New Atlas Beverage Co.

This bottle looks like a kid’s drink, with a cartoon bear hugging a giant ear of corn, but I think it may be marketed toward adults as a beauty drink because of the nutrients.

This corn juice was being sold in 500g bottles as well as 2-liter bottles, and it looked like there was only one flavor option: corn.  The foil cap on the small bottle I bought was extremely hard to open. I tried peeling at first, but it seems like it was made for  a straw. With no straw in sight, I had to stab it with a pen a couple times to get it to open up.

So, the long and short of it is: this tastes like (more…)

Hey, I like peanuts and I like peanut butter. I’ve never heard of peanut juice, but it can’t be that bad right? It’s probably good even!

This is what was going through my head when I picked up this peanut drink. Plus, it’s in a juice box. What could be better? (more…)

Really, what sounds more appetizing than juice from a Jew’s ear, especially “Quality Jew’s ear selected from Changbai Mountain?”

I’m actually pretty nervous to try it. From the Chinese name,  黑木耳露 （Hei1 Mu4 Er3 Lu4）, I know that it’s wood ear juice. Wood ear (evidently a.k.a. Jew’s ear) is a fungus that’s pretty common in Chinese dishes, but I would never think about drinking it. (more…)

This blueberry drink comes from China, and is actually a specialty of Inner Mongolia. It’s called Ye Lao Da, which roughly translates to “Very Wild.” There’s a long story on the label about how the wild blueberries are hand-selected from the primordial forests in the mountains.

This drink is actually more blueberries than blueberry juice. It’s deep purple, and has a ton of little blueberries floating in it. These Chinese blueberries aren’t exactly the same as the standard North American variety, they’re a little bit bigger and look almost like small grapes. (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…)

This opaque white beer stood out clearly as the weirdest beer among the other normal beers at the cafe in my hotel in Beijing.  The label in Chinese says  奶啤酒 (nai pi jiu), literally translated as “milk beer.” It smells like sweet cream, and tastes a lot like the frosting I had on my last birthday cake. It tastes a bit like cream soda, but not quite as sweet. (more…)