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…)

This Black Currant Juice drink comes from Connecticut, where I picked it up in a local grocery store. It’s a dark juice, and very strong smell, a lot like concord grape, and similar almost to wine. The taste is very much like a dark purple grape juice. There are slight tannins, but overall it’s a very smooth drink.

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

A blood orange is a fruit from Italy, which is a variety of orange that has red juice the color of blood. The juice is a dark orange color, but not quite red. It tastes a little bit more bitter and sour than regular orange juice, almost like a mix between orange and grapefruit. It has a nice tart flavor that would go really well in a cocktail. I think mixing blood orange juice with vodka would be a great variation on a screwdriver. I haven’t thought of a clever name for it yet though, leave your ideas in the comments.

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. (more…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

Inka Coffee Substitute

Inka is a Polish drink, commonly used as a coffee substitute. It’s taste resembles coffee, but it has no caffeine.

The inka drink mix made by Naturalis Inka comes in a round can similar to instant coffee. The brown powder smells woody, but has a very similar aroma to the powdered coffee brands we’re all used to. To make the inka beverage, you’re supposed to use one heaping teaspoon of the powder, mixed with boiling water or milk. I tried it with water, and the inka coffee that resulted was suprisingly black, with a white and brown foam. It does taste like a very weak coffee, but maybe that’s just because of the similarity in making it, and how it’s known as a coffee substitute. (more…)