The Consumer’s Corner

Over the past month, I’ve become a 3-cup-a-day coffee drinker. I’ve found it the cheapest way to catch my needed caffeine buzz, and I’ve grown to appreciate the taste. I’ve gone from hating it, to tolerating it, to craving it.

Nescafe is psychic, and knew I was looking for an easy way to make single cups of coffee, without a bunch of fuss. So they sent me a bunch of samples from their line of single serving packets, which you add to hot water. To be honest I was a tad leery of instant coffee, having heard nothing good about it, but I’ll try anything once.

In the case of ‘Nescafe Taster’s Choice’ Vanilla, I’ll try it twice. And then a third, and then God knows how many times after that. Just really good! While how a person may ‘take’ their coffee is a very individual choice, Nescafe’s recommended directions were perfect for me. 6 ounces of water produced a drink that was just strong enough, full of flavor, and the vanilla sweetened it enough that I could have lived without adding any sweetener.

I had a similar experience with the ‘Original’ and ‘Colombian’ blends. Also available is a ‘Hazelnut’ and ‘Decaff.’ I don’t like Hazelnut in general, so I’ll just withhold an opinion on that. ‘Decaff’ was decaff

It would be a crime not to mention the convenience of the little pouches, they just slip into a pocket. Rip off a corner and pour. So easy a caveman can do it! Win!

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

(Very retro commercial)

Edit:

Get your own free sample at: http://smartchoice.tasterschoice.com/#/Try_It_On_Us/

Mini Chill is a ‘shot’ form of the emerging line of ‘relaxation’ beverages. I call them anti-energy drinks. The first one I sampled, ‘Drank,’ worked, but was more that a little ‘ghetto’ in appearance. Mini Chill does exactly the same thing, in a more compact and infinitely more dignified package.

The flavor is ‘Berry Bliss,’ and it’s fairly pleasant. Think ‘diluted kids cough syrup.’ Not something you’d want to sip on all day, but that isn’t the point. The idea is to get it down the hatch without gagging, and Mini Chill accomplishes that going away.

Mini Chill’s label promotes relaxation, stress relief, better focus, and mood. I can’t say I noticed any difference in my focus or mood, but the stress relief and relaxation was definitely noticeable. The first bottle I tried, I fell asleep sitting up. That never happens. The second time around, the effect was much more subtle (as I wasn’t dog tired to start with), but still quite adequate.

I give Mini Chill a Win! Great as a non-alcoholic night cap, no calories, decent flavor, convenient packaging. If you find it somewhere less that $2.99, I think you should feel comfortable that you’re getting your monies’ worth.

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-Jeremy Hobbs

While scanning the energy drink cooler at my local convenience store, I saw a purple can that I’d never noticed before. ‘Drank.’ An ‘extreme relaxation beverage.’ This was obviously something unique and different, so I purchased a can ($2.99, but it’s a pricey store) to see what it’s deal was.

An energy drink it is not. In fact, it kind of sucks nervous energy right out of you. Drank definitely works as advertised; after drinking the can, I started to ‘melt’ into my chair. It wasn’t a ‘buzz’ like alcohol; just a nice, even ‘chill.’ Slept better that evening as well.

The taste is that of a decent grape soda. I wasn’t a fan, simply because I hate grape soda. But it wasn’t too bad, and it went down smooth.

All in all, ‘Drank’ is neither a ‘Fail’ or a ‘Win.’ I don’t think it’s worth the money. The taste wasn’t anything special. Drop the price a bit, release a diet version, and I’ll be back in line. Fine verdict: Tie.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

A couple months ago, McDonalds made the news by announcing they were going to make an effort to go toe to toe with Starbucks in the premium coffee business. When I first tread that, my initial reaction was, ‘Yeah, good luck with that.’ Then, being my analytical self (especially when it comes to other people’s business), I started looking at the numbers and possibilities. McDs is already making a killing with their budget priced ‘food’ in this troubled economy, and Starbucks has taken such a blow in sales to their line of coffee drinks. The sales decline has been so sharp that Starbucks has been forced to close down once profitable stores, and let go a measureable portion of their employees.

The folks that used to frequent those boarded up Starbucks locations didn’t suddenly develop a distaste for designer coffees, they simply found those coffees to be a luxury they could live without. McDonalds saw an opportunity to offer a similar product at a far cheaper price-point, and hopefully build a new business within their preexisting stores. They already have the infrastructure needed to be an instantaneous competitor, as well as the monetary motivation. It’s all for nothing though if the new line of drinks amount to foul tasting bile, so what is the verdict?

I ordered my favorite drink, a caramel flavored latte. Sugar and cream. What they gave me was quite more than satisfactory; it was delicious! I found it to be competitive with Starbucks at any price point, and if you put any weight in the savings, I can see myself driving past a Starbucks to hit McDonalds’ drive-thru.

Your results may vary, I understand that coffee is one of those products where heavily trained taste buds can really tell a difference in quality, but I think average-Joe is going to be pretty happy with the McCafe line! Recommended!

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–Jeremy Hobbs

The nice folks at ‘Fizzy Lizzy’ were nice enough to send me some samples of their beverages. These are like fruit sodas in the truest sense; fruit juice and ‘fizzy’ carbonated water. The juice is the real thing; you even need to lightly shake the bottle before opening it to distribute the pulp. Pulp!

