Categories
Product Reviews

Not Your Parent’s Chocolate Drink

Photo provided by Honest Tea
Photo provided by Honest Tea
As you probably have figured out by now, I like to experiment with food. I remember one time when I was a teen, I tried making chocolate milk without the milk. I used water.

Since the chocolate milk mix wasn’t meant to be made with water, you can image that the results were pretty crappy.

But I LOVE chocolate, so I continue to do weird things with it to see what works … or not.

So, when I heard that Honest Tea had come up with some interesting cocoa beverages, I took them up on their offer to send me a sample.

I’ll admit that upon first taste it reminded me of the failed chocolate water beverage I experimented with as a teen. But then the flavors hit.

This is not chocolate milk. It is not chocolate tea. It is something altogether different.

It’s hard to explain the experience of Honest CocoaNova. It has a watery texture, but a full-bodied, deep chocolate flavor. I can imagine this was how chocolate was first enjoyed by the Mokaya of Mesoamerica … only sweeter.

And that’s another way the this drink is different. Most chocolate beverages are sweet … and for my tastes, too sweet. Honest CocoaNova is not too sweet. In fact, it is just slightly bitter … the way I like my chocolate!

When I find these in my local grocery store, you better believe I’m gonna be stocking up!


UPDATE: Alas I was never able to find this beverage in my local stores before they stopped making it. Bummer!



Categories
Product Reviews

A Juice that’s Not a Juice

Honest Tea Black Forest Berry
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.



Categories
Product Reviews

Tea that Makes You Feel Good

Photo provided by Honest Tea
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.

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