Category: Product Reviews

A Juice that’s Not a Juice

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date May 26, 2011

Photo provided by Amazon.com

I’m beginning to think I’m in love with Honest Tea. First they sent me a sample of their Heavenly Lemon Tulsi to sample and review. I loved it … even though I’m not partial to lemony teas.

Now they’ve sent me a sample of their Black Forest Berry. Its a tisane or fruit infusion … kind of like fruit tea. But it tastes like watered down juice. For me, its perfect. I always water down my juice because it is too intense otherwise.

Frankly, I don’t know how they do it. Black Forest Berry is not too sweet, filled with berry flavor but doesn’t knock your tastebuds out of your head. It maintains a nice balance of flavor, sweetness and tartness.

The base tea for this beverage is hibiscus, which I find to be a bit on the tart side. It’s one of the few teas I like to add honey or sugar to. But I couldn’t taste the hibiscus. The blackberry leaves, berry blend flavoring, blueberry and raspberry powders overpower the hibiscus leaving you with the flavor sensation of juice without all the acid and calories of a juice. Awesome! An entire bottle of Black Forest Berry is only 60 calories and is caffeine free.

I’m going to have to keep my eyes open for Honest Tea on the grocery shelves … it just might get me to drink something other than water!

Coming up … I’ve got a sample of their new line of cocoa beverages. I’ll be trying that and letting you know what I think probably next week.

Tags Honest Tea, organic tea

Product Reviews

Tea that Makes You Feel Good

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date April 25, 2011
1 Comment on Tea that Makes You Feel Good

Photo provided by Honest Tea

I love drinking tea. It hydrates and tastes great. Of course, I picked up the tea habit early in life when I lived in Nairobi and we would often have High Tea. I also have many fond memories of having a cup of tea, with cream and sugar of course, with a cookie as an evening snack at my grandmother’s house in San Francisco. I have ADD, so the caffeine has a reverse effect on me, helping me sleep better.

As the years have passed, my tolerance of caffeine has changed. The amount that makes me sleepy compared to the amount that makes me sick like a hangover has reduced to the point where I just avoid caffeine pretty much altogether (except when it comes to chocolate, of course!).

That’s why I’m always keeping an eye out for caffeine-free teas that still taste great. I’ve had many a decaffeinated tea that just tasted watered down — no matter how strong you made it.

That said, I don’t have that problem with naturally caffeine-free herbal teas. But they just aren’t the same. So I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I received a sample of Honest Tea’s Heavenly Lemon Tulsi to review for this blog.

Tags Heavenly Lemon Tulsi, Honest Tea, organic tea

Product Reviews Tools of the Trade

Product Review: One Touch Can Opener

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date February 27, 2008

If you are a regular in your kitchen, then chances are you know exactly how frustrating opening a can can be. While sometimes you are able to get the can open without any incident, other times the can opener either stalls, forcing you to open the rest of the can yourself through brute force or it simply doesn’t work on the can. It is difficult to see which one would be worse, since while not being able to get the can open at all can be very frustrating, getting it open partway and cutting yourself while prying it ope the rest of the way could be even worse, not to mention potentially dangerous to your health. Conventional can openers are just frustrating things and that is ultimately why the market response to the OneTouch can opener has been so great.

For under $40, you can get your hands on this cool kitchen gadget, allowing you to kiss the days of frustrating can opening goodbye! The can opener itself is shaped like a large remote control and this large surface area allows it to interact directly with the can on a number of different fronts; something you would never be able to do with the old can openers that most people still own today. The can opener’s large surface area gives it the versatility to use the one-touch system to open any can of any size. Previously the biggest knock on automatic can openers was that they did not accommodate size very well, but this is a thing of the past as far as the one touch can opener is concerned.

There are drawbacks, however. For one, the can opener is operated by battery power. Although one set of batteries can get you through opening 100 cans, you’ll still have the added expense of batteries. If you open one or two cans a day (people that use a lot of canned goods in their cooking might achieve this), that one set of batteries can last anywhere from two months to well over a year. So, maybe it isn’t that bad after all. To improve your return on investment (ROI), you can use rechargeable batteries and extend the value of the batteries even further.

Another that I found is that it can be a little hard to figure out at first. It took me quite a while to get it to open one can. Of course, after using it for a while, it will probably become second nature. But for those who get frustrated easily, this might not be the can opener for you.

