Sparkling - 501 Reviews

Chai Elixir Essence White Tea with Natural Flavors

Chai Elixir Essence White Tea with Natural Flavors
PREVIOUSLY ON THIRSTY DUDES: (Insert montage of how I thought the green tea Chai Elixir. It's highly dramatized and leaves you on a cliffhanger).

Now that we're all brought up to speed I wonder what excitement this week will bring us. Oh this time around it is white tea with a little bit of white peach nectar thrown into the mix like some quasi interesting secondary character. I have to say that yet again Chai Elixir has delivered something interesting. The chai isn't as strong in this variety, but I'm okay with that. It's mostly white tea with hints of peach around the edges. There's some extra spices in there, but they are more subtle notes than a full on flavor. I don't think a higher level of chai would really have worked well with the peach so a wise choice was made.

I must warn people that these drinks are not your everyday soda. They are unique and are made for sipping and pondering, not just mindlessly gulping them down. So go in with an open mind and you can go on an interesting little trip. Speaking of trips I hear they are going to Asia next week to work with oolong tea.
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Iced Tea and Sparkling
Company
Chai ElixirWebsite@ChaiElixir
Country
United States
Sweetener
Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 6/9/15, 5:17 PM
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Polar Seltzer Guava Mandarin

Polar Seltzer Guava Mandarin
Okay, I've gone from disgust, to passive fan and now I'm into avid drinker of seltzer water. It's been a wild ride, and it might all culminate with this drink right here. It's no secret that I am a fiend for guava and this beverage has somehow completely captured the essence of the guava without any sugar. I have no idea how they have done it. Most fruits lose their true flavor without some sweetness to them, but it's all here, right in this bottle. Sure there is a bit of mandarin in there as well, but who cares about that when you're getting greeted with guava every sip. In the world of fruit guava is king. There I just ruined the end of Game of Thrones for everyone. It ends with guava riding a dragon that is wearing a tiny crown.
Rating
🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃
Categories
Sparkling and Water
Company
PolarWebsite@polarbeverages
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 6/9/15, 11:57 AM
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Polar Seltzer Ruby Red Grapefruit

Polar Seltzer Ruby Red Grapefruit
Ladies and Gentlemen of the parish, I stand before you a changed man. For years I stood up here and told you of the evils of seltzer water and how it just had a disgusting aftertaste. I informed you all to stay on a righteous path and steer clear of the sugarless carbonation. I am here to inform you, my congregation that I was terribly wrong. There is a good side to seltzer and one only needs to become acclimated with the taste in order to enjoy it fully. I know I am a fake as I have stood before you many times over the past few weeks and not acknowledged my wrongdoings while I was secretly downing bottle after bottle of this bubbly goodness.

This bottle that I drink before you today tastes like someone squeezed a pink grapefruit into a bottle of plain sparkling water, and it is exquisite. There is no sugar in it, making you feel like garbage and bringing down the natural flavors. I've seen my future people, and it is sugarless (or at least reduced).
Rating
🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛
Categories
Sparkling and Water
Company
PolarWebsite@polarbeverages
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 6/4/15, 9:48 PM
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Lipton Sparkling Iced Tea Raspberry

Lipton Sparkling Iced Tea Raspberry
Well it turns out this has just been a carbonated tea weekend. On top of that they have both been pleasant to the taste. That's a phrase right? “Oh darling, I truly loved the fancy dinner you took me to. It was just pleasant to the taste.” That sounds like something that somebody who is not me would say. I don't think I've been to a fancy dinner since I won the Pepsi Challenge bowling tournament when I was like 11, so I don't know how people talk when they are at nice meals. I'll assume they say things like that.

While this is pleasant to the taste it is, as Mike said about the lemon variety, strange. It's a lightly sweetened raspberry tea that tastes like it is the stuff they use in their PureLeaf line, but the carbonation just does something weird to it. I do like it, but it somehow takes the tea-ness out of it a bit. This is a nice change of pace from regular soda, and the reduced sugar helps. It's just going to take some time to get acclimated before I can truly enjoy it.
Rating
🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃
Categories
Iced Tea and Sparkling
Company
LiptonWebsite@Lipton
Country
United States
Sweetener
Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 5/30/15, 7:03 PM
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Chai Elixir Vivid Green Tea With Natural Flavors

Chai Elixir Vivid Green Tea With Natural Flavors
If you were a child of the 80's you probably remember the dumb Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercial with the tag line “Two great tastes that taste great together.' You could switch that up a little bit and it would also be fitting for this beverage: “Two great tastes that taste wrong when prepared in this way, but somehow taste magical together.” First off if you've ever tried to ice some chai tea you probably know that it tastes very strange. Something about it just doesn't translate correctly and the wrong spices tend to stick out and it can get a bit intense. On the other side of the spectrum for te most part when people try to carbonate tea and it just tastes weird. Perhaps they are adding too much sugar or something, but I never truly enjoy it.

