Ginger - 217 Reviews

Hi Ball Organic Energy Drink Ginger Ale

Hi Ball Organic Energy Drink Ginger Ale
Hi Ball has a new line that is headed in a new direction, well a well-worn path that they have yet to follow. After years of only producing “Sparkling Energy Water,” which are unsweetened energy drinks that taste like seltzer water and not some sort of toxin, Hi Ball has finally added sugar to some of their beverages. These sweetened version plays out as more of a soda pop than an energy drink, and they are good sodas at that. This here drink tastes nothing like a traditional energy drink and instead tastes exactly like what I wish all ginger ale was. It's a fairly sweet soda that has real ginger root in it and you can taste the difference from the ginger ales that are available in 2 liter bottles. There are other flavors around the edges (guarana, panax ginseng and various other organic energy providers), but they do not distract from the flavor of the ginger. You get a nice little boost, but it tastes like a quality soda. Hopefully these will soon be available in mini-marts and gas station all around the country.
Rating
πŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒ
Categories
Energy Drink and Ginger
Company
Hi BallWebsite@hiballenergy
Country
United States
Sweetener
Cane Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 6/20/14, 8:35 PM
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Amazon.com
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Wild Poppy Grapefruit Ginger

Wild Poppy Grapefruit Ginger
This is a bit of a wild ride, but not really the thrill a minute I was hoping for. It has a sourness from the grapefruit, but not really in a way that makes your lips pucker up. The ginger is in a similar state. It has some burn to it, but it never reaches a level that hurts in a good way. Instead it leaves your throat with a mild annoyance as if you had been hanging out all night in a smoky bar. This beverage plays with your emotions, pulling you this way and that, but never fully takes you to the destination you want to go. Instead of walking you to your door, it drops you off at some seedy truck stop on a deserted highway whose only denizens are an army of lot lizards.

The only ingredients are water, grapefruit juice, agave nectar and ginger juice, so the problem comes from one or two locations. First off, it's a more water than juice (only 20%). I want that grapefruit to grab hold of my taste buds and squeeze them until they scream. What I am delivered couldn't even be described as a minor inconvenience. Secondly, this is something that I hardly ever say about drinks, it's not sweet enough. It's like the sugar is dipping it's toe into the pool and it can't decide whether it wants to take a swim, or not. Just jump in, you're annoying everyone around you with your indecision

After smack talking this product for two paragraphs, I would say that it's still decent, but it just has such unrealized potential. Either lowering the percentage of water or adding more sweetener would greatly improve this beverage and take it in the direction that I so desperately want it to go.
Rating
πŸ₯›πŸ₯›πŸ₯›πŸ₯›πŸ₯›
Categories
Ginger and Juice
Company
Wild PoppyWebsite@WildPoppyJuice
Country
United States
Sweetener
Organic Agave Nectar
Author
Jason Draper on 6/16/14, 9:19 AM
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Swamp Pop Jean Lafitte Ginger Ale

Swamp Pop Jean Lafitte Ginger Ale
Swamp Pop may be my current favorite soda company going these days. They take classic soda flavors and mix them up with a Louisiana twist. Oh you want a cola, how about we throw some figs into the mix? That cream soda you so desperately crave? Well you're not getting that until we add in some pralines. This is the flavor I have been saving for a rainy day, or a perfectly nice day when I'm sitting around a fire at night. With embers a blazing I cracked open the cap of the combination I feel I have been waiting for all my life; ginger ale and cucumber. People always laugh at me when I rant about my love of cucumber beverages. They are fools who don't understand that it is the most refreshing flavor of all times. It is both crisp and cool, which is just what you need on a hot balmy day.

This soda is named after the local “gentlemen pirate” Jean Lafitte, who basically ran the Gulf of Mexico during the 18th century. The man did it all; bootlegging, smuggling, spy work, and he even worked as a wartime defender under General Andrew Jackson. All of those activities have to take a lot out of a person so I can only imagine him kicking back after a long day of raiding ships and sipping on a bottle of this soda. I assure you that he would in fact be sipping and not chugging, as that is the sort of pop this is. You want to mull over the flavor in your mouth, letting it wash over your taste buds with each sip.

