Monday, September 19, 2011

Chillout - Natural Calming Drink

Since I decided to try the "Pure Energy" natural energy drink, I also decided that I should get its opposite number, Chillout.



Yes, I crave symmetry in my life!  

After tasting the puce weirdness of the energy drink, I have to tell you, I kept this can in the fridge for much longer than I probably would have done otherwise.  Had I loved the other product, I would have probably drunk this one the same day in some kind of natural foods type of addiction process - the energy drink to wake me up, the calming drink to bring me down.  Alas, since I was scared I'd have to deal with more kombucha or puce tasting drinks, I let this one kind of get shoved to the back of the fridge for a while.

However, one night I just decided to buckle down and drink it.  After all, I could just pour it out or throw it away if I didn't like it, right?  There isn't some all observant grandmother who patrols the universe and tuts at you if you throw away perfectly good food and drinks.  Right?  RIGHT?!

At first sip, I kind of flinched, expecting that weird wine-juice-tea flavor of the energy drink, but thankfully, that didn't happen.  It was really very subtle as a matter of fact.  It wasn't bad at all, and if I had to make one negative statement about the taste, it's that I almost couldn't taste anything.  It had a soft, citrusy, slightly herbal flavor that had to build up over a matter of sips before you could really taste it completely.

The can says that it contains Chamomile, Valerian, Lemon Balm, Vitamins and something called "Fruit Up" which is a "natural fruit sweetener, extracted entirely from fruits with no added chemicals or additives."  Fruit Up also seems to have a Glycemic Index of 34, but I don't know what that means and I'm too lazy to research it.  I'm guessing Fruit Up is glucose with a copywritten name.  I dunno.

As for the effects, I wasn't exactly anxious or anything before drinking it, so I didn't notice a calming effect from it.  In fact, I went to bed soon after drinking this and had trouble sleeping.  I can't imagine why, unless it was because it contained Vitamin B6 and B12, which I've always thought were to give you energy and have seen on products helping you to stay awake. Again, I dunno, I'm not a food scientist.  Perhaps you can actually sit down with the B Vitamins and delegate them to different jobs as you see fit.

Anyway, the taste was nice and pleasing, and I didn't fall into a coma of any kind from the calming effect, so I'm going to give this drink a thumbs up.  I do not, however, recommend this as an actual calming potion for anyone.  My experience was that it didn't have any kind of affect on me other than as a beverage, so if you are uptight and anxious, or if the voices in your head are telling you that you need to murder the family next door, let me recommend Lorazepam or Paxil.  Both are available from your friendly neighborhood doctor, or the mental health professional of your choice.

Oh, and in case you're curious...this drink tasted lavender.


WEBSITE- www.ExDrinks.com
SERVING SIZE: 1 Can
CALORIES:80
CARBS:  15g
TASTE: Pleasant, citrusy and herbal.  Also, lavender.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Pure Energy - Natural Energy Drink

You know, sometimes I like an energy drink just for the heck of it.

I mean, sure, I usually drink energy drinks for their intended purposes.  In fact, I probably wouldn't have graduated from college had it not been for the combined efforts of caffeine and sugar, but beyond that, I just LIKE to have them sometimes.

Today, however, was a "need to have one" day.  It's rainy and gloomy outside, which always causes a rather Pavlovian reaction in me (sleeping, not drooling) and I've still got another church service to get through, so I needed some help.  I decided to try the energy drink that has been hanging out in my fridge for a couple of weeks, Pure Energy.  I got this on my last trip to Earth Fare and have been waiting for the right time to try it out.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of energy drinks that boast "natural alternative" ingredients.  I mean, it isn't like I want them to contain meth or anything like that, but in my experience, when you find a can of some kind of odd energy drink you've never heard of, especially one that boasts some kind of natural kick starting ingredient, it's just going to taste weird.  Of course, I say that knowing perfectly well that mainstream energy drinks like Red Bull don't exactly taste great, but at least those somehow grow on you.  I've tried several brands of unusual, natural energy drinks and each time they've all had a strange, slightly odd flavor that I couldn't put my finger on. 



 Curious, Captain.

Pure Energy was different from the other natural drinks I've tried.  Well, let me elucidate:  I didn't hate this drink.  It wasn't terrible, it wasn't undrinkable, it was just...odd.  It tasted puce.  I know that won't make sense to many of you, but I taste colors and if puce had a taste, it would be this beverage.

At first sip I was afraid that it contained Stevia, which I think I've made it clear that I hate with the heat of a thousand suns.  There was this strange, almost-but-not-quite yuck taste on my tongue. Upon reading the ingredients, though, I found that there was no stevia in sight.  In fact, it had beet sugar as it's sweetener.  Ok, then...what was the taste?  I took another small sip and realized that the drink tasted almost fermented, as if someone had poured wine into fruit juice mixed with tea or something, but there wasn't any alcohol in the drink either. It was bitter, but not overly so.  So I finally started reading the can, something I probably should have done before drinking any of it.  The "active" ingredients, if you will were ginseng, guarana, caffeine and various vitamins.  Oh, and also kombucha.

DING DING DING!  Kombucha it is!  Blerg.

Yes, I realize that the word kombucha is printed right on the front of the can.  It's also printed in large letters along the side and on the back of the can, but somehow I didn't see that until I started looking at the ingredients. Had I noticed that before buying it, I probably would have passed on this drink because I am NOT a fan of kombucha.  If you aren't familiar with kombucha, it is stuff made from fermented tea.  I'm not going to lie and pretend I know a lot about it, because honestly, I learned what I know about it from Wikipedia and the back of this can.  So, that is where the fermented taste came from.  Mystery solved. 

Anyway, the stuff wasn't great, but I was able to finish it the whole can.  Aside from the puce flavor, it was unremarkable in that it was just kind of bitter and sour at the same time.  As for the effects, yes, I'm much more awake now than I was before I drank it.  In fact, my hands and feet are freezing cold, which is usually how caffeine or any other kind of stimulant affects me.  It also made me have to pee.  That's probably more than you needed to know, but I'm nothing if not thorough in my reviews.

All in all...I'm not going to tell you to avoid this drink, because if you like kombucha, or if you're curious as to what the color puce tastes like, you should try it.  It actually does perk you up quite a bit, and if you are interested in an energy drink that has all natural ingredients, I don't think you'd be too disappointed.  At any rate, Pure Energy was very different and kind of interesting, so it wasn't a complete loss. 

WEBSITE- www.ExDrinks.com
SERVING SIZE: 1 Can
CALORIES: 70
CARBS:  15g
TASTE: Fermented and Puce.  That's all I can say.