Kool-Aid Burstin' Waters Tropical Rain

Not to be confused with Capri Sun's Roarin' Waters (also made by Kraft Foods Group) this is Kool-Aid's take at flavored waters for children.

They're most similar to Kool-Aid Bursts, which have the same packaging, but are 100 calories per bottle versus 35 for the Burstin' Waters. It just means that Bursts have more sugar and no sucralose because, otherwise, the ingredient list is about identical.

We can get into a history of Kool-Aid when we start mixing the powders at some point in the future. For now, let's just get to the tasting.

Presentation/Appearance - 3/10 Tropical Rain has no color. The drink comes in 100ml plastic bottles with the twist off tops. The bottle is made of low density polyethylene (LDPE, code 4) which makes the bottle soft enough to squeeze. Unfortunately, the bottle is not readily recyclable in most communities. This seems to be wasteful. But I don't know the cost differences for other types of plastics, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PETE, code 1) which is far more common but might not lend itself to an easy twist off cap.

Nose/Aroma - 4/10 Okay, I am getting hints (power of suggestion) of rain in the nose. But it could also be the scent of Barbie perfume or another inexpensive eau de toilette.

Taste/Flavor - 5/10 Maybe this speaks well for sucralose, but it does takes like sugar water, though with no distinct flavor. Tropical Rain smacks of a flavor caused by a mistake in the natural and artificial flavor recipes, or a botched shipment from the flavor company, or some other failure of food design. "Hey, what does this taste like to you?" "Ah, nothing, really." "What was it supposed to be?" "Tropical punch, but there's no pineapple." "There's nothing. Wait. Maybe there's...ah...papaya?" "Yeah, let's sell papaya flavored water to kids."

Finish/Satisfaction - 4/10 It serves its purpose as a purveyor of sweet flavor, but it doesn't do much else. 100ml of any fluid would never satisfy me when I was a kid. We drank our soda pop from 16 oz glass bottles that were scratched and chipped from being returned and reused. We drank our water, unfiltered, straight from the garden hose. These types of drinks would have been met with indifference by me and my friends, not even deserving of our scorn.

Overall - 4.45/10 Shortly after I mention that all the drinks seem to be above average, we get to sample the unfortunately named "Burstin' Waters" mediocrity. This is not even as good as the score. Calling it average sullies the good name of the commonplace. Why do this to your kids? Why put it in packaging that isn't readily recycled? This bottle cost about $0.17. Seventeen cents. A six pack for $1.00. You can bet that the target market for this are kids that have even less of a need to consume a drink such as this. There is no redeeming nutritional value.

I'm unhappy with this drink, despite the Mr. Kool-Aid guy having a blast on the label.

How do we stop this stuff from being sold? The customer service number on the package is 800-367-9225. I'll be posting the call and the feedback over on this blog's sister site: Solicited Feedback.

Radenska Classic

I am not an expert on any of the beverage styles that I review here. I know a bit about beer, I guess, and maybe regular colas, but that's about it.

Waters, though, of all the categories, have me most concerned. How, with my so-so palate, do I discern differences in waters? What is a good tasting water? There are experts out there, but I wanted to rely on my own impressions for this blog.

So, for $3, I picked up a 1.5 liter bottle of naturally sparkling mineral water. From Slovenia. Called Radenska Classic. Apparently, the three hearts logo is well known throughout Europe.

And, Radenci, a town in northeast Slovenia, is very famous for its natural spas. Having tried the water from Hot Springs, Arkansas, and finding it to be quite tasty, I figured this water would be different enough from regular bottled water to be a reasonable place to start.

Presentation/Appearance - 7/10 It looks like...water. But it comes in this distinctive tall recyclable plastic bottle. I can easily fit this in a refrigerator. Its height might be an issue for some spaces, but it is no taller than a wine or beer bottle. Compared to fat bottomed juice bottles, this is a welcome style.

Nose/Aroma - 6/10 Clean, with no chemical smells. However, I'm not smelling anything earthy or minerally. No limestone or stone of any kind in the nose.

Taste/Flavor - 7/10 Mild effervescence. Now the stony cleanness comes through in the taste, very strong. No added carbonation to ruin it, either. This is a refreshing water. It isn't one you would guzzle after extended physical activity. Drink it at your leisure.

Finish/Satisfaction - 8/10 The finish is long for this water, with a calcium powder finish. A dry water? Yeah, I think so.

Overall - 7.15/10 More than a serviceable replacement for soft drinks, tonics, and club sodas. The Radenska website recommends using this as a mixer, not just with cocktails, but also to cut the strength of juices. That sounds like a sound recommendation.

A fine start to the line of waters. They won't all be this good. I've noticed that all of the drinks have been above average so far. That makes sense. I have to start with what I've purchased, and, with the exception of a sentimental Yoo-hoo selection, I've tried to purposely sample things that I expect to be fairly decent.

In other words, I promise to review some bad stuff soon.

Any recommendations?

Ale-8-One

Is it ALE-8-1? Ale-8-One? or "A Late One"?

Is this a ginger ale? Ginger soda?