This is much sweeter than I anticipated, but it feels right in its level of sugar. The folks of the south like their sugar, as is evident with sweet tea, and that has been translated here. It's a ginger ale that you can taste the ginger in. It has the slightest of burns to it, but nothing that a small child couldn't handle. So as a base you have a nicely sweet, slightly hot ginger ale. What better way to improve that than by cooling it down with some cucumber? With that addition you have near perfection. It is also a flavor that instantly makes me think of Louisiana, heat, humidity and how to make it all bearable.
Rating
🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾
Categories
Ginger and Soda Pop
Company
Swamp PopWebsite@DrinkSwampPop
Country
United States
Sweetener
Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 6/1/14, 10:50 AM
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John Crabbie & Co Ginger Beer - Traditional Cloudy

John Crabbie & Co Ginger Beer - Traditional Cloudy
I don't know why John is so moody. What does he have to complain about when he's created drinks such as that perfect raspberry ginger soda, and now this traditional ginger beer? Also, the guy lives in Scotland, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, and also the place where I have come the closest to losing my life. I know that John has something against me, so I thought that knowing how I nearly tumbled down a cliff side onto the jagged rocks below might bring a smile to his crabby face. Alas it did not. He's still complaining about everything. I don't know how to get him out of his slump. Then again if it's his disposition that caused him to create this fantastic ginger beer, maybe we should just let him be.

This is the smoothest ginger beer I have ever had the pleasure of tasting, and I've had quite a lot. Normally I prefer more of a burn to my ginger sodas, but there is something about this that just sits perfectly with me. It has enough of a burn to keep me happy, but at the same time it manages to be so damn smooth that 90's R&B songs should be written about it. John, you keep doing what you're doing, and I'll keep reaping the rewards of your unhappiness.
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Ginger and Soda Pop
Company
John Crabbie & CoWebsite@johncrabbies
Country
Scotland
Sweetener
Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 5/19/14, 9:38 PM
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John Crabbie & Co Scottish Raspberry with a Twist of Ginger

John Crabbie & Co Scottish Raspberry with a Twist of Ginger
Let's go through the things I know about Scotland. I really like nearly every band I've heard from there, It's where the Loch Ness Monster resides, It's the home of the grossness that is Irn Bru. Haggis is served there. Glasgow is one hell of a drinking town that tends to get violent. They apparently deep fry everything. Scotland: The carnival of the United Kingdom. Okay that might not be an official term, but with the amount of deep friend food in that country, perhaps it should be.

So I like the music, but the food and beverages are not really up to my standards…€¦or so I thought. Everything I knew about Scottish cuisine came crashing down around me as soon as this John Crabbie soda touched my lips. I, my friends, have been converted. This is one of the single greatest beverages I have ever tasted. I knew a raspberry and ginger soda would be right up my alley, but I didn't expect it to be executed so perfectly.

Let's start with the magic. This says that it just has raspberry flavourings (note the U) in it, but they somehow perfected it and it tastes exactly like I'm jamming my pie hole full of fresh berries. JC and Co could have stopped right there and this would have been an amazing soda, but they are apparently famous for their ginger beer, so they decided to add a little bit of that root to this soda as well, which took it up to a level that will be hard to beat. At first I thought that the minimal burn was a let down, but then I realized that if it were more present it would distract the drinker for the wonderful raspberry taste. The way they did it everything sits perfectly in harmony.

I can't express to you how upset I was when I had finished this bottle and I realized that even though I had access to more, I shouldn't purchase it because there were so many other sodas I needed to review for this site. So thanks Thirsty Dudes for keeping me from what could have been my one true love in this world.
Rating
πŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒ
Categories
Ginger and Soda Pop
Company
John Crabbie & CoWebsite@johncrabbies
Country
Scotland
Sweetener
Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 5/4/14, 10:20 PM
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Luscombe Hot Ginger Beer

Luscombe Hot Ginger Beer
The UK has some crazy rest stops. I know there's one in Delaware here that is supposed to be all fancy, but the one where I purchased this was beyond anything I could ever anticipate in the states. There was a nice duck pond and a fancy restaurant. Heck even the cafeteria style section looked like a rich persons version of Old Country Buffet with everything being served to you by people in chef outfits. I can only imagine that they spoke French while doing so as I saw a multitude of people eating fancy croissants.

