess I should be thankful for. This is just vile. It smells alright but between the texture and the odd, protein-rich flavor, and the fact that acai should not be made for public consumption regardless of it's antioxidant qualities, this drink is, well, undrinkable.

Sorry Jay, but you can't win them all. You lost your shirt on this one and you might lose another because if I throw up, I'm using whatever you have on as my target.

After Mike's review of their Healthy Energy Orange I was dreading drinking this. He brings up all the time exactly how terrible that drink was. Today I took a deep breath and grabbed this bottle, as it is my duty as a Thirsty Dude to try any and all non-alcoholic drinks.

I don't know if Mike was crazy, or if their protein line is really that much different. This wasn't bad at all. It's the thickest drink I've ever had, but it's not bad. It tastes/feels like someone mixed some orange juice into a big bowl of fairly flavorless vanilla pudding. Yes, it is that thick. It pours slowly like molasses because it's so thick. It doesn't taste even remotely gross. If anyone had a complaint about this my money would be on them complaining about the consistency. One weird thing about the drink is that although it is not chalky, like a lot of protein drinks, it does dry your mouth out after you drink it. Strange.

Well FRS I am no longer afraid of you and I will be trying some more of your products in the relatively near future. I'll try to convince Mike to do the same.

I sit here all day. Watching. Watching the people. They want me and they don't even know it. I sit here, all tasty. I'm made from strawberries and lemons. Who wouldn't love me? Is that woman getting beaten by another woman? We're talking about me for a minute. I'm sweet and you can taste the strawberry but it still has the sting of the lemonade. It's like I've got a big jug of lemonade with countless amounts of strawberries just marinating in me. Now what do we have here? I've got to learn how to use this telescope better. I wonder if that kid that broke my leg is out delivering papers. He always does a terrible job. He doesn't make it within ten feet of the porch and often throws it when the sprinklers are on leaving me with a wet, unreadable paper.

I can't see, though. What is going on in that car? Is that a drug deal? No. It can't be. It's two kids. Was the local news true? Is Breaking Bad really influencing kids to deal drugs? Oh, wait, they're just playing Pokemon. This is dumb. I should be outside basking in the sun showing off my delicious digs. I'm strawberry lemonade, broken leg or not. I'm delicious and all will envy me. Just five more minutes. That orange juice across the street is taking off her sarong.

I have always heard that pu-erh tea was supposed to be super fancy. I'm not a big fan of hot tea so I never looked into it. When I saw this bottle at the store today I thought, "Hey I can finally try this and see what the fuss is all about". Verdict: I don't like it. After doing some "after the fact" research, I find out that pu-erh tea is fermented. In my top 10 most hated drinks, 8 of them are fermented. I don't know why, I wish I could like fermented drinks. Everyone swears by Fentiman's and Bionade, but I can't enjoy them at all.

All that being said, this is a good clean tasting tea. There's only a slight peach flavor, and an even slighter ginger flavor. The latter really disappointed me because I really like tea with ginger in it. Even though I'm not big on lightly sweetened teas, even if this had more sugar in it I think I would still not like it very much. Sorry tea connoisseurs, it's just not my thing.

A couple things. First, we were all very busy this weekend. Jay has been on tour with Cheap Girls and hanging with some other friends in and around, Baltimore, Philly, New York, and beyond. I spent all weekend riding a motorcycle in a basic riding course. Derek has opened a store and is dealing with that. We were very busy. From Jay and I, we're sorry that we didn't get to do any reviews.

Second, and this is a doozy: buy this tea. I'm telling you. I saw it at some small Asian market with my dogg (note the double "G") Jay. I think Jay was looking around for carp juice or shark drink or something to hopefully make me throw up. Notice a pattern? He's always trying to make me throw up. We'll get there, buddy. We'll get there. This tea, which came out of nowhere, is way too good to be stuck in such limited quantities on a dusty shelf in some suburban Asian market. This trumps most big brand iced tea by far. Good natural tea taste and a good natural pomegranate taste. These guys nailed it.

South Korea, you've given me years of Tae-Kwon-Do and now you've given me this. I hope that this review can bring you the income needed to build that new bridge or skyscraper you've always wanted.