Well, it has all the makings of a classic soft drink. Created by G.L. Wainscott in the 1920s in Kentucky, the beverage is still bottled in Winchester. It got the name A Late One in a name the beverage contest. The company used Ale-8-1 as a pun on the winning entry for its logo.

The recipe is a secret, though it clearly contains ginger, and is known by only two people. That some cachet on par with Coca-Cola, no?

There is plenty of history and Kentucky pride associated with this soft drink. Let's see if it is worth all this fuss.

Presentation/Appearance - 7/10 Looks like a ginger ale after pouring from a green glass bottle with a twist off cap. Label has a cool retro feel to it and the bottle contains the raised logo and the dates 1926-2009 to show the heritage of the beverage.. Woodcut of Mr. Wainscott (1867-1944) is on every bottle. After sitting in the glass, it also has the appearance of a cream soda. Doesn't it?

Nose/Aroma - 6/10 Clean, like a mild ginger ale. Not spicy at all.

Taste/Flavor - 6/10 I can't help the comparisons to ginger ale. It has ginger flavors for sure, but it is not a ginger ale, and it doesn't claim to be one. It would be a rather weak ginger ale and a far sweeter one. But I am not going to hold that against this drink. It is tasty, if a touch sugary.

Finish/Satisfaction - 6/10 Sweet throughout the mouth. Short finish that on some sips borders on cloying, while on others I taste more of the ginger.

Overall - 6.05/10 This is a solid beverage but it isn't knocking my socks off. There is nothing quite like it, but should there be? Is there a niche for a sweet ginger drink? Isn't this covered by not-so-good ginger ales?

All right, I know what a Bourbon Buck is. Maybe this would make a Kentucky Buck, with a homer substitution for the ginger ale. The Ale-8-1 website has cocktail recipes, but I am sure that Kentuckians have created their own concoctions over the years. Can anyone point me to one?

Orangina

This soft drink has a lot going for it: storied history (created by a Spanish pharmacist in 1935, sold for use in the Algerian market, expanded to France, then the world); specific "shaking motion" that all authentic Orangina drinkers do; pulp(!) in the soda; and a distinctive bottle design.

But is it all hype? Is this beverage any good?

Presentation/Appearance - 7/10 I have the 10 oz (296ml) glass bottle. It feels like a glass orange. The liquid looks like sparkling orange juice. Pulp, natural pulp, floats around. The label and most of the commercials want you to shake it, which seems unnatural because this is a carbonated drink. But, it does mix the pulp.

Nose/Aroma - 7/10 It smells like orange juice, even though it is made from concentrates (orange, lemon, and mandarin) and is only 12% juice and 2% pulp.

Taste/Flavor - 5/10 Unfortunately, it tastes like watered down orange juice. The use of HFCS instead of sugar doesn't help too much. It does have some orange bitterness to it though. It doesn't taste bad, but it doesn't overwhelm you with a delicious orange flavor either.

Finish/Satisfaction - 6/10 A little orange in the finish. The carbonation helps things stick around for a bit, if not too long. This seems like it would be a satisfying summer quaff. 120 calories in a 10 oz serving is not unreasonable, but 10 oz of this stuff disappears rather quickly. Switch from HFCS to sugar, up the juice a tad to add some more competing bitterness and make 12 or 16 oz bottles (which they likely do) and I'd be real happy with a beverage like Orangina.

Overall - 5.7/10 Routine soft drink that has the makings of a great soft drink alternative. I think the company spends more time on branding and commercials than on improving the taste. It's survived for 75 years without me. It will continue to do so.

I plan on trying Orangina as a cocktail mixer. Also they have Light and Rouge (made from Blood Oranges) versions that I'll try, too.

Any Orangina fans out there? Have I missed some important or subtle nuances on this beverage? Or are my taste buds just dead?

Lipton PureLeaf White Tea with Tangerine

Lipton is a Unilever brand, which is also the maker of Hellmann's mayo (a top of the line condiment), detergents, Pond's beauty products, and...Axe body sprays and grooming products for boys. Besides Lipton, Unilever also has the Slim-Fast weight loss products, which at some point we'll review here.

Lipton is one of the largest tea maker in the world with deep market penetration in the USA and Europe and significant parts of the Middle East and Asia. The wikipedia entry gives plenty of historical and current market information, so no need to repeat it here.

The tea under review today is a ready-to-drink cold tea from the Lipton PureLeaf line. What drew me to this particular bottle was the additional flavor of tangerines and the fact that the sweet versions of these teas are made with sugar and not HFCS.

Presentation/Appearance - 7/10 This has a lovely natural crystal clear green tea appearance. The brew is a blend of white and green tea leaves. Sold in glass bottles with a pressurized resealable cap.

Nose/Aroma - 7/10 Pleasing tea odors that are pushed out of the way by the tangerine aroma. This smells good and inviting. Hot teas usually have a stronger nose and score higher than this. An iced tea will be hard pressed to score above a 7.

Taste/Flavor - 7/10 If you like sweet teas, this might score higher for you. It is by no means treacly sweet like typical southern USA sweet tea, but there isn't a smidgen of bitterness to be found here. The tea appears very early in the taste before being demolished by the sweet tangerine flavors. No juice is used to make this tea, but the flavor company that created the tangerine taste has done an outstanding job with this one.