With all of the lavishness around me, and a cooler full of “artisanal sodas,” I thought this ginger beer would blow my socks off. I cracked open the bottle cap and prepared to enter the station at flavor town, all the while preparing myself for one hell of a burn. What I got was not what I wanted or expected at all. There was a decent ginger flavor, but the proper burn just wasn't there. There was something happening, but it wasn't what normally comes with a ginger beer. It was like the soda was trying to match it's ornate surroundings and just couldn't pull it off. This soda is a classic movie where a down and out character from the wrong side of the tracks gets a make over and tries to live like the other half. It never works out in the movies and it didn't work out for the soda. In the film everyone would end up accepting it for what it was, but you know what this is real life and I'm not going to accept an inferior soda just because it came clean to me.

I might have too high of a standard for ginger beer, but it's what I love and I will not accept anything less than greatness. The company also makes a “Cool Ginger Beer” that I can only assume tastes like ginger ale, that I would like to try. This would have been decent if it wasn't for the weirdness of the burn.
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Ginger and Soda Pop
Company
LuscombeWebsite
Country
United Kingdom
Sweetener
Raw Cane Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 4/30/14, 6:44 PM
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Love Grace Ginger Bomb

Love Grace Ginger Bomb
We've entered day two of my juice cleanse via Love Grace. I was doing great all day yesterday until about 10PM when I got a decent sized headache, and I started to feel pretty weak. I assume it's due to toxins working out of my body, and you know hunger. I woke up this morning and felt a lot better. I'm hungry but it's manageable.

I started off my morning with a bottle of Purify, and now it's time for my second juice of the day: Ginger Bomb. This is just great. It's orange, ginger, lemon, oregano extract and Himalayan sea salt, which when mixed together make for an intense little juice. It's a citrus-ginger explosion in your mouth, which then continues to erupt down your throat and into your stomach. It's pretty strong lemon-wise and the orange makes it a little less intense, but it's still pretty sour and slightly salty. The ginger is there more as a burn than as a flavor. I wish the taste was more prevalent, but the burn is so great that I can't really complain.

It seems like this is the most functional juice of the entire cleanse. It's anti-inflammatory, helps with digestive health, it's anti-bacterial, anti-viral, it improves circulation, supports metabolism, boosts the immune system, is adaptogenic and balancing. On top of all that I think it tastes great. It has made me feel more normal than any of the other juices I've had so far. 4oz of magical explosions.
Rating
🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Categories
Ginger and Juice
Company
Love GraceWebsite@LoveGraceFoods
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 3/11/14, 12:31 PM
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Love Grace Super Cider

Love Grace Super Cider
Continuing on in my juice cleanse I have come to the most initially appealing of the juices for my tastes. This Super Cider is simply apple, carrot, ginger and lemon. I'm a sucker for cider and ginger, so throw the two together and it's inevitably going to be a party in my mouth.

I did not expect the ginger to be so strong in this juice, and it was the best surprise I've gotten all day. I would say that this tastes more like ginger than anything else. It certainly has mainly an apple base, but it's the taste and burn of the ginger that make this drink so great. It has the kind of burn that you feel in your stomach. That's a good burn. The taste of the carrots is only apparent if you concentrate on finding it. The lemon just rounds things out. It's more visible in some sips than others, but it's never really at the forefront of the flavor. The ginger really doesn't quit with this. I could see it being a bit much for some people, but for those of us who love a little heat in our drinks this is just perfect.

