No Sugar Added - 718 Reviews

This is half wonderfully punishing and half reminiscent of my jobs as a dishwasher. That's where I place it. The lemon ,oh, dat lemon. I don't know where this lemon flavor is from but it does not taste like real lemon. If it's real, I guess I don't know what real lemon taste like. As for the cayenne, I am from Buffalo and my roots are in cayenne. This is a welcomed punch in the tongue. Ever since Jay and I got rightfully reamed out by the guys as Prometheus Springs, we have grown to love and appreciate a nice, spicy drink. This being a water drink, though, has its chuggability diminished by the fact your mouth would be increasingly on fire. Being from where I am, though, this is actually good. Take a little sip. Get a little burn. Take a big gulp. Get a big burn. Swish it around. There's that tingle you want. Am I a masochist? Nope. Do I like a good runny nose when I eat spicy food? Yes I do.

The lemon did take some getting used to but was it awful? No. It wasn't. It just took my taste buds for a loop. It might have been the spice that threw it off. I don't know. I have another one at home that I look forward to drinking. Maybe I'll give it to my kids when they're bothering me. Was that Hint's intention? I don't care. Hint didn't know that they were going to trash their room again and expect me to clean it up did they? Some people spank their kids. I might just choose to give them secretly spicy drinks when they're not listening to their G.D. dad after he asked them to feed the dog four G.D. times.

Oh, and I don't know why there is caffeine in there. Do people need caffeine in their water?

This should have been overwhelmingly wonderful. Don't get me wrong it is wonderful, but not in an overwhelming way. I came across these on sale and after one sip, I contemplated turning around and driving back to the store to buy their entire stock. Lucky for me I had other errands that needed to be run first, so I kept sipping while I drove. Now, I loved this; it's fruity and slightly floral, but I couldn't finish a whole 12oz bottle. In a weird way the flavor was too strong to be unsweetened. In fact I will go on record and say that this is the most robust seltzer I have ever drunk. I got about halfway through and decided I needed to wait awhile before finishing it off. It was kind of like my taste buds were working overtime and had become sensitive. There was no physical discomfort, but I just felt that if I kept drinking it my enjoyment would decrease drastically. I've never experienced that with a beverage before. Perhaps things would have been different if a little spice, say cinnamon, were thrown in the mix. In theory that would throw everything in an even crazier direction, but I think it also would have reigned it all in. Also, everyone knows that hibiscus and cinnamon are an ultimate tag team. Oh well, I'll just have to enjoy the case I bought in increments.

So either there was a mishap with the labeling of this product, the people at Bolthouse have learned some crazy science that would make them masters at mixing fountain beverages, or the company employs warlocks. The reason for this is that the flavor listed on the bottle is Raspberry Blood Orange, yet the fruit it lists as making up the juice are blood oranges, apples, strawberries, cherries, and pomegranate. As you can see raspberries are not included in this bottle, yet without knowing the name of this juice I would have bet money that it included raspberries just from the taste. Okay at the very bottom in tiny writing it does say raspberry puree is used, but it's in the fine print, so I'm guessing like .05% of this is actual raspberry. That being said, this may taste more like raspberries than any other drink I have ever tried. Perhaps mixing strawberries and cherries tricks one mind into thinking it's a raspberry. I don't know, but I wish I did, because I would like to recreate it on my own. This juice is fantastic and it is exactly what I needed to drink while I'm dealing with this cold. Can someone come over and just squeeze blood oranges and raspberries directly in my mouth, because I seem to have drunk this entire bottle. I would also accept it if you brought several more bottles with you instead.

Do you think this product was named before or after Prince passed away? Not that it really matters, I just find myself curious about marketing strategies. I will choose to believe that whether it happened pre or post, it was meant as a tribute to the greatness that is the 1984 album/movie. I can picture a juicer in a room draped with purple velvet yelling along with Darling Nikki while squeezing the juice from a variety of produce, or you know to a lesser extent humming Computer Blue while mixing concentrates (which compose this juice).

I mean I know beets are more maroon that purple, but I get where they are going with this. Do you think Prince would only drink grape and beet juice to keep up with his image? I'll choose to believe, yes.

This tastes like an apple-grape juice that has a bit of beet mixed in. I could use it to be a little more beety and taste more like earth. Yes, that is what I want from juice, an earthy flavor. I know it's not for everyone, but it's for me. Even without the dirt taste this is still great. It gets a little sweet, so I'm not able to drink more than a small glass at a time, but who needs to drink more than that anyway?