Finish/Satisfaction - 6/10 The tangerine lingers for just a moment. There isn't much and the tea leaves no lasting memory. This is a fine drink while it is in your mouth, but you won't be tasting tangerine or tea afterwards.

Overall - 6.7/10 This is a fine beverage that drinks very easily. I paid $1.69 for a 16 oz (473ml) bottle. If you want anti-oxidants but don't care for the bitter flavors of tea and you aren't interested in brewing and sweetening your own teas, then this is a perfect way to go. Clearly not intended to be the end all be all of teas, it is still a refreshing drink and only 120 calories per bottle.

I'm going to have to start down the tea brewing road soon. Any recommendations on where to start? Tea seems to be incredibly popular judging by the number of brands and the sheer size of the shelf space it takes up in the supermarket aisle.

Venom Energy Black Mamba

I really enjoy reading Screaming Energy, a blog/review site for energy drinks. They are brutally honest and can slam or praise with some side-splitting metaphors. When I was ready to pop this can of Venom Black Mamba, I checked out SE for their take. And I couldn't find one.

This probably has more to do with Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. not sending review samples instead of a lack of merit on the part of the drinks. I know this because the folks at SE have reviewed some pretty awful stuff. (And I know that Dr Pepper-Snapple Group is the name of the firm.)

Presentation/Appearance - 9/10 I can't argue with this aluminum bottle and its menacing snake eye graphic. Whoever did this design, knew how to appeal to the young man demographic. This bottle drips testosterone (not in the ingredient list, though). These energy drinks are meant to be consumed from the container (even though it is two servings per container, a little over 160mg of caffeine if you drain the whole thing) I decided to pour a bit into a cordial glass so that we could get a good look at the liquid. Black Mamba looks like a sparkling wine, or maybe the folks at Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc, have done their research and this is what snake venom looks like. I wouldn't put it past them.

Nose/Aroma - 5/10 I doubt it smells like venom. This is chalky, Sweet-Tart in a glass. Everything about this says artificial beverage. If I were rating this on how energy drinks typically smell it might have scored a 10/10. Is this really what we expect? Can we have a reasonable expectation of something remotely natural?

Taste/Flavor - 6/10 Tart candy dominates the flavor. The bubbles just add to that effect. There is a sizable sugar presence here, but the chalky candy flavors overpower this one. I prefer the sour of lemon or maybe a tart berry, heck even rhubarb to this. However, it doesn't make you gag and it holds up as well as any other typical energy drink available.

Finish/Satisfaction - 7/10 If you have trouble sweating, I highly recommend this drink. This is a quick hit of caffeine without the hassle of dealing with hot bitter coffee. The tartness is ultimately lost as your taste buds succumb to the repeated punishment.

Overall - 6.3/10 This drink works as intended, and it does it with style. I am looking forward to trying other flavors. The Black Mamba is apparently the base drink. Other Venom drinks build on top of this with flavors like fruit punch and mango.

What do you use energy drinks for mostly? Pre-exercise? Morning coffee replacement? Cocktail mixer?

Joint Juice Kiwi-Strawberry Fitness Water

Joint Juice Fitness Water was developed by The Stone Clinic in San Francisco to promote joint health. The 500ml bottle contains 1500mg of glucosamine. The folks at Joint Juice really want you to have a bottle...every day for 30 days. They have coupons on the site.

I chose the Kiwi Strawberry flavor, paid 99 cents at Target for a bottle.

Presentation/Appearance - 5/10 Simple blue plastic bottle. This beverage is intended to be drunk straight from the bottle, but I wanted to pour into a clear glass to get a good look. Incredibly, it looked like water.

Nose/Aroma- 5/10 Smells like water with a minor, oh so minor, touch of fruit. Without the label, I would not be able to identify the fruit. This would have scored higher if it was supposed to be flavorless.

Taste/Flavor - 6/10 Well, if it tasted just like water, that would have been great. But this is flavored. And, while not atrocious, the flavor isn't particularly strawberry or kiwi. There is some saltiness on the tongue. The drink is sweetened by sucrolose (only 10 calories in the whole bottle) and it shows. I'm not an artificial sweetener lover. Joint Juice is easy enough to drink.

Finish/Satisfaction - 6/10 Watery candy finish that doesn't last long. Thirst quenching, even if that isn't its primary function.

Overall - 5.8/10 Tastes much like any other flavored water. I guess the added glucosamine makes the difference.

Anyone take glucosamine supplements? Does it really make a difference?

Bellini - (cocktail)

We've recently tried Peach Nectar and a Spanish sparkling wine (cava). The classic cocktail known as the Bellini is nothing more than a mix of these two beverages. Well, that isn't entirely true. Let me explain.

To make a real deal Bellini, you need a fresh peach. A fresh white peach that you pit, but not peel. Cut it into cubes, add it to a blender with a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice and a teaspoon of simple syrup (sugar and water heated together to make a syrup). Blend those ingredients together and pour a couple of ounces into a champagne flute. Top it off with a dry sparkling wine and, voila, you have a Bellini.

