Italy (14 reviews)
Venga Relax Orange, White Grape, Pink Grapefruit, White Tea
I can only hope beyond hope that the folks from the Amsterdam based band Vengaboys moved to Italy, took all of the money they made from their hit single We Like to Party (The Vengabus) and started a functional beverage company. I seriously don’t think I’ve thought about that band in at least 15 years, but as soon as I read the name of this company that damn song was instantly stuck in my head.
I mean this drink would totally fit into their wheelhouse, right? After all that time riding around in the Vengabus, partying all the time, they would need to just kick back and relax sometimes. The problem is EVERYONE knows about the Vengabus, so as soon as they see it they instantly switch into party mode. As a result the members of the band needed to lock themselves in the backroom of the bus and get a little herbal aid. Not pot you savage. The Vengaboys are a wholesome group that only drink copious amounts of alcohol, but it’s legal, so it’s fine…wait they are from Amsterdam…hmm. Okay when they are at home maybe they use other herbal aids, but when on tour they stick to drinks like this.
This has a nice smooth taste. You mostly get pink grapefruit out of it, but the grape and orange and maybe the tea help to mellow out the acidity of it. On the opposite side of the spectrum all of the juices help to negate the bitterness that is normally associated with white tea. It all works together wonderfully.
So not only does this drink help to chill you out (but not make you sleepy) it also does it in a way that tastes great and doesn’t leave you with any sort of medicinal/herbal aftertaste. You hang out in the back of the bus for a hundred miles or so and then you’re ready to party again from New York to San Francisco and wherever else your dancing dreams may take you.
- Website
- http://www.drinkvenga.com/
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- Natural Fruit Sweetener
- Categories
- Iced Tea, Relaxation
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 1/25/2013
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- Venga Relax (12 - 16.9 Fl Oz)
Italian Volcano 100% Organic Blood Orange Juice
It is a little known fact that in Italy volcanoes reign supreme. Many know that such practices occur in places such as Indonesia, but for centuries the denizens of “The Boot” have kept their rituals a secret. I’m about to blow up their spot in a major way.
I’m going to go ahead and ruin everyone’s fun right away; they don’t perform human sacrifices. I mean they aren’t savages. They aren’t trying to over throw the world. They are just looking to help their crops, by appeasing to some old gods. You might find yourself asking why has it been kept such a tight-lipped secret for all this time. It’s simple actually, with the Vatican basically in their back yard; you don’t really want to upset the Holy See with what they would see as false worship. Basically if the church blacklists you, your tourist trade goes in the turlet.
Back to the important garbage: The main item that is sacrificed to the volcano gods is blood oranges. You know how gods are all into symbolism, well they like to pretend that the juice of the blood orange is actually human blood, like the old days. Gross. The Italians may not be savages, but the gods really wished they were. Some people just throw bushels of oranges into the fiery depths, but others believe that the gods prefer you to take the time with your sacrifice and juice it. I mean, what’s more impressive: a tiny body, or a big jug of blood?
Dream Foods started pilfering from their sacrifices in order to sell the deliciousness to the public outside of the country. With a mixture of three different varieties of blood oranges with no sugar added, how can you go wrong? It tastes like a mix between a sweet orange and a grapefruit. It’s glorious. Once you get a taste, you’ll never want to go back to plain orange juice again. Don’t let the name fool you though. This is not an Italian soda; it’s not carbonated. It is straight up juice meant for a sacrifice. By drinking it you may be taking away from fields of rigatoni and penne, that would feed a nation, but hell, I think it’s worth it.
- Website
- http://www.dreamfoods.com/
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- No Sugar Added
- Categories
- Juice
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 11/19/2012
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Nativa Organics Tropical Fruit Flavoured Drink
On our great Canadian drink adventure about a month ago Mike and I came across theses sodas in a Shoppers Drug Mart. I called dibs as quickly as I could because it's a soda with pineapple and passion fruit in it. I'm pretty sure that if Mike would have tried to grab it for his own I would have drug him out to the parking lot and we would have had to put up our dukes. The idea of Mike and I in fisticuffs is absolutely absurd. I can't even envision it in my head without the visions of us putting our fists up like an olde timey movie and erupting in laughter. Luckily, it never came to that, as Mike knows my taste buds and gave it up happily.
You might ask yourself, if I was so excited to an extent that I would have been willing to pummel one of my dearest friends, why did it take me a month to drink it. The answer is simple. The night was the first night of a tour I was on and Mike and my ladyfriend brought the drinks I purchased back home for me. This bottle was lost in the shuffle and it just resurfaced. What a glorious day it was.