Like all of the Love Grace juices this is raw, you know how juice should be. It's too bad that raw juice doesn't have a very long shelf life because it always taste so much better, and is better for you.
Rating
πŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒ
Categories
Ginger and Juice
Company
Love GraceWebsite@LoveGraceFoods
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 3/10/14, 5:16 PM
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Empress' Secret Glow Refreshing Ginger Taste

Empress' Secret Glow Refreshing Ginger Taste
There's a movie in here somewhere. A woman is diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, an autoimmune disease for which there is no cure. Her family and friends try to console her and help her deal with her unfortunate predicament, but our heroine will hear none of it. She is determined to beat this disease and live a long and full life. She begins altering her diet and making the appropriate changes in her lifestyle that are rumored to help combat hyperthyroidism. Her changes are just not working and she's on the fast track to getting radioactive iodine to kill her thyroid, which would lead to a regimen of artificial thyroid hormones for the rest of her life. Things are looking bleak and it looks like the bright future that was once promised to a young girl will not come to pass.

They say it's darkest before the dawn (they being people who like to quote other people) and that is when our Lola (Did I not mention her name before?) decided to take her life in her own hands and find a new way. She knew deep down that natural medicine would be the only real chance she had in life. She delved into ancient texts of Traditional Chinese medicine looking for answers. Can't you just see the montage now of her laboring late at night translating the ancients language? There are moments of frustration and despair, but eventually she hits on an idea and takes bits from here and pieces from there to create a unique concoction that just might work!

With her formulation complete, Lola underwent a six week treatment and by the end she was completely off here meds and her blood work was back to normal. The movie would end just as the first run of Lola's mass produced herbal treatment beverage was being bottled at the plant and all is right in the world.

I know we make up a lot of garbage here at Thirsty Dudes, because..well it's what lives in our brains. I can assure you though that this story is real and the beverage before me is the final outcome. It is a herbal drink that boasts to reverse the effects of aging, boost the immune system and calms the nervous system. I can't say for certain if it works or not, and I don't have it readily available to drink it on the regular, but if Lola's story is any indication that drink is a thing of wonder.

One thing I can comment on as a professional is the taste of this drink, and I think it's great. The ingredients that make up this compound are water, jujube dates, goji berries, dragon eye fruit, lemon juice, organic dried ginger, lotus seeds and ginseng. For those type of ingredients I am surprised that it tastes like a vaguely fruity ginger water. It's got a nice little kick from the ginger, but not to an extent that you have any sort of problem finishing a serving. When health benefits come with a nice flavor like this you know that there is good in the world and everything isn't just pointless.
Rating
🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Categories
Ginger and Sports/Dietary Supplement
Company
Empress' SecretWebsite
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 2/11/14, 9:20 PM
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Mission Root Amla

Mission Root Amla
You mission, whether you choose to accept it or not is to find a cache of Mission Root beverages and acquire them all, especially those of the amla variety. . Be it my legal or nefarious means matters not to me, just as long as you get to taste this sweet nectar. Actually, let me add to that mission, procure the beverages, try them for yourself and them bring the rest of them to me. I want them, and I need them.

This has the taste of a wonderful fresh pressed ginger beverage, but without the burn. It's crazy how much it tastes like a nice agave sweetened ginger, yet the flaming “aftertaste” is nowhere to be found. I've never experienced it before. On top of that amla is added, which is another name for Indian gooseberries, which Wikipedia tells me is “sour, bitter and astringent.” I taste none of those things in this drink. It's sweet, without being overly sweet and there is another flavor in there besides the ginger and the agave, but it doesn't taste like the description. It has a slight fruity flavor. Whatever it tastes like, it's rich in antioxidants and this beverage is on the healthier side of things; all the more reason for you to start planning on scheming how you are going to get this in your life. I expect a full report on what went down in order for you to possess this wonderful drink on my desk by 5pm Friday. So, you know, you better hurry.
Rating
πŸ₯›πŸ₯›πŸ₯›πŸ₯›πŸ₯›
Categories
Ginger and Iced Tea
Company
Mission RootWebsite@MissionRoot
Country
United States
Sweetener
Organic Blue Agave
Author
Jason Draper on 1/24/14, 9:22 PM
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Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale

Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale
Option A:

Step One: Go out and buy yourself one of those fancy machines that allow you to carbonate anything. As a matter of fact, you should already have one in your home because how fun would it be to make random carbonated things? Actually, why don't I have one of those in my home? I feel like I have somehow failed at life because of this fact. Perhaps it's because I would inevitably carbonate things that should never have tiny bubbles in them. No matter. Get one of those machines, that is your mission.