I cheated. The recipe for peach nectar is peaches, water, sugar, and lemon juice. Sounds familiar to the paragraph above, no? So, I used a couple of ounces of the Hero Peach Nectar from my one liter bottle and then some of the Segura Viudas Brut Reserva to top it off. Far simpler. Perhaps not as complex or tasty, but I don't have to wash the blender. And, this peach nectar isn't made with white peaches. No problem, though, yellow peaches taste just as good.

According to The Bar Guide by Williams-Sonoma, the Bellini was created by Harry Cipriani in 1948. Here's why the peach color is important. Harry operated Harry's Bar in Venice, Italy. He liked the artist Jacopo Bellini. Apparently, the color of this concoction reminded him of some of the pinks used in Bellini's paintings. So he named the drink after the artist.

Presentation/Appearance - 5/10 It looks like a cloudy orange juice (or a Mimosa because of the flute.)

Nose/Aroma - 5/10 Neither wine nor fruit sallies forth to be smelled. Kind of boring.

Taste/Flavor - 8/10 Wow, this is better than a Mimosa. Sparkling peach, sweet and dry, the two beverages complement each other to the point where one ends as the other begins, before the overlap and reverse roles. Complex and tasty.

Finish/Satisfaction - 9/10 Satisfying is the appropriate word. This should be a weekend brunch staple when peaches are in season. This would serve as a fine aperitif for breakfast, but the fruity sweetness would also add to the culinary experience. Make the sparkling wine is bone dry, though. A sweet wine would tip the balance toward dessert flavors.

Overall - 7.7/10 This has become one of my favorite wine-based cocktails. I'll have to try the traditional recipe and also mix the nectars with different wines. This cava with this nectar make a drink that is superior to either beverage alone.

What sort of brunch cocktails do you prefer? Spicy Bloody Marys? Mimosas? Screwdrivers?

Segura Viudas Brut Reserva

The sparkling wines of Spain are known as cava.

This cava, the Brut Reserva from Segura Viudas, is made from traditional Spanish grape varieties: Macabeo, Parellada, and Xarel-lo. This particular wine, designated brut should be nice and dry.

Cavas must be made with a secondary fermentation in the bottle. This is what makes the wine bubbly. The inexpensive method of simply injecting CO2 into a still wine is not allowed if the winemaker wants to call their product a cava.

Despite being made like traditional Champagnes, cavas remain relatively inexpensive. This can't be because of the taste. Cavas are generally crispy and delicious. Must be a failure of marketing.

Presentation/Appearance - 7/10 Simple, classic label, vigorous pop from the cork, and lots of gunsmoke emanating from the bottle. Violent medium-sized bubbling on the pour that builds a huge white head and then falls flat quickly. The wine stays active though, settling into a fountain of tiny bubbles rising from the center of the flute. You can see this in the photo.

Nose/Aroma - 6/10 Cut flowers, without the perfume. Nothing substantial.

Taste/Flavor - 7/10 This is, indeed, dry. Crispy, very active bubbling on the tongue. This is the way a cava should taste. Light bodied, good acidity, very refreshing.

Finish/Satisfaction - 7/10 This definitely lingers on the tongue. The bubbles seem to push the wine around the palatee. Long finish, somewhat acidic, but not tart.

Overall - 6.85/10 Satisfying and above average. If this had smaller bubbles and a creamier mouthfeel it would have scored much higher.

I like cavas, but I also enjoy sparkling wines from Italy and the United States. Of course, I love champagnes, too, but the price point for those always seems a little crazy to me. This wine sold for about $10 to $12. Quite reasonable. I'd love to hear any sparkling wine recommendations you might have.

Hero Peach Nectar

I love peaches.

Hero is a Swiss company with a North American presence in Ocala, FL. They sell a variety of inexpensive nectars that can be found in many grocery stores.

I love peaches.

And so, today, we're reviewing the Peach Nectar from Hero. We'll also be trying the Peach Nectar in a modified classic cocktail later on.

The label says that this nectar is a product of Spain. As if to bring that point home, nearly everything on the label is bilingual. I know the Spanish words for apple and banana. Now I know the word for peaches: melocoton, with an accent on the last "o".

This one liter (33.8 oz) glass bottle should be thoroughly chilled and thoroughly shaken before pouring. The nectar is at least 50% peach. It is made with pureed peaches, water, sugar, and lemon juice. No added flavors, no added colors. It is not made from concentrate either. The nectar has been pasteurized, but otherwise no preservatives.

Presentation/Appearance - 7/10 You probably can't see it in the photo, but the tall glass bottle has a marbled pattern in the wider base to protect against slipping. There is a definite tradeoff between a tall bottle and a wide bottle. I prefer the former based on my refrigerator configuration. The nectar looks like a liquid peach.

Nose/Aroma - 6/10 The nectar smells almost like a slice of peach, but, likely because of the sugar and lemon juice, it has a Gerber baby food scent to it.

Taste - 7/10 There is no denying the peach. Not too sweet, but with a full mouthfeel. Very tasty without being cloying. This nectar must have many uses besides serving as a simple beverage.

Finish/Satisfaction - 8/10 I like the way this finishes. The aftertaste is like eating the fruit. Drink it cold, though. As it warms the acidity from the lemon juice can take hold.

