On my trip to Hong Kong, I picked up another weird drink that I had never seen before in a 7-11. Beside the fact that I didn't recognize the name 夏枯草, I could tell it was weird because of the drink's tagline: "Common selfheal fruit-spike drink."  That doesn't give me any clue as to what's in it.

It tastes basically like raisin juice, but really a mild flavor. It's not sour or bitter at all, and not even too sweet. It just has a little raisin-y aftertaste, and is pretty refreshing cold. I think you could also drink it hot, like the jew's ear juice, and it might taste good that way too.

Checking my trusty Chinese translator, nciku.com, it seems I've never heard of this fruit before either. It's xia1 ku1 cao3 in Mandarin, ha6 fu1 chou2 in Cantonese, Prunella vulgaris in Latin, and "Self-heal" in English. Also known as Lance Selfheal in the US, it's a flowery plant that's harvested for it's medicinal properties. It supposedly can help to heal a whole bunch of diseases, and is being researched for cancer, AIDS, and diabetes treatments.

Getting to the label, here are the ingredients: purified water, cane sugar, common selfheal fruit-spike, dates, grosvenor momordica fruit, and liquorice root. If you're wondering what the second-to-last ingredient is, it's luo han guo, which is probably why this tastes a little similar to the luo han guo juice I tried in Thailand.

The xia ku cao juice has no preservatives or artificial colorings, and based on the ingredients it sounds like it's really good for you. It tastes good too.

According to Wikipedia, other names for this weird fruit are arhat fruit, monk's fruit, la han qua, and even a longevity fruit. It's used in Chinese medicine, mainly as a sweetener and is even used to create a sugar substitute because it is so sweet. But is also said to help with some illnesses such as heat stroke, larynx infection, cough, and diabetes. I can't vouch for any of these "cures," all I can say is that the juice does taste pretty good.

This Thai drink is sweet like a plum or a date, and reminds me of the flavor of sno-cones when I was a kid. It's an artificial flavor, so of course it's not dead on to what the fruit tastes like, but I can see how you could imagine that it tastes like longan.

While I'm a little disappointed at the flavor, it's not bad for artificial fruit juice.

In the store there were two flavor options, both made by Quinoa Gold: Pina Colada, and Dark Berry. Now, I'm not sure what a "dark berry" is, or if that's even a real fruit, but it looked slightly more appetizing than the pale yellow pina colada. I would have much rather tried a "plain" or "original flavor." Already, I'm nervous to open it, because I can see little grain pieces suspended in what looks like a goo.

The smell is pretty bad, but not much different than I expected since I've eaten quinoa before. Imagine a blend of cooked wheat and rice, blended together in water. Now add to that a sickening chemically-soapy berry fruit punch flavor. Almost like a nice bottle of liquid detergent.

Getting past the smell, the first step feels like I'm drinking the blob. The good part is that it tastes better than it smells, but that doesn't say much. It's a slimy concoction, like a mix of soupy jell-o and mucous with small peices of quinoa. I really can't think of anything with that texture. The closest thing I can think of is rice porridge, but Quinoa Gold is more liquidy and it's cold. I'm not sure that the "dark berry" flavor is helping. Which, by the way, is only listed in the ingredients as "natural flavors."

The bottle claims that it is "caffeine-free energy," but I don't buy it. I don't know how someone can down a gloppy bottle of this stuff before going out and feel pumped. I think they mean to say that quinoa is a good carbohydrate. It has a low glycemic index, and any athlete will tell you that you need to eat carbohydrates for sustained energy over long periods. That doesn't give anyone the right to make a drink out of carbs and call it an energy drink.

Quinoa as a "supergrain" is fantastic and healthy when eaten alone or made into pasta, but the Quinoa drink just isn't working.

It only has 3 ingredients: water, black currant juice (from concentrate), and fructose. But it's only 22% juice. How can that be? I'm not sure, maybe that means it's only 22% concentrate, with the water as the majority of the other 78%. If you know how they calculate the percentage of juice, please leave a comment. Regardless, this leads me to imagine that straight-up black currant juice is probably either bitter or sour - which is why cranberry juice is usually sold as a juice blend. The water and sugar really easily cut that though if it's the case, because it's actually very good.

Black currant is a small black fruit very high in antioxidants and vitamins, including Vitamin C. It has four times the Vitamin C of oranges, and twice as many antioxidants as blueberries. I think that qualifies it as a superfruit. It comes from Europe, and is working on making a comeback in the United States where it was banned in the past because of a threat to the logging industry. It is still banned in some states.