Step Two: Brew yourself some low-grade green tea. Don't go getting all fancy, get some bags of Lipton or something. This isn't a pinky out kind of tea that we're going for. While your at it chop up a little ginger and boil it with the tea bags. Make asure not to use too much because we just want a hint of the flavor.

Step Three: Add a cubic buttload of corn syrup to sweeten up this mess we're creating.

Step Four: Use the machine previously mentioned in step one to add bubbles to your concoction.


Option B:

Step One: Get a bottle of Canada Dry ginger ale.

Step Two: Brew some low-grade green tea, skip the sugar and ginger this time.

Step Three: Somehow make a concentrate of the tea.

Step Four: Mix your green tea concentrate into your ginger ale.



Either of those options would give you something close to this soda. Option B is probably closer to procedure you're looking for. This really tastes like a cheap green tea that has some light ginger ale undertones. I mean that in a good way though. If this had less sugar in it (58g) I would be all over this stuff. It tastes shockingly great.
Rating
πŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒ
Categories
Ginger, Iced Tea and Soda Pop
Company
Canada DryWebsite
Country
United States
Sweetener
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Author
Jason Draper on 1/24/14, 8:48 PM
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Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Brew

Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Brew
Many a sailor has been known to warm his belly on dark stormy nights with a large bottle of whiskey. What is there out there for those teetotalers of the high seas who have lost their families and their former lives, not to the harshness of the sea, but to that of the bottle? The answer is simple, get each and every non-drinking sailor on your holiday shopping list a bottle of this Trader Joe's Triple Ginger Brew. It may not numb the pain in their lives, but it will give their throat and guts a similar warmness as their former love once had.

An employee has told me that all Trader Joes private label products are really other company's products that they have worked out a deal that they can slap their own name and label on. I really wish I knew the original producer of this soda, because I would sincerely thank them for creating such a treat.

The label announces to the world that this is “Ginger ale with a kick!” Don't be fooled, this is most definitely a ginger beer, and if you go into this expecting a nice pale dry ginger ale you're certainly going to get that aforementioned kick to the throat with the burn on this thing. It's simply wonderful. The thing is not only does this have a nice little kick to it that is better than most ginger beers, it also has an incredible flavor. Most companies just use ginger and maybe a little lemon in their ginger brews and while that is fine and good, it's a pretty straight forward flavor, albeit with a lot of kick. The mix in the bottle not only contains the usual suspects, but it also have honey, lime juice, spices and most importantly pineapple juice. Even though it's barely noticeable that little bit of pineapple makes all the difference and puts this ginger beer at the top of the game flavorwise. This is sweet, bubbly, throat burning and slightly fruity. I couldn't think of anything more to ask for in a soda. Oh wait, they did think of something else. They put it in a classic looking green glass bottle with a swivel top. Now that's class.
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Ginger and Soda Pop
Company
Trader Joe'sWebsite@TraderJoesList
Country
United States
Sweetener
Cane Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 12/13/13, 7:57 PM
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Mission Root Tulsi

Mission Root Tulsi
It seems that more and more people are turning their backs on modern medicine. While I do believe that it has its merits and most definitely can help people, the bottom line is that it is a money making empire. Things are prescribed that can have strange side effects, when there are natural options out there that would help you without making you suffer from things like aches and pains, dry mouth, bowel control problems, heart stoppage, compulsive gambling and what not. I for one am glad that holistic medicine is on the rise once again. I didn't have health insurance for ten years, so I relied on it a lot when I got fell ill. The amount of garlic cloves I consumed was astronomical.

Mission Root believes in the holistic side of life. They follow a Ayurvedic lifestyle, which involves meditation, yoga, deep breathing and a special healthy diet. To help spread the word of this to others they have created these “teas.”

First off, you're probably wondering, as I was, what tulsi is. Well, it's an herb that is used to cleanse the respiratory system and to relieve digestive pressure. It is often used as a treatment for colds and coughs. You mix that in with the magical properties of ginger, and you have yourself this nice healthy drink that is fairly sweet (due to the agave) and has a vague floral taste. I had expected this to have a much stronger ginger taste, but it's mostly tulsi and agave with some hints of ginger in the background. It's a fairly unusual tasting tea, but it's in an interesting way that makes you keep drinking it instead of a gross, “this needs to go in the filth bin instantly” way.