Now on the best feature of the one touch can opener. Rather than leaving something sharp and potentially dangerous, the can opener leaves something that would not even cut a balloon ball open! That is simply remarkable and it is perhaps the biggest and most welcome surprise that came out of the development of the one touch can opener. Now, you can get a manual can opener that does this, but I haven’t had much luck with those, returning all of them back to the store.

I give it a 3 out of 5 chefs — the frustration factor was a bit much for me and I don’t like the added cost of batteries — I’d always need to keep a manual on hand in case they ran out and I didn’t have a backup. However, I think this might be a good choice for people who have a hard time using manual can openers.

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Tags can opener, Product Review

All Things Pumpkin Product Reviews

Keep the Pumpkin Flames Burning

Post author By Guest Post
Post date January 22, 2008

As you may know, pumpkins are now out of season. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend a day without them in your life. Not only can you purchase canned pumpkin to make your favorite pumpkin dishes year ’round, you can buy a variety of other products, too.

I tooled around Amazon and thought I’d highlight a few here.

Pumpkin Room Fresheners

You don’t have to bake to get that wonderful pumpkin pie smell to permeate your room. You can buy pumpkin spice candles, which often come in large sizes. Or you can try out a trendy new type of room fresher, the reed diffuser.

Product Reviews

Product Review: Banana Slicer

Post author By Carma Spence
Post date October 31, 2007

Image source: Amazon.com

banana slicer — Image source: Amazon.com

I guess I have bananas on the brain. I was just thinking how much I love to add bananas to my cereal in the morning. Ooooh, and they are so tasty in a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. And don’t forget this berry nestled inside an ice cream sundae after supper!

But think of it: all that slicing can become rather tiring and the slices are never perfect. Some are too thick while others are too thin. So what is a banana lover to do? Invest in the new handy banana slicer, which is reputed to be able to handle an entire banana at one time and produce perfect slices for all your banana slicing needs.

The most wonderful thing about the banana slicer is the simplicity of its design. A single piece of molded plastic in the delightful shape of a banana makes this product not only functional but also fun to look at. One quick chop is all you need to quickly slice an entire fresh banana for your cereal or a quick snack. The banana slicer is 10 inches long, so it suits most bananas on the market today. The gadget is also dishwasher safe so there is no messy banana mess to clean up afterwards.

Tags Fruit, Product Review, Tools of the Trade

All Things Pumpkin Product Reviews Recipes

Review: Alta Dena Pumpkin Spice Eggnog

Post author By Guest Post
Post date November 25, 2006

On a recent excursion to the grocery store, I found this little gem: Alta Dena Pumpkin Spice Eggnog. Alta Dena Dairy just released this new flavor, which combines the flavors of eggnog and pumpkin pie. I had to try it.

At first, I didn’t really taste the difference beyond a ginger-cinnamon taste replacing the common nutmeg taste of traditional eggnog.

But, after due diligence in tasting this product for you (it’s a tough job, but someone has to do it), I found that it was different and quite good.

The eggnog is a slight orange color, probably due, in part to the pumpkin puree listed in the ingredients. At first, it tastes like traditional eggnog, but then the ginger and cinnamon tones take over. The after-taste leaves a vaguely pumpkin-pie remembrance on the palate.

For those of you that love eggnog as much as you love pumpkin, this will be a nice treat. And, like traditional eggnog, I suspect it tastes good warmed with a little nip of brandy or spice rum mixed in.

To celebrate my blessing of this new product, I provide you with this recipe based on it.

Pumpkin Spice Eggnog Pound Cake

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 pkg instant pumpkin pudding mix
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cup Alta Dena Pumpkin Spice Eggnog
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease two loaf pans with butter-flavored vegetable shortening. Dust sides with flour. Set aside.

In a large bowl, place the ingredients in this order: cake mix, pudding mix, ginger, cinnamon, pumpkin puree, eggnog, eggs, egg yolk, and melted butter. Using an electric mixer set on medium, blend the ingredients for 30 seconds. Put the electric mixer on high and beat for four more minutes. The batter should be smooth and creamy.

Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto another wire cooling rack and let cool thoroughly.

Tags eggnog, pumpkin taste tests