The folks at Chai Elixir are either very gifted scientists, or just plain lucky and stumbled upon a formula that overcomes all of the obstacles that would normally be in its way. The base of this is a great carbonated somewhat sweetened green tea. It doesn't fall into any of the traps that other tea sodas do. Then they mix in the chai and it becomes wondrous. It's a very distinct chai taste, but the spices aren't being rammed down your throat. It's just a general flavor that pairs perfectly with the green tea into something unusual and enjoyable. I'm guessing it's the addition of the orange juice concentrate that melds everything together. Orange juice, the beverage that is pretty boring on it's own but makes other things better.
Rating
🥛🥛🥛🥛🥛
Categories
Sparkling and Iced Tea
Company
Chai ElixirWebsite@ChaiElixir
Country
United States
Sweetener
Sugar
Author
Jason Draper on 5/29/15, 10:29 PM
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Aquafina Flavorsplash Sparkling Color Me Kiwi

Aquafina Flavorsplash Sparkling Color Me Kiwi
Why do these beverages exist? Does anyone actually enjoy them, or have people tricked themselves into thinking that it is something that they enjoy? It was only recently that I finally came around to seltzer water, but I can now say that I truly enjoy it, well some flavors. Armed with that knowledge it's a safe bet that never in a million years would I choose a carbonated beverage sweetened with sucralose over one with no sweetener whatsoever. Actually that same could probably said about any type of beverage. The sucralose taste is so strong that it nearly blocks out the fake kiwi flavor, which isn't all that great anyway. Something went very wrong in the development of this beverage and it starts with the letter S and ends in “lose.”
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Diet, Soda Pop, Sparkling and Sports/Dietary Supplement
Company
AquafinaWebsite@Aquafina
Country
United States
Sweetener
Sucralose
Author
Jason Draper on 5/9/15, 11:53 PM
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Hawaiian OLA Sparkling Noni Lemon Lime

Hawaiian OLA Sparkling Noni Lemon Lime
Bitter. Sweet. Sour. Fizzy. This is a complex drink. It also has a bit of a learning curve. If you take baby sips. It sucks. I'll say it. No gray area there. It is all bitter between the yerba mate and the Stevia. If you take a bigger drink, you can actually get the lemon lime. Unfortunately the honey doesn't get a chance to shine through because between the bitterness of the yerba mate and the sweetness of the lemon lime, that kind of fills up your palate dance card.

I think, so far, that my one complaint with this line is that I don't know what their yerba mate tastes like in itself. I don't know what the starting point is to base the flavors off of. It's very strong. You can taste it for a while as an aftertaste. I feel like it might be good but I think that it's always masked by whatever the "flavor" of the drink is and you can't take in and appreciate the taste of the base drink. This is a good lemon lime flavor. Honestly it is. The drink isn't bad but I think that the mix has to be reconfigured to allow all the flavors to shine in. I can tell that there are good things going on in here but the mix is off.
Rating
🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃
Categories
Iced Tea and Sparkling
Company
Hawaiian OLAWebsite@Hawaiian_OLA
Country
United States
Sweetener
Organic Hawaiian Honey
Author
Mike Literman on 4/28/15, 3:35 PM
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Hawaiian OLA Noni Ginger Turmeric

Hawaiian OLA Noni Ginger Turmeric
Well this sucks.

I've recently reviewed a lot of really good turmeric drinks but this is not one of them. It's spicy. Not spicy "hot spicy" but spicy like "contains a lot of spices" spicy. Spiceful. I tried hard to like this. It's different but it's not fantastic. It gets more punishing with every sip. The more lukewarm it gets, the more thick and gritty it gets, like everything settles into a sandy mess at the bottom at when you let it sit next to you for a half hour, it just settles and gets downright thick and gross. It's now been on my desk for an hour because I cannot finish it. It's almost come full circle and gotten spicy and gritty at the same time. I feel like someone swapped out my drink with something you would order at an Indian restaurant. Ginger turmeric sounds like a great chicken dish. Ginger turmeric is a terrible, terrible drink.
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Juice and Sparkling
Company
Hawaiian OLAWebsite@Hawaiian_OLA
Country
United States
Sweetener
Organic Hawaiian Honey
Author
Mike Literman on 4/13/15, 4:47 PM
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Stewart's Shops Vichy