Also, note that 5% of their profits are donated to Akshaya Patra, the world's largest NGO school meal program.
Rating
🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Categories
Iced Tea and Ginger
Company
Mission RootWebsite@MissionRoot
Country
United States
Sweetener
Organic Blue Agave
Author
Jason Draper on 12/11/13, 12:27 PM
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Harmony Springs Beverages Golden Ginger Ale

Harmony Springs Beverages Golden Ginger Ale
Harmony is an important thing in all aspects of the word. Living in peace and harmony with other human beings and animals is a great way to live, and you will ultimately end up living a happy life. It's also the vocal harmonies in your favorite songs that are probably the reason you like them so much. I know that's the case for me most of the time.

There is no negative connotation to the word harmony. That is the reason I think this company either needs to be renamed, or delete this flavor from their catalog. This soda was most certainly not in harmony with my taste buds. Harmony Springs makes a great sarsaparilla, so I was excited to try their ginger ale, another favorite flavor of mine. This pales in comparison to the nice dark pop that I had on my last go round. This tastes like a generic sugar soda with a little bit of ginger ale flavoring added to it. The ratio of flavoring to soda base seems way off and the flavor suffers because of it.

When you're making your next batch, think more Boys to Men and less The Shaggs.

Rating
🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Categories
Ginger and Soda Pop
Company
Harmony Springs BeveragesWebsite
Country
United States
Sweetener
100% Cane Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 12/2/13, 8:51 PM
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Evolution Fresh Cucumber Pineapple Ginger

Evolution Fresh Cucumber Pineapple Ginger
It's a little known fact that later in life Chuck Darwin got really into juice. He'd get up in the morning, theorize a bit to work up a thirst and then just juice the hell out of everything he could get his hands on. It was the 1800's so there were many a disease to be staved off, and good ole Chuck knew that juice would be a good way to stay healthy. He started off small; you know apples, grapes, pears and the like. Then he realized the only way to achieve greatness was to evolve, you know like man from apes. So it was that this wonderful juice evolved from the idea of smashing up a bunch of apples to drink them.

I personally don't think juice could evolve past this point. Cucumbers, pineapple and ginger are three of the tastiest foodstuffs this world has ever seen. When you mix them together in your mouth it's like all of the apes in the world suddenly stood up straight and said, “Excuse me sir, but I would really love to try that.” This juice is that good that it evolves primates instantly. What other juice can boost that claim?

This little bottle of nirvana contains one pineapple, 1/3 of a cucumber and a hint of ginger. It mostly tastes like a gingered pineapple juice, but the weird dirty taste of the cucumber, which I absolutely love, fades in and out as you sip along. It's also cold pressed to help maintain the healthiness to the utmost. If all of that wasn't good enough the scent of it is how I wish my home smelled 24/7.

I got some insider news that Starbucks will soon be carrying Evolution juices, so hopefully this will become more readily available for me and everyone. Darwin demands it!
Rating
🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾
Categories
Ginger and Juice
Company
EvolutionWebsite@EvolutionFresh
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 11/20/13, 1:10 PM
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Taylor's Tonics Gingerbread House Sparkler

Taylor's Tonics Gingerbread House Sparkler
Ladies and Gentlemen, let's talk candles, shall we? Scented candles are wonderful and can make any living arrangement seem just a little nicer. I myself love to go candle shopping. While I can't afford (read: don't want to pay the crazy prices) for really nice candles, the way they smell is amazing. They tend to have a smell that you can taste, and that brings us to this soda. This drink ultimately tastes the way the highest quality gingerbread candle would smell (it smells just like them to boot). I don't advise biting a candle to taste it, because what you get is simply not what your taste buds would expect from the scent. This though, this is exactly the flavor that I imagine those candles would have.

The bubbly liquid form of a gingerbread house tastes like a mixture of the cookies that are its namesake and chai. I'm not talking a weak chia that you made from some second rate teabag you got at the discount grocery store either. I'm talking real deal brewed from loose-leaf quality chai. It's so strong to the extent that there is almost a burn from it. Knowing what this company has produced in the past, I expected a burn from the ginger, but instead I was greeted with a nice spicy harshness from the chai.