Thanks to the grandmothers of the world, everyone knows that if you get a burn, sunburn or otherwise, you break off a piece of an aloe plant and rub it on that burn and feel the relief set in. Being the scientist I am, I wondered if I could take that a step further. On my recent trip to Philadelphia I got a delicious tofu hoagie from a little deli. It was slathered with hot sauce and covered with jalapenos. While it tasted great, the burning sensation it left behind was fairly intense. I needed relief and I needed it fast. Science kicked in and I decided an experiment was needed. I cracked open a bottle of Leaf Up aloe juice and took a big sip. I can't claim that the relief was instant, but the burning subsided a decent amount. A couple more sips and it was all but gone. Once more science prevails over evil in this world. I've only tried this with Leaf Up so far, so I don't know if it will work with all aloe drinks, but with this brand it worked like a charm. It was also tasty to boot. It was very light and more watery than any other aloe juice I've had. The mango flavoring is nice, but it's also a bit watered down. Now when I saw it's watered down I somehow mean that in a good way. It doesn't taste like they cheaped out and were trying to stretch their product out, but like they knew it would be more refreshing this way. There are some chunks in here, but they are pretty small, almost like an afterthought. Normal aloe drinks seem like they were tailor made for kids to drink. This is a grown up version of them, a sophisticated version if you will.

Ehhhhhhh. Unmoved. Taste is mediocre. It's got a decent lemonade sting, but the raspberry is in the background, like a kid at a play who isn't good but you can't not like him because he looks so cute dressed up like a little cow. Sure he can't sing or dance, but that's not the point. This bad play of a drink keeps you in your seat because it's not bad enough to leave, but it's not good enough to go back for a second night. It starts out alright, like if this first grade play had fireworks or motorcycle jumps as an intro, but then ruins itself, like if the star kid, whom you know is a brat, forgets her lines and cries and runs off stage until the teacher tells her the lines and makes her go back on stage.

Things that should be weird to read on a beverages bottle, but that get me excited include "Real Fruit & Flowers." Obviously everyone wants real fruit in their drinks. Is there a single person roaming this Earth that prefers artificial fruit flavoring to actual fruit? If there is I'd like to give them my condolences for having the worst taste buds ever. Real flowers? That is just weird, yet exciting. I have grown to love slightly floral drinks during my tenure here at Thirsty Dudes. Two years ago if I drank this I would probably think it was garbage, but my tastes have been refined and I do enjoy it. It is a bit too floral though. It may be the pu-erh tea though. I just discovered that it's a post fermentation tea. I'm not positive what that means, but I think that mixed with the flowers pushes this a bit too far into the "I just ate something off of a plant at the botanical gardens" region.

The tea is very lightly sweetened, and it has some passionfruit juice in it to give it a little extra flavor. It's there, but a bit hidden under the flowers. The more I get the stronger the flower taste becomes. Now that I'm at the bottom fifth it's kind of out of control and I'm not longer a fan. When I started this I would have given it four bottles. By the end I would give it two bottles. I'll just even it out and call it a solid three.

It's crazy how much my taste buds have changed and evolved since starting this website. It used to be that drinking anything tasting even remotely floral was like getting shot in the mouth with a perfume gun. My tastes have become more refined and now it's a flavor that I enjoy, well when it's not overly strong.

This tastes like a sweet lightly floral green tea. It also has a fairly prominent honey flavor to it. Truth be told it's a little sweeter than I would like it to be, but for most people it's probably just right. I'm on a big unsweetened green tea kick myself. It doesn't have that bitter "kick" of straight up green tea, but again I think that is what turns a lot of people off to that style of tea. The more I drink of the bottle the less floral it tastes and the more honey I get, Yes, I did shake it up before I opened it.

I have never had a drink with elderberry in it before. In fact, this is the first elderberry flavored drink we have reviewed so far. I didn't know what to expect from this drink, but I had high hopes. First sip, I thought it was really gross. It tasted like dry soda, which I don't like at all. But then I decided to look into this drink, and found out that it's made by fermenting malt and water, but in a way where it's not converted to alcohol. This explains the taste. This tastes like a juice that's been sitting out a little too long and the bottle starts to bulge because it's fermenting.

Through the fermentation taste, I get hints of the fruity elderberry taste. But sadly, the fermenting taste is too prominent for me to really enjoy this. It's also more bitter than sweet. This seems like a very sophisticated soda, definitely too sophisticated for me.

Adina has really stepped up the game in juice/elixirs. They know how to perfectly flavor their beverages with just the right amount of sugar. This is the flavor I always wanted out of pomegranate. It's also not thick and syrupy like a lot of these drinks can be. Let's just hope the herbs and antioxidants help nurse me back to health.