I love green tea and I love Ito En (aka Matcha Love's parent company). It's hard to mess up green tea because of its wonderful simplicity, yet some “Big Tea” companies do just that and it's nothing but a letdown. This company, whether you think of it as Matcha Love or Ito En, does not mess around with their products. This is simply brewed green tea, with some matcha powder added, for some extra caffeine, and organic vanilla beans. The tea itself is great. It has that weird dryness that comes with green tea, which I find somehow rather delightful, and the flavor of the tea is right up front. I do wish the vanilla was stronger, because who doesn't want a weird vanilla tea? As it stands, it just floats around the background. You know it's there, but it lets the actual tea flavor shine. I suppose it's for the best. They are the professionals and I am but a lowly tea drinker who is sick of oversweetened, non-tea tasting teas.

I was worried about this. I split it with a dude at work and warned him that this would be strong and wildly caffeinated. I was wrong. It's got me a little jittery, which is fine, but some of the other cold brew I have drank got me lit up. It also is not hard to drink. I have said many a time that I drink coffee like a child would, with chocolate syrup in it but for this review, I went straight. It was not bad at all. I spent an hour and a half in my car due to snow so it wasn't as cold as it could have been but not docking that, it was good. I would say that this being just a medium coffee with average caffeine makes it something I could easily and have easily made at home.

All that being said, a little carton of black cold brew is a nice thing to just be able to pick up and go.

What I have been drinking is possibly the least flavorful La Croix flavor. It stands tall with most other seltzer companies, but it doesn't have the strong flavor punch one comes to expect from this company. I had anticipated more from tangerine as it's a naturally strong flavor, but it just kind of hangs there like a sitcom will they won't they relationship.

Sap. I am drinking sap. It's not even sap from a maple tree. It's birch sap. I'm guessing drinking sap is something the majority of people in the United States would never imagine themselves doing, but it's a thing and it is apparently very popular in Scandinavia. When I was there I didn't see anyone drinking sap, but then again I wasn't looking for it. Here I am though sipping away at sap and it's not all that bad. It is very different tasting than maple, because you know different trees different tastes. It is somehow not syrupy, nor is it very sweet. Actually it pretty much has the consistency of water, which was unexpected. It is very refreshing and hydrating. I don't really know how to describe the flavor. I believe it is its own thing that has no real comparison. I can taste a light rosehips in here though. This is nothing what I expected, but it is a good thing. Give it a try and attempt to describe the flavor yourself.

What we have here could only be described as a tasty seltzer water. What we also have here might be the weakest of the Seltzer'ade line. If this had been released as a normal Polar flavor I would have thought it was quite pleasant. It has a cherry flavor that doesn't remind me of medicine or black cherries, and that is always a plus. It also has a light subtle lime flavor to it, which makes a great base for any seltzer. The only problem is that by throwing that Seltzer'ade branding on it, my expectations are instantly raised. The rest of the flavors are incredibly strong and bold, this lacks in both of those. That by no means makes this a bad product, but it's just not worthy of the title (and additional price). If Polar were to put this exact same product in their normal bottles I would be more prone to purchase it again.

This looked like a dream. I wasn't even thirsty when I saw it in Whole Foods, but I had a Pavlovian response and there was no choice but for me to purchase it and try it immediately. Cinnamon iced tea with ginger in it sounded like exactly what I didn't know I was looking for. When I picked it up I could see the cinnamon swirling around in the tea and the mouthwatering increased. There was one thing that I didn't take into account though, and that is that cinnamon, and ginger to an extent, don't have the same effect without a little bit of sweetener added to them. This tastes like someone made some rooibos tea and while it was brewing through in some ground up cinnamon and ginger root. In fact that is exactly what happened and what it is. As anyone who has ever been dumb enough to take the cinnamon challenge can tell you, cinnamon has a drying effect. The way it's in the tea does make it feel oddly dry, and the ginger only shows p around the edges. I drink about a gallon of unsweetened tea a day, because I have no self-control, and I love the stuff. I'm at a point in my life now where sweetened tea tasted wrong a lot of the time. In this instance I think the tea could have benefited from just a touch of sugar, may be 10g in the entire bottle. It would have combated that dryness and pushed the cinnamon flavor forward a bit more. Again, this is just me searching for an ideal. As it is this tea is wonderful and I could happily drink a ton of it. Is a liquid ton a real thing?