Overall - 7.15/10 A nice alternative to fruit juice. If you enjoy peaches, and they're out of season (starting about now), a glass of peach nectar might just tide you over.

I'm looking forward to trying the other Hero nectars. Will the banana nectar bring back vivid baby food memories?

Adina Natural Highs Hazelnut Hook Up

The Adina website is a bit busy, it is full of information and giveaways and an aggressive sense of community and purpose. They have a fantastic monkey logo and a slogan - 'Drink No Evil!' Yet, the Hazlenut Hook Up can doesn't have the logo anywhere on it. And it has the more tepid slogan - 'Feel Good - Do Good'. Ah, well, that doesn't matter. This is the PW's first energy drink!

The Hazlenut Hook Up is a coffee-based drink best served chilled. The Colombian coffee and evaporated cane sugar are both organic and fair trade certified. I'm hoping the dairy cows were treated humanely, but nothing is mentioned on container concerning bovine welfare.

Surely, there must be an ingredient besides coffee, milk, and sugar that sets this drink apart from a cup of Joe. There is. It contains natural hazlenut flavor and guarana; the latter delivering even more caffeine than coffee.

Presentation/Appearance - 6/10 Nothing special here. A simple 8 oz (240 ml) can with text highlighting the fair trade and naturalness of the beverage. Without detailed explanation, the contents are declared the "antioxidant equivalent of 4 servings of fruit" as measured by the USDA. However, we know that coffee, like tea, contains antioxidants.

Nose/Aroma - 6/10 The sugar is easy enough to detect, along with the nuttiness of the hazlenut flavoring. I had expectations of a more significant coffee aroma, but it never materialized. This tells me that we're about to taste something sweet versus bitter.

Taste/Flavor - 6/10 And sweet is what we mainly have here. The purpose of this drink is to provide a non-evil way of delivering caffeine to the body in a harmless, if not especially pleasing way. Nothing bad here, but nothing exciting. Except for my pulse...which we'll cover in a moment.

Finish/Satisfaction - 8/10 The drink delivers on its energy promise. Perhaps I am unused to caffeine, but I can feel the surge. The coffee flavor does linger after the sugar and hazlenut have left, which makes this feel more like an iced coffee experience than an awful energy drink session. (As we'll see in future Potable World entries, we're not a huge fan of sweet tart tasting sugar blasts.)

Overall - 6.6/10 Tasty energy drink with a solid mix of sugar and coffee flavors. The guarana doesn't add much to the flavor, which works for me in this drink. The hazlenut flavors are plenty here. Somewhat expensive at $1.99 per can, but a visit to the website will bring you access to 2-for-1 coupons. Print them and use them. They have other flavors, too, plus fruit & herb drinks and some sweet latte/espresso offerings.

Hey, hey, I think I have a caffeine buzz. My hair is tingling. What's your favorite energy drink?

Hansen's Signature Vanilla Creme Soda

The Hansen Beverage Company is a maker of juices, natural sodas, and energy drinks. Hubert Hansen and his sons started juices to Hollywood back in the 1930s. By the 1970s, they were making natural sodas, too, including ginger ale, grapefruit, cherry vanilla, and root beer among others.

A few years ago, they made a "super premium" line of sodas they dubbed the Signature Series. The Vanilla Creme, reviewed here, was joined by Ginger Beer, Orange Creme, and Sarsparilla. The Potable World will get to those if we can.

Most Hansen's sodas are canned. The Signature Series is presented in 12 oz (355 ml) bottles with a twist-off cap. I know this one will be sweet, so let's get going.

Presentation/Appearance - 7/10 Serving in the beer bottle is a nice touch for a soft drink. The soda itself is crystal clear with a pale sand tint.

Nose/Aroma - 7/10 Sugar and honey dominate the smell. The carbonation adds a cleanliness, while the vanilla adds a cake frosting scent that makes the mouth water.

Taste - 8/10 So, one could complain that this isn't especially creamy, like say, Virgil's Root Beer. But that only means that this is first and foremost a soda. It is carbonated water with an excellently balanced flavor of vanilla. So, I am not complaining. The honey does add some fullness, but the point here is the presentation of the vanilla blend on a bed of bubbly carbonation. It gives this sweet (ah, blessed cane sugar) drink a dryness that helps it actually quench a thirst.

Finish/Satisfaction - 7/10 This goes down very easy, but it has strong enough flavors to leave a taste of sugary vanilla in your mouth. My only complaint is that when it warms up a bit, the honey becomes more prominent. I know the honey is added to fill out the beverage, but I wish it were a bit more subdued.

Overall - 7.5/10 Hansen's has a winner with this bottled soda. I need to find the others in this series, if they are still available. Anyone had the Sarsparilla?

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon - Rutherford, California

A couple of years ago, Costco, the big discount store that competes with Wal-Mart's Sam's Club, started selling wine and spirits under their Kirkland label. Where I live, only the wine is available at the local stores. We have yet to buy a wine that has disappointed us.

To be sure, Costco doesn't own a vineyard or a winery. They contract with winemakers all over the world, they aren't just limited to California and their home turf in the Pacific Northwest.

This wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley Rutherford, was purchased earlier this summer. The price points on these wines are quite reasonable. This was less than $15. According to the label, you can cellar this and enjoy to 2012. (This link might be short-lived. Go to costco.com for more info.)

The maker of this wine is the Adler Fels Winery, owned by the Adams Wine Group.

Presentation/Appearance - 7/10 Kirkland has a consistent label appearance, making their private label easy to spot in stores. The wine itself is a gorgeous dark garnet, not opaque, but with a purple sunset translucence on the edges of the liquid. Very appealing.

Smell/Odor/Aroma - 6/10 The nose is alcohol soaked raisins, a little burn on the nose hairs. Makes you think that this will be young and harsh. Fruit scents can't seem to top the boozy viny nature of the nose.

Taste/Flavor - 7/10 Spicy, light plums start it all but they quickly give way to some mild tannic flavors. There is the alcohol presence to the fore again, but it complements the tannic acids. The finish is lengthy.

Finish/Satisfaction - 7/10 I already said the finish was lengthy. The mouthfeel is full, hot spiciness lingers on the tongue. This is a comfortable, as in plush, cabernet, that is easy to drink, but never simple.

Overall - 6.85/10 A solid wine that is great value if you can find it at Costco. Drink some now and store some for later. We paired this with sirloin from Polyface Farms and were not disappointed.

Has anyone had the other Kirkland wines? We like the Australian Shiraz. I also enjoyed the Port. We have a Chateauneuf-du-Pape waiting in the wings.

I'm also curious about the scotches they've offered in partnership with Macallan.

Oolong Shot

Oolong Shot is a blue tea, as in, not green or black. This tea, according to the can, is semi-oxidized. It's darker than green, but lighter than black tea.

Dr. Andrew Weil is a big proponent of the Ito En brands of teas. His image appears on the cans and on the website.

This is a simple ready-to-drink (RTD) tea, made of purified water, oolong tea and some added vitamin C (ascorbic acid.) You get 130% of your daily value of vitamin C in a 6.4 oz (190ml) can. You also get 40 mg of caffeine. That's bit more than a 12 oz Coke, but about half of a typical coffee.

Like the merlot juice from earlier, the big marketing push here is for a healthy dose of anti-oxidants. In this case, polyphenols. Studies continue to determine the efficacy of ingesting polyphenols on human health. Can it hurt? I don't know.

I do know that this little can of tea cost $1.07. Not bad, but it is mainly water. At $21.40 a gallon, I'm expecting something special.

Presentation/Appearance - 6/10 Nothing

special in the appearance. This is a dark gold, nearly brown translucent tea. Clear, pretty, not homely. I served this in a rocks glass because I did not have a see-through coffee mug. I will remedy this situation shortly.

Smell/Odor/Aroma - 7/10 Earthy, just the way you would expect. There is something spiritual about this odor. It brings back memories the way grass, cinnamon, or hickory smoke do. It smells of autumn as leaves fall and rot. It smells of spring, when the earth is turned for planting. I should stop before I write an embarrassing poem. I've had other teas, fresh brewed that present this aroma more strongly. But for an RTD tea in a can, this is impressive. Spouse says it smells "dusty"...different noses, no?

Taste/Flavor - 5/10 The can was labeled best before April 21, 2010. I have no idea when it was canned. The earthly oolong flavor is there. The water is plain and simple, but I detect a metallic taste. I'm not enough of an expert on tea to know if this is natural for the particular leaf, or is this part of being canned in steel.

Finish/Satisfaction - 5/10 The metallic taste dominates the finish. The bitterness is even and would be near perfect is the steely finish wasn't in the way.

Overall - 5.35/10 This is not terrible by any means, but there are better tasting teas out there. Think of the Oolong Shot as a convenience tea, rather than a staple. It is worth spending the extra time heating water and brewing your own.

I'm going to continue to review Ito En beverages, including their other RTD tea: Sencho Shot.

Anyone have any recommended teas in a can?

Orange Grove - (Cocktail)

Here's a cocktail that my spouse found in the AUG/SEP 2009 issue of Food Network Magazine. This is a creation of Aida Mollenkamp, a host of one of their Saturday midday shows.

This easy to make cocktail is called Orange Grove. The website says it takes ten minutes to make. That must be the lowest amount of time they can enter, because it only takes a minute or two. (Follow the link for a recipe.)

The recipe also calls for fresh-squeezed orange juice. I didn't have any oranges, so the basic stuff will have to do. Rye is tough to find these days. Jim Beam is readily available, though. While it is not the most complex whiskey, it certainly is serviceable for a cocktail. (Maybe if this drink doesn't score well, I've just described the reasons: 1-no fresh orange juice and 2-no fine rye.)

The interesting ingredient in this cocktail is ginger liqueur. The only one that I know of is Domaine de Canton, which is a ginger infused eau de vie mixed with cognac. I'll save describing the particular merits of this liqueur for a later post. However, if you like ginger, and you like spirits, I recommend it.

I mixed all of this up in my simple Boston shaker and

strained it over ice in a rocks glass, in fact, it is the one pictured above and right here with its ingredients.

Presentation/Appearance - 6/10 This is a pale yellow grapefruity looking drink. No garnishes (which I don't mind, because they can be a hassle.) Mine looked to be the same color as the one in the magazine and on the website. Just a bit lifeless.