All of my expectations of this drink were not only met, but they were surpassed. It's sparkling water, fruit juice and nothing else. The folks at Nativa were smart enough not to gunk up the mix by adding sugar. It tastes like some one blended up some pineapple and passion fruit, squeezed in a spritz of mango and strained out all the bits. Then they poured the remains into some sparkling water. The fruit itself is sweet enough to overcome any potential seltzer flavor. It's the perfect fruity soda. I've never had one that was better.
It turns out that this is the beverage version of an M Night Shyamalon movie. It turns out the soda has been dead the whole time. Wait, that's not right. It turns out that this wasn't made by some specialty soda company. Nativa is actually the Shoppers Drug Marts' store brand. Now that is true magic.
- Website
- http://www1.shoppersdrugmart.ca/en/food-and-home/brands/nativa-organics/collections/nativa-snacks.as
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- No Sugar Added
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 11/13/2012
- Comments
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Paradiso Peach Ice Tea
“…that brings in the whole category of countries. Where to start? Well, the obvious one. The birthplace of spaghetti and pasta, all the oily stuff... Italy.” Very smooth Coop, but you forgot one thing; Italy also produces one hell of a peach ice tea under the Paradiso company. I don’t know if this would really pair well with pasta, but it would certainly be great to be sipping on a bottle of this while strolling through some Italian city or another, just taking it all in.
It says that it’s made with tea flavor, but it does taste more like real tea than any other “tea flavor” teas I’ve tried. The really star of this drink is the peach though. It has both peach juice and peach flavor in it. That means that while you’re drinking it your mouth is filled with the flavor of real peaches. Then when you swallow you get a hint of peach gummy candy. It’s be best of both worlds (even though the gummy candy flavor is only faint). The peach flavor is strong. I would prefer a little more tea in the ratio, but I’ll take what I can get. Now if you’ll excuse me I told Coop I would help him clean up some goat turds. How did I get suckered into this?
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Iced Tea
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 10/8/2012
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Frizz Coffee
I just found my new favorite drink. I wish I could say I was exaggerating but I’m really not. This is exactly what I always hoped a coffee soda would taste like. It has a really strong coffee taste, but it is also sweet and bubbly. It almost has a cream soda taste to it as well. I just passed this bottle around a room of skeptical people and they all said it was delicious.
This little bottle was $2 but it is so worth it. It would be awesome if they sold this in larger bottles because I feel like I’m drinking all 6 oz of this way too fast and I want it to last forever. Isn't a normal cup of coffee like 12oz? That would be a good size. I'd pay $4 for that, probably far too often than I'd like to admit.
- Website
- http://www.frizzusa.com/
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 8/10/2012
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San Benedetto Hello Kitty Banana Flavored Drink
So for a while now this drink has been bouncing around the three of us here at Thirsty Dudes. Mike found it somewhere for mere cents and had to buy it. The problem is that we all hate banana flavored things, well except Runts. Since then it has exchanged hands several times, never willingly. I really should have just kept it going. Hid it in Mikes burrito, or mailed Derek some crazy root beer, but drink it myself and fill the bottle back up with this “banana flavored drink.” An old roommate and I once hid a box of caramel popcorn in each other’s rooms for over a year. When one would find it, they would hide it somewhere in the others room. I wonder if he ever found it the last time I hid it. It’s been over two years since then. Oh well enough dilly-dallying and tales of wonder, I’m going to drink this bottle of what has to be grossness and end it’s reign of terror.
Oh god, I think it may be worse than I ever imagined. It’s one thing for something to be banana flavored. I mean they are gross, but tons of people like them. If it actually tasted like bananas I would have given it a decent review, because it would have tasted like it was supposed to and billions of people would have enjoyed it. There may be eight people in this world that might enjoy this monstrosity. It actually smells like banana Runts, so I thought there might be hope for it. Nope. It tastes like banana candy mixed with Windex. There is actual banana juice in this, yet I would be more suited to wash the windows of my house with this than I would be to drink it. Since this is Hello Kitty, and a weird flavor one would be led to believe that it is a product of Japan. Again, Nope. This sucker was made in Italy. Italy, you should know better. You’re drinks are normally top notch. I expected so much more from you.