This is by no means an everyday soda. Actually you shouldn't drink any soda everyday, unless you're looking to end up like the mother from What's Eating Gilbert Grape. This is the kind of soda you drink on a special occasion or at the end of a long day. You get into some comfy clothes sit back and sip this over the course of an hour or so. It's meant to be savored and enjoyed. Mull the flavor over in your mouth and think about the holiday season ahead. It's going to be hell, but at least you get some enjoyment in the form of seasonal soda out of it.
Rating
πŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒ
Categories
Ginger and Soda Pop
Company
Taylor's TonicsWebsite@TaylorsTonics
Country
United States
Sweetener
Evaporated Cane Juice
Author
Jason Draper on 11/11/13, 6:07 PM
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Solixir Restore Pomegranate Ginger

Solixir Restore Pomegranate Ginger
Even though we have reviewed several other Solixir products my brain was convinced that the “No Sugar Added” tag meant that this thing was going to be chock full of stevia. I keep finding myself reviewing drinks that contain stevia, and I've had my fill for a while. It seems like everyone is using it, either on it's own or in conjuncture with cane sugar. I understand it is healthier, but can everyone admit that it has a very distinguishable taste that can be overpowering? It seems like companies are acting like it is completely tasteless…€¦it's not.

I grabbed this, and braced myself for a cool “new-diet” sting that never came. It seems that when Solixer says no sugar added, they mean it. The only sweetener of any kind that can be found in this can is the kind that comes naturally in fruit juice (13g worth for those keeping track at home). I was overjoyed. This was a drink that I wasn't looking forward to at all, and it turns out that I truly enjoy it. It's simply carbonated water, white grape juice, pomegranate juice and a botanical extract blend that contains ginger root, European elderflower, European elderberry, stinging nettle leaf, dandelion root and honeysuckle stem. That is a lot of “unusual” ingredients yet the drink comes off as a very light, slightly fruity ginger ale. It has a slight botanical aftertaste, but it's in a good way, not in a “someone shot me in the mouth with perfume” sort of way. Yes, it tastes a bit watered down, but again it's in a pleasant way. Americans always seem to need strong flavor crammed down their throat, even when that flavor is a pale comparison of what it could taste like. This may have a light flavor, but the flavor that is there is of quality, and I would rather have it than some garbage artificially flavored soda any day.

I would love to try a cane sugar sweetened version of this, but I'm afraid that the sweetness would overpower the botanical flavors and all of it's greatness would be lost.
Rating
πŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒ
Categories
Juice, Sparkling, Sports/Dietary Supplement and Ginger
Company
SolixirWebsite
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 11/9/13, 11:42 AM
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Limonitz Sparkling Lemonade Ginger

Limonitz Sparkling Lemonade Ginger
Deep in the Hollywood Hills children need to step up their game with roadside stands. Kids grow up fast these days, and growing up and being popular requires money that they don't have. The days of the standard lemonade stand are long gone; the profits just weren't enough. These days the kids need to up the ante, or they will just have to kiss those new premium apps goodbye. As a result a new wave of suburban roadside beverages has risen.

It all started when some daring eight year old used her mother's seltzer water instead of the Evian that was customarily used (hey this is Hollywood, land of the yuppies). People were abuzz about this new development and there was a line around the block. From that point the children kept trying to outdo each other. They would flavor their lemonades in various ways to lure customers away from other stands. Some say there were a lot of backroom dealing and sabotage going on during this time, but there is no definitive documentation.

Then came the day that the Earth stood still. One little dreamer changed everything. That day a 100% Organic sparkling lemonade hit the streets. Since then the street stand game has never been the same. People came from miles just to sample this child's creation, and to feel good about themselves whilst doing so.