Smell/Odor/Aroma - 6/10 The whiskey and the liqueur combine to smell like a ginger highball. The orange is present but not strong. This is where fresh juice would have made a huge difference.

Taste/Flavor - 7/10 My spouse loved this drink. It apparently isn't my thing. Again, the quality of the orange juice could be a factor. Also, I wanted the rye to be more assertive. The ginger comes through spicy and warm without overpowering the drink. Maybe the cognac part of the liqueur was playing havoc with the rye. Tasted fine without being delicious. Nothing offputting at all here. I'll need to revisit with better ingredients.

Finish/Satisfaction - 7/10 Thirst-quenching, citrus finish, with a mild gingersnap and alcohol burn. It's nice to taste a drink that isn't overly sweet. In the magazine article, Aida pairs this with crackers and figs. This drink needs a snack to go with it, such as a cracker or French bread with an exotic fruit spread.

Overall - 6.8/10 A slightly above average orange juice cocktail with a little interest thrown in from the ginger liqueur.

Do the Food Network shows talk about cocktails much? They must mention wine at some point for sure, but aside from the magazine, I don't know if they've done much with spirits.

First Blush Merlot Juice

It is nearly impossible to dislike grape juice. In the USA, Concord grapes reign supreme as the common source of the sweet juice. First Blush, however, has added a wrinkle, rather than using vitis labrusca, the species of the Concord grape, they've chosen to use traditional wine-making grape varieties from vitis vinifera, including cabernet, chardonnay, syrah, and, the grape juice under scrutiny now, merlot.

I'm a bit nervous about whether or not this will work. Though, it seems to be popular enough. First Blush has a lot of magazine clips, mostly in women's health and wine periodicals. They definitely push the anti-oxidant angle, as most grape juice makers are likely to do.

I bought bottles for $3.19 a piece. They contain 11.5 oz of pure grape juice each.

Presentation/Appearance - 8/10 The bottles are colorful, with each variety sporting its own hue. They're slender, I think to appeal to women. They would fit into a bag fairly easily, though this is good for men, too. These would pose no problem for a briefcase. The bottles are plastic, PETE code 1 recyclable. The only problem I have is the tiny size, but we'll see why that isn't a big deal in a minute.

Smell/Odor/Aroma - 6/10 This is an aggressive odor for a grape juice. The website mentions cherries and plums. I'm getting cherries for sure, but they smell sour. I'm thinking that this will be one tart grape juice. Frankly, I'm almost dreading this. I give it slightly above average because it doesn't smell like sugar and it has its own character.

Taste/Flavor - 8/10 Excellent! Nothing like what I thought the nose portended. This is a silky

smooth juice. It's naturally sweet with dark fruit flavors dominating in the middle of the mouthful. If anything, it might be a tad too sweet. That is the reason they don't bother adding any sugar. I would've scored it higher had

there been even a hint of tannins or dryness.

Finish/Satisfaction - 7/10 This is a fine grape juice. With such strong flavors and powerful sweetness, I've concluded that 11.5 oz might be too much juice. A six oz glass was refreshing and tasty. This is a nice treat, not meant to be guzzled.

Overall - 7.4/10 A very good grape juice. Try it if you're curious what wine tastes like before fermentation. This would pair quite well with dessert. Makes me want to dip a piece of sponge cake into the glass.

First Blush has some interesting recipes on the website, including the simple First Blush Sparkler, which I will make and review at some future date. I am also interested in turning a bottle of this into a syrup. That would work with the sponge cake even better.

Yoo-hoo Chocolate

Practically everyone knows what a Yoo-hoo is, right? A simple chocolate drink, mostly sugar, cocoa, dry nonfat milk and some phosphates. This isn't a traditional chocolate phosphate though. Yoo-hoo is not carbonated.

Honestly, I haven't had a Yoo-hoo in about 35 years. I used to drink them as a change of pace from Coke or Pepsi. (Oh, yeah, I had cavities.) The drink discussed here is the original classic chocolate version. Other flavors include strawberry and double fudge(!) and a "lite" version of the chocolate with less calories.

Even when I was a kid, Yoo-hoo was an old drink. Created back in the 1920s in New Jersey by Natale Olivieri, a fruit flavor maker, the drink became a hit once Mr. Olivieri discovered a way to effectively pasteurize the concoction before bottling. The drink was heavily promoted by the New York Yankees championship teams in the 1950s. Today Yoo-hoo is produced by Mott's. Yes, the applesauce and fruit juice company.

Back when I was drinking Yoo-hoos, they were in glass bottles resembling the taller thinner soft drink bottles of the day. Today, Yoo-hoos are normally found in the squat glass bottles often used for juices or sports drinks. Though it can be found in cans and small juice box style containers.

I bought my sample at a local grocer, paying around $2.00 for the 15 oz container.

Presentation/Appearance - 6/10 The bottle lacks style and the drink looks like a decent glass of chocolate milk.

Smell/Odor/Aroma - 6/10 The chocolate is definitely there, but it smells more like a powdered cocoa mix. The water base is detectable, too.