I’m going to give Fizzy Lizzy a pass on this one; it was unfortunate that the varieties they sent me to sip on were made from fruit juices I don’t particularly care for; mainly grape. The pineapple flavor was pretty tasty though! Check out the site, and see if they offer an option that would appeal to your taste buds.

If you’re a typical fruit soda fan (Fanta, etc.), these may or may not be your thing. If you’re a juice drinker, this may offer you something special. Much healthier with no sugar added, versus all the empty calories in typicaly found in ‘sparkling’ beverages.

Give them a try if you can find them in your area; wasn’t nessecarily my thing, but I’m sure a lot of you will enjoy them.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

Really enjoyed this brand thus far, they’ve been excellent products. All roses have their thorns though, and OWater Lemon Lime isn’t something that I would purchase again. The flavor is ‘bitter’ and not in a good way, either. I expected it to be a little tart, it’s lemon and lime flavored after all, but as I was drinking it, all I could think about was cleaning products. Not good. It was a nice effort, lemon and lime flavors can be hard to make tasty without adding sweeteners, and that’s against the line’s theology. Oh well.

Don’t hesitate to try one of the other varieties though, on the whole OWater produces a very refreshing product that I really look forward to consuming this summer. Just stay away from this particular variety.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

This will be my last energy drink review for awhile, I need to detoxify myself from all these stimulants. Likewise, this will also be the last coffee beverge I drink; two birds with one stone. I’m nothing if not efficient! Did I pick a good beverage to go out on? Yeah, I think so.

The chocolate tones in Rockstar Roasted Mocha added a bit of the richness that I felt had been missing from the other two Rockstar coffee/energy hybrids. This actually tasted eerily similar to the coffee that I order at my neighborhood coffee shop; my favorite baristas may be seeing less of me when I fall back off the ‘wagon’ and need a boost.

The energy blend worked really well, especially considering I consumed the 2 serving can in about five minutes. 200 calories, 2 grams of fat, 200% of Vitamins B3, B5, B6, and B12. 16% calcium and potassium. The actual energy blend consists of: 2,000 mg of taurine, 300 mg of ginkgo biloba, 240 mg of caffeine, and 50 mgs each of guarana, inositol, L-Camitine, ginseng, and milk thistle. Those numbers are per can, cut them in half if you want it by the serving.

I recommend it, it tastes good, picked me up, and didn’t break the bank. Anyone want to take a bet on how long I can make it without caffeine?

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

rockstar, rockstar roasted, energy drinks, coffee

No calories, no heavy flavors, just water with a splash of fruit. I like to make my reviews informative, and try to add some personality to them, but it’s difficult when dealing with a product this simple in design.

Simple is not synonymous with ‘bad.’ I really enjoyed drinking it! Just what I needed after a nice tanning session; I was hot, thirsty, and wanted something as light as possible. Owater provided that, with just the slightest touch of strawberry flavor. Real strawberry flavor, not some syrupy artificial flavor.

Owater is not only a product I’ll buy again, but as the weather warms up, I’ll probably be buying it by the case. Great stuff; easily recommended!

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

I’ve been reviewing a lot of ‘waters’ lately, but when a water is loaded up with a bunch of other ingredients, does it cease to be a water? Where exactly is that ‘line’ between water, and soft drink? I will not pretend to know; that’s up to consumers to decide, but I do know which side of the line this product will be standing on. It is H20 in it’s (almost) purest form.

Zero calories is a good start, water is supposed to be calorie free. Zero calories means zero fat, of course. No sweeteners, not even artificial ones. The ingredients list is simple; purified water, natural peach flavor, and a short list of electrolytes that I don’t care to type out.

The flavor is very light, like someone just squeezed a few drops of peach juice into the bottle. That’s great, because I really don’t care for peaches, but whatever. That’s not the point. When you’re hot, tired, sweaty, you tend to want something really light and simple, not something loaded up with this, and that. Owater gives you that!

With summer coming up fast, I recommend this. I’ll be throwing out some shorter reviews of the other flavors that I’ve found, but water is going to be the essential element in each bottle. The choice will be which is your favorite fruit.

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–Jeremy Hobbs

When I saw the word ‘Acai,’ I must admit that I cringed a bit. My taste buds have only had one opportunity to try one product flavored with the acai berry, and that was Full Throttle Mother. If you have read that post, it’s not difficult to tell that I didn’t have a very positive experience. So I went into Snapple Antioxidant Water Strawberry Acai with a bit of trepidation.

But, this entire line is just dripping with quality, and this flavor option is no different. Snapple leaned heavily on the ‘Strawberry,’ and that was a wise move on their part. It’s a natural flavor, not the usual ‘candy’ strawberry profile that you find in most other drinks. It even had a bit of ‘green’ flavor to it, something I found unique and interesting. Overall, I really dug the flavor, and the 20 ounce bottle was down the hatch with a relative quickness.

I’ve already gone over the ‘Awaken’ blend with Snapple Antioxidant Water Dragon Fruit. In short, it’s a blend of vitamins, guarana, ginseng, and caffeine to give you a boost. It’s mild, but noticeable. Great product for those of you looking for a pick me up, but don’t want to blast off with an energy drink.

Calories round out at 140 per bottle, coming mostly (entirely?) in the way of sugar. I know it says water, and that is the main ingredient, but you’ll need to figure it in to your diet if you’re on one. Still way better for you than a corn syrup packed soda though.  I recommend!

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–Jeremy Hobbs

snapple, snapple anioxidant water, water, beverages