Stewart's Shops Vichy
Vichy is seltzer water with salt and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) in it. It is weird and seemingly unnecessary. I assume you're meant to drink it when you have an upset stomach. It just tastes wrong to me. It's like something a child would concoct with various things in a kitchen, and it would be a failure. The end.
Rating
🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃
Categories
Sparkling and Water
Company
Stewart's ShopsWebsite@StewartsShops
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 4/12/15, 3:10 PM
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Hawaiian OLA Sparkling Noni Beet Punch

Hawaiian OLA Sparkling Noni Beet Punch
If you were a pre-teen in early 90's you know doubt know that the greatest fictional band of all time is The Beets, from the show Doug. While they might have been meant to be a play on The Beatles, but in reality they ended up sounding like a British version of Men at Work…€¦ weird. Their hit single was called “Killer Tofu” and was about how it's better than junk food. As a child I don't think I had ever tried tofu. As an adult I fully concur with them. The most important thing that the show taught us was that beets are in fact nature's candy; a statement that led me to want to try beets whenever they were available.

While I may not eat beets very often these days, I do enjoy a good beet juice. It has a sweet yet earthy taste that is refreshing. It also has one of those flavors that you just know it's good for you. This company took that wonderful juice and mixed it with yerba mate, my current favorite form of tea. Everything about it is great. It's two earthy flavors that have been mixed together to create something that is not entirely new, but still interesting. Both flavors are very distinct, but somehow the earthiness does not run rampant. That is probably mostly due to the fact that it is sweetened with Hawaiian honey. On top of all of that there is the Hawaiian fruit noni in here. I'm still not exactly sure what it tastes like, but it certainly doesn't distract from the greatness of this beverage.
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Iced Tea and Sparkling
Company
Hawaiian OLAWebsite@Hawaiian_OLA
Country
United States
Sweetener
Organic Hawaiian Honey
Author
Jason Draper on 4/9/15, 2:29 PM
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POP Water Pineapple

POP Water Pineapple
I did not know what to expect with a brand name like Pop Water. Would it be an unsweetened soda, like seltzer water? Would it be watered down soda pop? Would it be water that exploded in your mouth a la Pop Rocks? Would your mind instantly be filled with images of Pop Art that was created by Andy Warhol? It was all a mystery that I looked forward to investigating.

Truth be told it was a very short investigation. I popped open the can took one sip and realized that there was no mysterious excitement in this can. Its contents fell somewhere between seltzer and soda pop. It is like a lighter version of a diet pop that somehow doesn't taste overly diet, even though it is sweetened with erythritol and stevia. There is 0% juice in here, but it does contain extracts of natural pineapple. Whatever constitutes that is enough for the pineapple flavor in here to be very light, but also very accurate to the fruit.
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Diet, Soda Pop and Sparkling
Company
POP WaterWebsite@POPwater
Country
United States
Sweetener
Erythritol
Author
Jason Draper on 4/8/15, 11:53 AM
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Hi Ball Sparkling Energy Water Vanilla

Hi Ball Sparkling Energy Water Vanilla
Folks, I'm afraid it's finally happening; I'm growing up and becoming an adult after 35 years. I have a savings account, I'm closing on a house next week and now I'm enjoying seltzer water. I think that means that life as I knew it is now over. I've always had a fairly strong distaste for seltzer water and their overly dry taste. This tastes exactly like what it is, seltzer water with minimal vanilla flavoring added to it. I've had drinks in the past that tasted exactly like this and I was very turned off by them, now I am straight up loving this. I'm afraid I'm going to wake up in the morning and have pure white hair and back problems. Youth is over. Geriatric life has begun.

Oh yeah this also has caffeine, guarana, panax ginseng and niacinamide in it to give you a boost of energy. As far as I can tell they have zero effect on the flavor, but still give you a little push. Now where do I sign up to get my senior discounts?
Rating
🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
Categories
Energy Drink and Sparkling
Company
Hi BallWebsite@hiballenergy
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 4/4/15, 6:18 PM
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Hawaiian OLA Sparkling Noni Pineapple Punch

Hawaiian OLA Sparkling Noni Pineapple Punch
I've mentioned my brief time spent in Hawaii many times on this website. I tend to romanticize that time of my life, well, because it was magical. I went off to a tropical paradise with all expectations of not enjoying it, because I simply am not a beach person, but my friends who planned the trip were no dummies and they made sure we stayed in the “natural” part of Hawaii. There were no cities. I think I saw two chain stores the entire time I was there. Everything else was local little shops and nature and it was exactly what I needed. Any troubles I had did not matter for those 8 days. Anything that takes me back to that time makes me smile and I appreciate it in the low times.