The black currant juice I tried was made by Currant Affair. You can visit their website at www.ConnecticutCurrant.com

It says on the bottle that this blood orange juice is made from blood oranges from Mt. Etna Volcano in Sicily, Italy. It's imported into the US and registered USDA 100% Organic. It's not from concentrate and it's high in Vitamin C and antioxidants as most citrus fruits are. The best part about this brand is that it's 100% organic blood orange juice, so you know it's fresh and healthy.

Get blood orange juice here:

Volcano, Juice Blood Orange, 25.3-Fluid Ounce (6 Pack)

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.My first impression looking at the bottle is that there's a significant layer of foam on the top which, if you swirl the bottle around, leaves a film on the side of the glass. The good news is that this foam is full of seeds and reminds me of what would form on top of a home-made fruit juice. Anyone who has used a fruit juicer to make fresh juice will know what I mean.

As soon as I open the bottle there's a very strong acai smell, though you can tell there are other fruits mixed in. It smells very sweet, like strawberry jam with some blueberry. Based on the advice of someone who has tried it before, I'm only going to pour a little bit in my glass. The juice is dark purple.

On first sip I get a weird barrage of flavors. It's sweet, sour, and bitter all at the same time. I can taste some tannins, which leave the mouth feeling dry after each sip, probably from fruit skins or seeds, which are part of the mona vie active ingredients. And the seeds are definitely there, not overwhelming, but noticeable. I guess it is exactly what you should expect if you threw a bunch of fruits into the blender and put it through a light strain to remove the pulp. The acai flavor is prominent, but diluted. I love acai juice, and I feel like the other fruits, none of which I could guess by the taste of the mona-vie, really detract from the flavor rather than add. In a taste contest, mona vie vs. acai, regular acai juice would win hands-down every time.

Close-up of Mona Vie with oil and seeds

An interesting thing I'm noticing as I drink, is that there is some separation of oils at the bottom of the glass, circled in white in the picture. That is probably the reason they tell you to shake well before drinking. I'm not sure which ingredient is causing them, but I assume it's from the esterified fatty acids which are a form of the beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids that are easy for us to absorb.

The good thing about this drink is how unrefined it is, and the blend of fruits that give a whole spectrum of different nutrients. It's 100% juice, with no added colors, flavors, or sugar. This fact is also what makes it lacking in the taste department.  It's meant to be taken as a health supplement, rather than a drink for taste. I'm not sure what makes this mona vie active juice compared to the regular monvie drink.

A small amount doesn't taste bad, but I wouldn't grab a bottle of mona-vie when I'm thirsty.

Monavie-Active Health Juice, 4 Bottles - $89.99
Monavie-Active Health Juice, 1 Bottle - $31.00

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.

Anyone who's had apple cider sit around in the fridge a little too long will know what this tastes like. It's not too bad, but it definitely doesn't taste like when you first bought it. A few sips were enough for me, I didn't get around to finishing the bottle. It doesn't help me any that it came in a combo pack with another (less attractive) bottle. My guess is they need a promotion like this to get rid of the ugly bottles, because it's hard enough getting people to drink it when the bottle looks nice.

While I wouldn't want to drink apple cider vinegar everyday, after doing some research it seems like it has a lot of legitimate health benefits. It may help with diabetes, losing weight, and pH balancing (I don't know what that means). Since the 1950's it's been revered as a cure-all for just about everything: allergies, sinus infections, flu, cholesterol, sore throat, acid reflux, acne, gout, and even head lice! I'm not so sure scientific research has been done to back up any of these claims. Anyway, dinking apple cider vinegar straight is so harsh it could cause throat problems, so if you're going to drink it anyway, maybe getting a pre-mixed drink like this one is better than mixing up a recipe yourself.

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 only made of  "120 acai berries per bottle," some blue agave for sweetener, and lime juice. When I first opened up the bottle, there was a slightly off-putting brown around the rim, clearly from juice that had evaporated. Not to be dettered by a little dried juice, I took a sip. It smelled delicious and tastes just as good. This is a very difficult flavor to place for me. It's unlike any other fruit I have tried before. The description on the back of the bottle describes it as "berry-cocoa" but I honestly can't taste any cocoa in it. The closest thing I can think of is blueberries, but Sambazon acai juice is not sour or bitter in any way. It's actually very refreshing, smooth, and creamy.

I can't get over the creaminess, which is so strange for a fruit juice, and especially by looking at the color you would never guess it. It's quickly becoming one of my new favorite fruits. The healthiness is just a bonus. The only complaint I have is that it doesn't come in a bigger bottle. The standard serving is only 10 oz, or 350mL.

Note: There are a lot of acai scams on the internet and other reviews of acai berry because of it's health properties, but for the best tasting acai juice it's best to get just from your local health food store.