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Juice
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 3/24/2012
- Comments
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Argumento Italian Soda Red Orange
Dear Italy, Why have I never graced your shores? I feel like I have been nearby several times, but we never made the leap into the birthplace of pasta and organized crime. You are the home to many great things, and I think you deserve for me to visit and show some respect. I promise I will do so in the next few years. We'll have a quiet little date. We'll eat some real deal homemade pasta and sauce and you'll sip on a nice wine while I down glass after glass of the soda that is your namesake. I have to say that I may actually enjoy the soda more than your conversation. You know I don't speak Italian. I understand you're trying to make a point, but when I don't understand a thing you're saying the meaning you're trying to convey is lost. How about you just give in and speak English, just for a little while. The soda on the other hand speaks a language that everyone can understand (well except diabetic). It's the language of flavor. You Italy are more intelligent than most. You may have been the first to carbonate your juices, and didn't give up on the practice. You kept right on trucking. I assume that red oranges are the same as blood orange. If not they sure taste the same. It has a tarter, bolder orange flavor. It's the top of the evolution tree of oranges. They aren't going to get better than this. You took this miracle fruit and added just a little bit of sugar and some nice bubbles and you have something close to perfection.
It might be the soda talking, but you're looking pretty good tonight Italy. Oh you have a little bit of sauce on your cheek. No, not that side the other side. Down a little. To the right. Okay it's gone. Now you have some basil in your teeth....
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 12/26/2011
- Comments
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San Benedetto The Peach Ice Tea
Dear Italy, I love what you've done with sodas. Your version is generally not as sweet, but still very flavorful. I'd like to think that you were trying to take the same approach with this tea, but you lost your way on the adventure. I think where you went wrong is that you concentrated on the peach instead of the tea. I can safely say that you got the peach down perfectly. You actually used peach juice instead of artificial garbage, and it shows. Well done. Unfortunately I think you used either all of your time or your capital working on that and forgot to give the tea the very special attention it deserved. You could have very easily brewed some fresh tea, that would have been great, but you went with a tea extract (poor choice). While this still tastes great, it's more like a peach drink than a tea drink. Sorry.
Sincerely,
The Thirsty Dudes
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Iced Tea
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 12/6/2011
- Comments
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- Name Your Link
San Pellegrino Sanbitter
Although this drink may be an acquired taste, who would want to go for a second one when it tastes like this? I don't hate the San Pellegrino Chinotto and I understand that it is an Italian staple, but this is something else.
Someone recommended this to me not too long after we started the site and I never found one that wasn't in an eight pack. If it was something that wasn't questionable, I might have gotten it, but since it was called a bitter, I didn't want to splurge and get an eight pack and have seven other ones lying around never going to be drank. Drinking this makes me appreciate my decision.
This drink tastes medicinal. The flavor seems like it might want to be cherry, and if you sip the smallest sip, you might taste it, but anything larger than that you get an onslaught of a medicine you were not prescribed. Oh, it's bitter, there is no doubt about that, but what is that good for? "Oh, I love a nice, bitter drink that doesn't have a taste as much as a tongue reaction when I drink it." Who is saying that? Who wants anything overly bitter? It's like asking for something too sweet or too salty. Does this accompany anything? I'm just so confused as to the purpose of this. I'm glad it was cheap, I'm glad it came in an awesome bottle, I'm glad I'm not obligated to drink the whole thing.
- Website
- http://www.sanpellegrino.com
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Categories
- Soda Pop
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 9/18/2011
- Comments
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- Bitter Red
San Pellegrino Sparkling Fruit Drink Limonata
I didn't know, but did you know that in Europe, their lemonade is carbonated? Here is the good ol' U.S. of A, we don't carbonate it, nor do we offer the ability to get it. Here, we have it on lockdown. No bubbles or sparkles. Restrictive? I don't know. I think a little variation might be good. For this variation, I need to look no further. This San P is wonderful. I don't like the "original" flavor of San P. It's bitter. This is a little bitter, but a natural fruit bitter, not seltzer water bitter. My mom used to drink that stuff and it used to be gross. This, I feel like I could drink all of the day. It's a great lemon taste with just enough sugar that you don't feel guilty for slaying the whole can, but why should you? You're your own person and you dictate your life and if you want to drink a "whole can" of this in one sitting, hey, that's your nightmare, Jack.
I can't pick a favorite between this and the Aranciata. I do like them both better than the Chinotto, though.
- Website
- http://www.sanpellegrino.com
- Country
- Italy
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Mike Literman on 4/7/2011
- Comments
- View and Leave A Comment