While only the pineapple in here takes me back with the taste sense, just knowing it was from Hawaii was enough tonight. I'm imagining I'm walking through some lush jungle type area, or that I'm sitting on a beach at dusk watching the waves and truly relaxing for one of the first times in my life. There is caffeine and niacin in this beverage, so it shouldn't be relaxing me, but it's giving me energy while the thoughts keep me calm. On top of the wonder that is pineapple juice this can also contains mostly yerba mate tea, which may be my favorite type of tea. It tastes earthy and slightly bitter, the way nature does. Actually that pineapple I mentioned it's not even a secondary player in here. It's yerba mate, then noni and then pineapple. It's refreshing. It's tropical. It's just the push I need on a spring day like today where there is still snow on the ground, but the temperate has finally hit 50 degrees. There is a light in the darkness of winter and it is here and everything will be warm and new.
Rating
🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾
Categories
Iced Tea and Sparkling
Company
Hawaiian OLAWebsite@Hawaiian_OLA
Country
United States
Sweetener
Organic Hawaiian Honey
Author
Jason Draper on 4/2/15, 10:14 PM
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Spindrift Seltzer Tangerine

Spindrift Seltzer Tangerine
Spindrift has expanded their company with a seltzer line. If you are a fan of their sodas, which are just juice and cane juice added to sparkling water, but think it's a bit too sweet then this is the drink for you. It's the same idea as their sodas, except without the sugar. In this case it's sparkling water that is flavored by small quantities of tangerine and lemon juices. The result is possibly the best seltzer I've ever tasted. It's very mild, meaning lightly flavored, but without being overly seltzer. This is the answer to less sugar in your life for those who are soda junkies. Actually it's probably not enough for the junkies, but I certainly like it.
Rating
🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾
Categories
Sparkling
Company
SpindriftWebsite@spindriftsoda
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 3/23/15, 8:32 PM
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Paoletti Bibita Spuma

Paoletti Bibita Spuma
Is this cola? I don't think so. Is it sparkling? Yeah. Is it sweet? Kind of. You know what it is? Bitter. Those Italians, they love their bitter drinks. I'm not "America versus Italy-ing” this thing but they love their bitter drinks that we filthy American's love sweet. Does it mean there is more sugar? I can pretty safely say that is the case. Is this good, though? Hey, that's the million dollar question, right? Well, aside from the fact that I expected this to be sweet, it's not bad I guess. Reading the word "traditional" means that it's pretty assimilated to people's taste buds and it also means that the people who enjoy this have been enjoying it for years and don't want anyone messing around with their things.

So, back to the question at hand; is this good? It's not for me. It's probably going to break people's hearts to hear that. A global apology to those that love this drink. I just can't get over it. I need some sugar on my teeth. I know it's not a sweet drink but the flavor just isn't for me.
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Soda Pop and Sparkling
Company
PaolettiWebsite
Country
Italy
Sweetener
Sugar
Author
Mike Literman on 3/16/15, 3:43 PM
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Lipton Sparkling Iced Tea Lemonade

Lipton Sparkling Iced Tea Lemonade
This is strange. There, I said it. It's lemonade and tea, but the sparkles and the sugar are super distracting. It almost gives the entire drink a bitter taste. The tea...what tea? It is sweetened with real sugar and has black tea and lemonade. There are a couple preservatives but not many. There is nothing in it to give it this wonky taste. Lemon juice, actual lemon juice, and black tea are the ingredients. Legitimate. Something is going on in here. It's not good.
Rating
🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾
Categories
Iced Tea and Sparkling
Company
LiptonWebsite@Lipton
Country
United States
Sweetener
Sugar
Author
Mike Literman on 2/9/15, 4:37 PM
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Martinelli's Sparkling Apple-Mango

Martinelli's Sparkling Apple-Mango
If pop culture has taught me anything it's that nothing will change today. Okay, maybe that's slightly obscure, but I'm referencing one of the greatest songs ever written: New Years Day by U2. Say what you will about their later output and what Bono has become, but those first couple of records from the 80s are totally solid. As you also may have guessed today is January first and I'm at home awaiting nothing.

