RX - 2 Reviews

It was very nice out today. People were out doing yard work, hanging out with parks, and walking their dogs down the road everywhere I went. What did I do today? I took a little stroll with my lady friend around Elmwood Village and then went with Editor Dan to explore an old cement factory that has been abandoned and left to rot for well over 50 years. Let me tell you, I think we had most people's plans for the day beat. There are also some caves back their, but they were either sealed off by a rock slide, or we are too big of idiots to find them.

I can also tell you something else. When exploring you work up a mean thirst. We stopped at a convenience store to pick up some refreshments. Unfortunately for us their selection was pretty beat. I grabbed this Arizona, because I needed something and it was cheap. I thought we had already reviewed it, but when I checked it somehow had slipped through the cracks.

This was an old standby for myself for years. I would go to the University Heights section of town to go to basement shows all the time. In-between bands we would walk to the nearby gas station for iced tea and this is what I purchased 90% of the time. I always referred to it as "dirt flavored." To clarify it actually tastes nothing like dirt at all, but the coloring and design of the can always made me think of some old tincture that surely would taste like dry mud. It's actually way, way sweet. It's green tea with mango, pear and lemon juice in it. It also has some herbs in it that make it a half-assed energy drink. I don't think I've ever felt any energy from one of these, but I sure do like the way they taste. It's very different than any of the other flavors of Arizona. I believe it is the only fruit flavored green tea they produce. The green tea compared to the black makes all the difference.

If this were a new company that I found I probably would have given this a three bottle review, but since I have so much history with this drink, and I started drinking it before I discovered non-HFCS teas, I will give it a four. I loved it back then when I was ignorant, and I still enjoy it a great deal now.

I am a classic fan of Arizona Iced Tea, namely, the green tea with honey. Then, out of nowhere, I just stopped drinking it. There are a lot better quality teas out there for my, nay, our consumption. This tea, though, is pretty good. It's light. I drank it at room temperature, so it was more "tea" and less "iced tea" so it was more smooth and subtle, rather than cold and sharp. This tea is infused with chamomile, valerian root, and ginseng and you know what? You get a little bit of that on your tongue. A little bit of herbal aroma is all you need. You even get a little bit of the decaffeinated black and green tea, but a nice, genuine aftertaste, not a bitter, bitey taste.

For being a high fructose corn syrup beverage, this doesn't have that terrible lingering aftertaste.

I condone this.