For camping in this chilly autumn weather I really wanted a bottle of Reed's Spiced Apple Brew to sip while I sat at a fire. There is something wonderful about sipping some spiced sparkling apple juice while fire consumes everything it touches in a controlled setting while chatting with some good friends. At the store I discovered that they no longer seemed to stock that particular product (I am more than slightly concerned that it has been discontinued and I need to do some research). While I didn't find what I was looking for I did find this bottle which appeared to be similar, but with pumpkin added to the mix.

So I sat at my campsite and threw a rouge pumpkin I found on the fire and cracked this bottle open. As the fire distorted the face carved into the gourd I sipped on a glass of this sweet treat. It turns out it is very similar to what is one of my favorite drinks that I was bummed I couldn't find. The pumpkin isn't too overpowering and I'd have to say that it is mostly a sparkling apple drink. It is fairly sweet tasting. I could only drink a smallish glass (which is what a human should drink, we don't need to be the gluttons we tend to be). It was very enjoyable for that glass, but I can't imagine drinking more than that in a sitting (or even over an extended period of time). It's good that it's a seasonal product. I hope to enjoy it again next year.

Look at being preemptive and getting their winter flavors out before the snow has even begun to fall. Hell, I'm still reviewing summer flavors and they are two seasons ahead.

When I heard this was an upcoming flavor I was beyond excited. Lime is the basis for most of the seltzer I drink and ginger is my weakness. I would probably purchase any beverage that had ginger in the flavor name. This, unfortunately, leaves something to be desired. The lime is right where I want it to be, but the ginger simply isn't strong enough and tastes more like ginger flavoring than the actual root. Ginger is a flavor that is meant to be bold and in your face (as well as burning your throat). This is just not that. It's still good, and I would buy it from time to time, but it is by no means a new favorite. I suppose it's good that it's seasonal. Maybe I will grow to miss it by next winter's release.

Have you ever gone to a fast food restaurant and asked for a glass of water with your meal and they just give you a cup to fill up with water at the fountain machine using the honor system that you won't actually get soda? Obviously when you are younger the honor system is out the window and you fill that cup to the brim with syrupy, carbonated goodness, but as an adult I actually really just want water. Sometimes when you push the button for the water there is a little residual soda left in the nozzle and you end up getting a very light soda flavor (it always seems to be root beer) added to your water. That is exactly what this tastes like. It's as if someone poured a glass of sparkling water and then added a splash of cola to it. I feel like to some the lightness of a flavor that is normally so strong could be off-putting, but I enjoyed it a great deal. I love a good cola, but rarely want to deal with all the sugar that comes along with it(and diet cola has never been good, don't trust anyone who says otherwise).

This is a light sparkling treat that hints at a cola taste. Sure it tastes like watered down Coke, but it's so watered down that it doesn't taste gross and wrong. It taste refreshing and like something they would feed you at a spa, or so I would assume because I don't live that lifestyle. It's marketed for kids, but I don't think it has a strong enough flavor for most children I know. I do think it would be advantageous in helping adults I know who should kick their soda habits.

This may in fact be the best seltzer ever created. All other seltzers were given inferiority complexes when this was released. They all lay awake at night, looking at a 4am ceiling wondering where they went wrong in their lives. The poor things never stood a chance.

The mango smell that permeates from this is so strong that in a blind sniff test there is no way I would have guessed it was a seltzer. The flavor rivals that scent and is so strong and pleasant. The lime sits perfectly under the mango for a tropical treat. My senses are treated so well by this beverage that my mind is tricked into thinking I was drinking something that is laden with sugar. In reality there is not a speck of it.

Birch beer is fantastic. Let's get this. Well this doesn't taste like birch beer. It doesn't smell like it. It doesn't taste like it. This is probably (zero research, friends) the birch equivalent of maple water but doesn't tastes like you strained it through some tasty flapjacks.

Brass tacks. This is water, bruh. It's water with a hint of something you will never know what it is. I promise. It tastes like nothing. It smells like nothing. I could have been had with this drink as far as I know. Is it bad? Well that depends. Are you one of those idiots that thinks water is gross? If so, come on, dude. Grow up. Juice is terrible for you. Learn a book you dummy. Juice is just a cheating way to get kids to drink more water. You're 32. Drink water and eat your vegetables.