Last night was a different story altogether though. I threw a party at a local bar where I made people listen/dance to the songs I wanted to hear. At midnight while nearly everyone else guzzled their champagne and other libations I was taking pulls of this delicious sparkling juice. I think it's safe to say I won out in that scenario because this is just wonderful. This is just apple juice and mango juice (from concentrate) with some bubbles added. It's fruit, so it's sweet without added sweeteners. It's also apples and mangos so it tastes great. The mango flavor was a lot stronger than I expected and that was a pleasant surprise. Should I have drunk this entire 25.4oz bottle by myself? Probably not, but while I was working on diabetes, I watched a lot of those people get drunk and do things/go home with people they never would have if they were sober. Maybe that's just part of the human experience though, and I'm just missing out. Ehh, who am kidding, I'll stick with the sweet juice.
Rating
🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷
Categories
Juice and Sparkling
Company
Martinelli'sWebsite@MartinellisCo
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Jason Draper on 1/1/15, 1:14 PM
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Aquafina Flavorsplash Sparkling Peelin' Good

Aquafina Flavorsplash Sparkling Peelin' Good
I honestly thought that I was coming around to diet drinks. I thought that I had become somewhat immune to the artificial/zero calorie gang; you know the guys who wear bandanas over their faces when they rob you of the flavor of a beverage. A lot of the time it doesn't bother me anymore. Perhaps it's like the bully who steals the same kids lunch money every day; at a certain point that kids body is just no longer going to expect lunch and learn to deal with the hunger. In this drink the sucralose is strong. It's strong enough to take away from the Tang-esque orange flavor that is obscured by it.

It's not completely overpowering and there is a definite faker orange flavor in here. I also give diet drinks a little bit of leeway because there are a ton of people out there who love them, and I can't disparage an entire genre of beverages when there is a learning curve. If you don't mind the diet flavor, this is a zero calorie beverage that is probably right up your alley. Me I'm gonna get a badge and hunt down that group of taste thieves.
Rating
🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾
Categories
Diet, Soda Pop, Sparkling and Sports/Dietary Supplement
Company
AquafinaWebsite@Aquafina
Country
United States
Sweetener
Sucralose
Author
Jason Draper on 12/31/14, 7:09 PM
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Polar Seltzer Toasted Coconut Creme

Polar Seltzer Toasted Coconut Creme
At parties, everyone drinks. It's a thing that you just accept when you don't drink and socialize with people that do. You have to prepare by either being satisfied with tap water, which I am, or bringing something yourself. I chose the latter this time and brought yet another seasonal exclusive from Polar. This time, it was the toasted coconut creme.

Now they have been pretty good this season and I thought that this would be the same. Who wouldn't like a sparkling cream soda with coconut? Well initially I was not too hot on it. I took a sip and it tasted like I was drinking the somehow bottled scent of a Yankee Candle. I worked next to a Yankee Candle in my early twenties and know the smell all too well. Unlike my stint at that location, the sentient of this drink eventually disappeared and allowed me to enjoy a tamer, less waxy drink. It tasted like sparkling coconut water closer to an unsweetened Sparkling Ice or something but I didn't get a lot of creme. I have had Polar's vanilla and if I drank either again, I might be able to pinpoint it but for now, it was predominantly coconut.

If you have a love for candles, coconut, sparkling drinks or just don't like tap water at parties, this could be the drink for you. This is not my favorite of the season but it's certainly not a bad choice for this increasingly bitter cold winter.
Rating
🍾🍾🍾🍾🍾
Categories
Sparkling
Company
PolarWebsite@polarbeverages
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Mike Literman on 12/31/14, 1:02 PM
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Polar Seltzer Cranberry & Clementine

Polar Seltzer Cranberry & Clementine
Ahh the seasonal flavors. They really churn them out over at Polar and do not disappoint. Cranberry and clementine are two great friends that play together nicely. Why haven't you other guys worked together like this? It's great. A little fruity and a little more fruity together make a nice sparkling treat. I must have really liked this because I intended on drinking this all day and killed it before lunch. You can taste everything and you want to because Polar managed to keep the integrity of both fruits.

Polar, thank you for this Christmas gift. I got you a sweater. A sweater without a receipt and with the tags detached. Sorry. I'm no good at holidays.
Rating
🧃🧃🧃🧃🧃
Categories
Sparkling
Company
PolarWebsite@polarbeverages
Country
United States
Sweetener
No Sugar Added
Author
Mike Literman on 12/18/14, 4:30 PM
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