Limonitz attempts to recreate that greatness with their products. They use filtered sparkling water, organic lemon juice concentrate and organic sugar to make the finest carbonated lemonades this world has ever seen. On it's own it would be quite a product, but the company took it a step further with this drink and added organic ginger extract. The results are mind blowing. Here we have a sparkling lemonade, that not only tastes like real lemons without a hint of cleaning fluid, but also that actually has a real ginger flavor to it. It has a mind ginger burn to it, it's very mild to me, but my ladyfriend said that it had a decent bearable burn. Every ingredient is present in the taste, and there for a specific reason. It's simple, it's organic, and it's delicious. Needless to say this is going to put all of those dumb kids stands out of business before they can buy whatever it is kids “need” to have these days.
Rating
πŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒ
Categories
Ginger, Lemonade, Soda Pop and Sparkling
Company
LimonitzWebsite@LimonitzLemnade
Country
United States
Sweetener
Organic Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 10/16/13, 12:49 PM
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Jin + Ja Fresh Ginger - Cayenne - Mint - Green Tea - Lemon

Jin + Ja Fresh Ginger - Cayenne - Mint - Green Tea - Lemon
The tale of Jin and Ja is as timeless as Disney would like you to believe Beauty and the Beast is. Two star-crossed lovers doomed because of their families…€¦wait that's not it. Is it something about a monkey and a talking car? Hmm. Whatever the tale we here at Thirsty Dudes are constantly on the prowl for the perfect ginger beer. The kicker is that I think I now hold it in my hands, but it's not a soda at all, due to its lack of carbonation. The perfect version of ginger ended up being some sort of weird tea type drink. I say that because it doesn't taste like tea at all.

Jin + Ja is a healthy elixir that combines ginger, cayenne, mint, green tea and lemon. It has one of the craziest burns I have ever experienced with a beverage in my life. It burns as soon as it hits your mouth, and it has an incredibly strong cayenne/ginger after burn. It's so strong that I can only drink the tiniest of all glasses at one sitting. I've actually been sipping on about 8oz of liquid for the past hour. I'm savoring every sip, which is how this should be enjoyed.

In-between the initial and post burn you get a nice sweet lemon flavor, with a very light hint of mint. The “heat” overpowers most of the tea flavor, but I'm not complaining. I just poured myself a little more, and the little that I poured makes me feel like I'm sitting here pouring shots for myself. Speaking of which, this would probably be a great mixer for some liquors.

My warning is that this drink is not for everyone. I seek out spicy ginger drinks, and this is almost too much for me to handle. My ladyfriend had the tiniest of sips, under duress, and she was writhing in pain yelling about the burn afterwards. Perhaps it will become the new” Cinnamon Challenge” or the “100 Warhead Challenge.” How much Jin + Ja can you drink before your head explodes like in Scanners?
Rating
πŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒπŸ₯ƒ
Categories
Ginger and Iced Tea
Company
Jin + JaWebsite@JinJadrink
Country
United States
Sweetener
Pure Cane Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 10/13/13, 9:01 PM
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Mash Lemon Peel Ginger Root

Mash Lemon Peel Ginger Root
For some reason these Mash drinks are one of the most visually appealing beverages on the market. Whenever I come across then in a bodega my eyes are instantly drawn to them. I don't know what it is. They just look like someone took a crappy one liter soda bottle and squished it down. Perhaps it's just the simplicity of the label. I love clean design work.

Besides for the look of this I am also drawn to it because it has ginger in it. I will always gravitate towards the ginger based beverages. I knew it wasn't going to be very strong in this, but it was even weaker than I anticipated. It tastes like someone took the weakest ginger ale ever produced and added lemon soda to it. I know I haven't painted the greatest picture of this, but it is enjoyable to drink. I just always want more, and apparently like to complain about things that are perfectly fine the way they are.

This is sweetened with both crystalline fructose and sucralose, but luckily the diet flavor is nowhere to be found. There is so much lemon flavor in here. I think it covers up all the other flavors. Luckily it doesn't taste like lemon rind, which could have easily been the case with a name like lemon peel. We dodged a bullet with that one.
Rating
πŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒπŸ§ƒ
Categories
Ginger, Juice, Soda Pop and Sparkling
Company
MashWebsite
Country
United States
Sweetener
Crystalline Fructose
Author
Jason Draper on 10/4/13, 5:55 PM
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