New Atlas Beverage Co.

Kombucha definitely fits the bill of a strange beverage. Pronounced kom-BOO-cha, it is a sweetened tea that is fermented using a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. The fermenting process carbonates it and gives it a trace amount of alcohol. By the way, this colony of 2 billion organisms is alive and growing inside the drink! A handmade tea from China, this tea is renowned for it’s health properties to “restore balance and vitality” to your body.

I picked up a few bottles of G.T.’s Kombucha Synergy, which means that it’s a blend of 95% raw Kombucha and 5% fruit Juice to review. This version just tastes a bit better than GT’s 100% Kombucha. I’ll be reviewing the Trilogy flavor, which is raspberry, lemon, and ginger.

When you  get the bottle, it usually has the colony growing at the bottom, so you have to shake it up to get it mixed throughout. Depending on how ‘young’ the Kombucha is, there will be more or less of these culture strands, since they grow over time. If it’s your first time trying Kombucha, I recommend getting one with not much of the culture. Since it is carbonated, don’t shake it too hard because it will explode when opening it. This has happened to me. (more…)

Bossa nova’s acai juice has a great berry smell. It’s very smooth like a good acai juice should be, and doesn’t have any of the brown residue like sambazon acai juice did. The mango is not extremely noticeable, but it does give it an extra sweetness and a bit of a cooling sensation like fresh mango does. It’s not bitter at all, and not really too sweet either. The mango does cut some of the acai so you don’t get the rich acai flavor that i’ve had in other pure acai juices. This one is 88% juice, and is sweetened with organic agave nectar, which seems to be the trend these days for sweeteners since it has a relatively neutral taste and none of the bad image that might come with sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

Overall, a very good and refreshing acai juice blend. One of the best I’ve tasted.

Bottle of Mona-Vie

I first came across Mona-Vie when looking for a healthy acai drink. It calls itself “the premier acai blend,” with 19 different beneficial fruits. However, it’s very expensive just for one bottle, rivaling a decent priced liquor. A 750 ml bottle of the monavie active blend can go for $45 in the US.

I finally got my hands on this expensive blend of fruit juices from someone I know who ordered it, since I don’t believe it’s sold in stores. (more…)

I saw this Apple Vinegar Drink in a supermarket in Beijing. There were a couple other varieties, so I chose the nicest looking bottle. Right off the bat, I knew this was some sort of health trend. Regardless of the fact that I thought it would taste like straight-up vinegar, I gave it a try.

The smell is pretty unremarkable, like unsweet old apple cider. Actually, that’s exactly what it tastes like. It’s a little sweet, but there’s a strong sour and bitter aftertaste. It tastes like if you took a couple bites out of an apple, set it on the counter for a couple days, then came back and took a bite of that brown part. I haven’t actually done that, I’m just guessing. The other thing about this apple vinegar drink is that it’s got a little bit of a slimy texture. (more…)

Sambazon Acai Juice

Sambazon Acai is one of the first companies to bring acai berry fruit juice to the United States. The Açai berry, is one of those fruits that still has near mythical status, despite the fact that it’s been widely available in the states for several years. Acai is pronounced ah-sigh-ee and is also known as the purple berry because of it’s deep purple color. It’s extremely high in antioxidants, healthy omega fatty acids, fiber, and protein, and supposedly has many other health properties. This exotic drink has been made by Brazilians for who knows how many hundreds of years. Even though the acai berry is Brazilian, acai juice is not one of the most common preparations, which is what makes this such an exotic drink. The fruit grows on the açai palm tree that is only found in Brazil, where it is made into a variety of juice blends, smoothies, ice creams and other delicious treats. In some regions of the Amazon, the berry makes up nearly half of the locals diet.

I decided to try and review Sambazon’s organic original blend açai juice. It’s basically (more…)