Come on Polar, you obviously have the means, so why not make all of your seltzers this flavorful? Why save it for a specialized line? Has there been a new breakthrough in the sugarless flavoring world that has allowed you to up the taste? Going back to your classic flavors after drinking the Seltzer'ade line just leaves me wanting now. I mean I am still drinking a ton of the stuff, but the magic is gone. I have been shown that the world is more than I thought it was and I want it all. This is bursting with flavor, well at least as much as seltzer can be. Or, can there be more? I never would have expected it could have been before, but I was proven wrong).Give me more Polar. Give me it all.

Dear Readers,
I am a slacker and I am waaaaayyyy behind the times. This summer Polar released their Seltzer'ade line and here I sit in autumn's grasp and I have only reviewed one of them. To be fair, the blueberry lemonade was the only one of the five flavors that I actually saw in the stores around Buffalo during the actual summer. Now that a Whole Foods finally opened here a couple of weeks ago I was able to pick up some cases of three of the remaining flavors (the tart cherry is still elusive). Summer may be behind us, but I certainly hope Polar leaves these available all year around. As much as I hate to admit it, they are superior to the classic Polar flavors that I live off of. The flavors are way more pronounced, to an extent that several times I have found myself checking to make sure there isn't any sugar involved (there isn't).

I would best describe the watermelon lemonade as someone dissolved a handful of Jolly Ranchers in a glass of carbonated water, and then somehow removed all the sugar. It doesn't taste particularly like an actual watermelon, but it is uncannily similar to the pre mentioned candy without the sweetness. That blows my mind because that candy is probably 99% sugar, yet this tastes exactly like it.

This particular flavor isn't something I would drink all of the time, but I wish I would have had it during the summer. I also think this line is the key to weening children off soda. Slowly replace their soda with cans of this and they will be off the sugar in no time, to the dismay of the Dental Association of America.

Here we have it, the fourth and final Seltzer Jr flavor of the season (Also the first one released last year that I couldn't get my hands on). The season is ending the hot weather is gone and fall is rolling right in. Should I have reviewed this when the weather was still nice and you were still able to find this on the shelves? Of course I should have, but life gets hectic and the 1 minutes that it's going to take me to write this were too much to spare between hanging out in the woods and reading comics (and work and travelling). Did I drink a bunch of these and not write about it for about a month? You can bet your kids on it. Let's be honest here, this was a limited line and there was no way that Polar wasn't going to sell out of it. They barely lasted a week at my grocery store in Buffalo. They didn't need my help pushing the product. They were kind enough to send me some samples before they made their way to the Western NY market though, which was very kind of them. We have nothing but love for Polar here at Thirsty Dudes. We just tend to be lazy sometimes. We do this for fun, and that's that.
It turns out that a unicorn's diet mostly consists of cucumbers because that is what this slobbery kiss tastes like. I also detect a bit of melon in there. On top of that it's all candied up, even though there is no sugar. At first I was so-so on this one, but once I realized it was cucumber my interests rose.Well done Polar. Can't wait until next summer.

Shawn, what did you do to this iced tea? Did you pour me a glass of iced tea, drink half of my glass, look in the fridge, realize there was no more tea and then refill my glass with water? You didn't? This was purchased like this? This is how you bought this? Look me in my eyes and tell me that this was unaltered and went from bottle to glass. Really? Who made this? Arizona? The company that has historically made decent tea that we all grew up with? Really? Well, that disappoints me. I am disappointed. This actually sucks. Shawn, you let me down. Not as much as Arizona has but this blows and it's your fault. Do better.

Just as these were popping up on shelves around Buffalo, they were already on their way out. I was able to get these in my hometown for less than a week before they disappeared from the shelves of my local Wegmans. To be fair, that may have been for the best. While I've enjoyed all four of the Seltzer Jr flavors, I couldn't see myself continuously buying them. They are a nice fun treat, but not something that I need all the time (my vanilla and cranberry lime still reign supreme).

What does it taste like when a yeti gets itself in some troubled fun? Well, it kind of tastes like fruit punch flavored Sprite with the sugar left out, at least to me. If you read other reviews on the internet people seem to be all over the place with what they think this tastes like. It would be interesting to see what Polar had intended the flavor to be.