Arizona Watermelon "Fruit Juice Cocktail"

Sigh...I am so sorry that I missed yesterday's post. I know I broke my promise. Some things came up. I suppose my word doesn't mean much these days, but I swear to you still loyal readers that I will not miss another post (unless there's an emergency) for a while. I may start working on a buffer instead of trying to sit down and write them on the spot Tuesday and Friday. Anyway, onto the beverage.

I picked this up at a local CVS the other day while shopping for cold medicine. It was...okay. It tastes pretty much like you would expect a watermelon beverage to taste: sweet and syrupy. Sweet is not bad, but syrupy I can do without. It had this weird kind of sticky aftertaste, too, which I really didn't like. It left my mouth kind of bitter, especially towards the end (maybe I didn't shake it vigorously enough). In my opinion, any beverage that you have to wash down with another beverage is really just not worth the effort. It's not unbearable, and I finished the whole thing for some reason, but it's not very good either. It is a dollar, however, which I guess is one thing that it does have going for it.

Verdict: Not recommended.

Okay, I need to apologize. I know that I have been neglecting this blog over the past couple of updates, but I have had a lot going on in my life over the past few days and I really just have not had time to write a review. I am going to try my hardest to make some time for one tomorrow, but I don't want to promises. At the very worst, there will be a new post up on Friday. I promise.

Fujian Rose Black Tea

This is the second of two delicious teas that I have randomly purchased from the Asian market as of late. I know I'm bound to break my lucky streak soon, but for now, this is a good tea. Some of you may be familiar with the taste of rose water (or just rose flavoring in general), and that is pretty much what this is. A standard black tea for the base, with an aromatic rose flavoring for...flavor. The rose actually tastes pretty strong, and was kind of an assault upon the senses throughout the first cup. However, upon trying the tea again, this time knowing what to expect, I found that I really like the taste of the beverage. After you grow accustomed to the taste, it ends up being kind of mellow. Definite, but mellow. It's not really that strong of a flavor; it's mainly just out of the ordinary. Much like the jasmine green tea that I recently reviewed, the aromatic flavoring of the tea has a very uplifting quality about it, which tends to leave me feeling rejuvenated and concentrated after I finish a cup. It's definitely a different tea experience than what many people are used to, but it is nonetheless an excellent investment.

Verdict: Recommended

Mistic Orange Carrot

I know that I promised a double post yesterday, but I got caught up in other things. It snowed in Columbia yesterday.

So here's the second half of yesterday's post:

Mistic Orange Carrot is delicious. It's kind of strange, but delicious. It's pretty much just orange carrot flavored juice without too many bells and whistles. However, there was one peculiarity. It has a strange, almost minty aftertaste. I'm really not sure what combination of ingredients produced a mint aftertaste, but...somehow it works with this drink. It's strange at first, but I actually ended up really liking it after I got accustomed to it.

Verdict: Recommended

Strawberry Crush

A few posts back, I reviewed Cherry Crush, giving it a fairly lackluster opinion. And I'm about to do the same thing with Strawberry Crush. Strawberry suffers from the same faults that cherry does. It's very syrupy and acidic, and is just overall hard to deal with after a few drinks. As you can see in the image, I didn't finish my serving, and I bought this two days ago. The overall flavor of the drink is better, as the strawberry is a little bit more mellow, as opposed to the cherry, who's chemically flavoring only added to the overall chemical grossness of the beverage. The strawberry at least doesn't contribute, but it's still just not that great.

Verdict: Not Recommended

Tradition Jasmine Green Tea

This is one of my favorite teas in the whole wide world. I picked this up at my local Asian grocer the other day, and it may be one of the best teas I have ever tasted. It's got a very aromatic flavor that tends to fill up your olfactory before the liquid ever even touches your mouth. It's very smooth, and has a subtle and gentle flavor, while still being very distinct and unique. The jasmine tea mellows out the green tea (green tea typically has a pretty strong flavor and aftertaste), and the two flavors work well together to meld into a new, separate taste. I am always disappointed when I finish a cup of this tea, and I usually have to fight the urge to immediately make another cup.

One of the best things about the tea is that the bags are packed very loosely, with an unconventional bag. The bag almost reminds me of pulled cotton (but stronger, obviously), in that the material it is composed of is just loose overall, with large sections of thinner material, as opposed to the usual porous paper tea bags. The looseness of the actual tea combined with the waftyness of the bag really allows the tea to breath and permeate well into the liquid while steeping. Also, the leaves are not finely ground, so the typical "final sediment-filled sip" isn't such a looming threat.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

Also, I want to apologize for missing the update last Friday. Things were kind of crazy for me, and I didn't get a chance to sit down and write a review. To make up for it, though, I intend to post a double update this Friday, so keep your eyes peeled.

But not literally. That's gross.

Faygo Grape

I have been drinking Faygo's beverages since my sophomore year of high school, so I am no stranger to this brand. In fact, I am drinking a Faygo Cola as I write this. However, this past weekend marks the first time that I ever had their grape variety, and it was pretty good. If you've had Fanta Grape before, this is pretty similar. It has the same candy grape taste, but is not quite as sweet. I personally like candy grape flavor. I tend to prefer natural fruit flavors, but candy grape is good. So, I suppose that this is kind of a biased review, but I like the drink. It's sweet, but not too sweet, and the grape flavor is clear. Also, I like Faygo's bottle design. they're slightly shorter and fatter than other bottles, but they just feel good in your hand. It really feels like you've got something hefty when you hold it. Oh, and it's cheap.

Faygo also gets points for being the first thing that I've seen in a long time to just flat out state, "artificially flavored grape soda." They acknowledge the fact that everybody knows now that "naturally and artificially flavored" is essentially a lie at this point. 

Verdict: Recommended