Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Borojo: Pink Guava Passionfruit


Ever since Glaceu's success with Vitamin Water, I have noticed an overabundance of various "performance juices" appearing on store shelves. Although many of them are likely just attempts to cash in on a recent trend, I do like to give them a try, as they are often at least decent enough to enjoy and contain far fewer calories and much less sugar than the typical soft drink alternatives. Borojo was an immediately interesting one, though. The packaging was a little bit more colorful than the surrounding beverages, and the logo design really caught my attention. Furthermore, I had never heard of borojo superfruit before, and I was highly inclined to pick one of these up and go find out.

"Superfruits" have been increasing in popularity lately (particularly within the health foods community) because of their relatively high nutritional content. Typically, one is inclined to think of cranberries, acai berries, pomegranate, or one of the other more conventional fruits that are so frequently marketed as "super," but borojo is a little bit less well known. According to Wikipedia, borojo is a tropical fruit native to several select regions of Columbia and Ecuador. It has been shown to have high concentrations of several dietary like protein, calcium, and iron, to name a few. It is also believed to be a good source of various polyphenols, which - according to modern research on the topic - may or may not actually be relevant to your health.

I wasn't entirely sure to expect from Borojo besides some remotely tropical tasting juice. I'm usually not too big on tropical flavors, so I didn't initially have my expectations set too high. But I was pleasantly surprised by this drink. Unlike a lot of tropical fruit beverages, Borojo has a light flavor that is somehow simultaneously watery and very distinct. The taste sets in more in the back of the mouth than it does on the taste buds, and the aftertaste does not linger for very long at all, again defying most of my previous experience with tropical flavors. Borojo is certified organic (OTCO), and while it is additionally sweetened with cane juice, all of the flavors taste very natural in a "fresh squeezed" sort of way.

Although all of the flavors worked well together to produce a great tasting final product, I was a little concerned by the selection of fruits in this particular variety. Guava and passionfruit  both have very distinct and powerful tastes, and I'm afraid that I had a bit of a difficult time picking out the borojo amid the other rather strong flavors. This may have a lot to do with the fact that I have never had plain borojo fruit before, but I do think that the guava and the passionfruit may have been competing a bit too much with the base flavor. But overall, I still think that this is a great beverage. It's all-natural, filled with antioxidants and vitamins, low calorie and low sugar, and generally just very drinkable. Definitely check this one out if you have the chance.

Verdict: Recommended

Purchased: Whole Foods Market [Greenville, SC]
Size: 16.9 fl. oz. [500mL]
Price: $2.69

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