Taste/Flavor - 5/10 Tastes like sugary cocoa water. The sugars (really corn syrups) coat the mouth, but not pleasantly. I wonder what this would taste like with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. If I remember correctly, I think I tried to make this with Nestle’s Quik, some table sugar and water when we had run out of milk when I was a kid.

Finish/Satisfaction - 5/10 The sweetness lasts longer than the chocolate. After a glass, I felt a little twinge in my stomach. Too sweet for me to consume too much. However, it does deliver a shot of milk chocolate flavor with every mouthful.

Overall - 5.2/10 Yoo-hoo is a kids' drink all the way. Simple chocolate taste delivered in a sugar water solution.

Someone has Yoo-hoo memories. Let’s hear them. What kind of snacks did you have with your Yoo-hoos? I remember Ho-hos and King Dons (Ding Dongs).

Virgil's Root Beer Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg

I left the choice of the inaugural beverage up to my children. They chose Virgil's Root Beer.

The only thing I knew about it was the cost: $4.99 at Whole Foods. It better be good.

Imported from Bavaria by Reeds in Los Angeles, Virgil's is boasts all natural ingredients and a full shelf of natural ingredients including anise and licorice which I don't prefer. Those flavors are offset by vanilla, cinnamon, clove, wintergreen, birch, molasses and more.

The drink comes in a 500ml (16.8 ounces, a bit over a pint) swing-top bottle. Nice and reusable for homebrewing. The label features what looks like a couple of youngsters being served by a lumberjack looking man on a white tree stump(?). A couple of boastful marketing phrases and a note on winning an award complete the front label.

I should note that the official name on the label is Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg.

The root beer is made with a nice simple set of fundamental ingredients: carbonated water, unbleached cane sugar, and some caramel coloring to which the large list of flavors are added.

The pour, into a room temperature mug...next time it'll be frosty, but I don't normally freeze my mugs...results in a rather flat looking beer. It is noisy enough. Everyone thought it would have a massive root beer head, but no, nothing.

But this had absolutely no effect on the flavor. The root beer was still actively bubbly in the glass and the mouth. I smelled vanilla first. After that came the traditional root beer smell, but nothing strong.

The taste was everywhere, yet cohesive. The sugar was pure and prominent, and the flavors come through all packed together. The wintergreen (kind of peppermint Lifesaver) lingers on the tongue.

This is very rewarding root beer. The sweetness is not cloying. The flavors are diverse and interesting. And the licorice and anise, while present, are subdued. This isn't Sambuca, after all.

My scores:

Presentation/Appearance - 6/10 Not too impressive in the glass, but points for the swing-top bottle.

Smell/Odor/Aroma - 7/10 Definitely above average. Lots of vanilla made me afraid it would be out of balance.

Taste/Flavor - 9/10 I just can't give a 10 with my first post. I'll reconsider this score at a future date. This is a great root beer, but I need to revisit Thomas Kemper. That is a root beer that I dearly love.

Finish/Satisfaction - 8/10 The fresh wintergreen finish was outstanding. The cane sugar lingers on, too. I was hoping other flavors would assert themselves, though.

Overall - 8.25/10 A great drink.

What a way to start. You cannot go wrong with Virgil's Root Beer.

If you've had this or other Virgil's soft drinks, please let me know in the comments.

The PW Method

We're going to keep this as simple as we can. Drinks are photo- graphed, along with any applicable container and presented alongside a review. If necessary, a little background on the beverage, company, history, or other miscellany is also included.

The beverage is reviewed on four totally subjective measures:

Presentation/Appearance -- How does it look? How pleasing is the container, if applicable? Is it inviting? Aesthetically pleasing? This accounts for no more than 5% of the score.

Smell/Odor/Aroma -- The nose, that is. How does the beverage smell? Does a fruit infused drink smell like the fruit? Sour is ok, if the drink is supposed to be sour. Once again, is the smell inviting? Does it match the beverage? Aroma accounts for 15% of the total score.

Taste -- This is the single most important factor in a rating and it is highly subjective. I'll do my best to describe what I am tasting. This accounts for 50% of the score.

Satisfaction/Enjoyability -- This is a measure of whether I would want more or readily recommend it. For example, a minty soft drink might have an incredible cold mint flavor, but would I make it a regular drink? Would I say to someone, "You really must try this?" Sometimes delicious drinks can be too intense, or too caffeinated or too alcoholic. Again, this is all subjective. And this accounts for 30% of the score.

Scores are based on a scale from 0 to 10. Zero is utterly awful, a very rare score, I would hope. Ten is a euphoria-inducing nectar of the gods sort of thing. I would think this is exceedingly rare also. Five is rather normal. Nothing stands out, not bad, not good sort of thing. I'm sure I'll refine the grading as time passes.

I'll try to maintain link lists to postings based on category, grade, and possibly geographic origin.

Occasionally, I will also do some blind tastings to make sure I am not influenced by packaging and appearances.

Organizing The Potable World

First, thanks to Steve for posting a comment on the water entry and reminding me I have a blog or three that I need to write.

Photography equipment will be arriving shortly so that I don't have to "borrow" photographs on the various drinks that will appear here. The look and feel aspect of the blog is important, too, so there will be a consistent approach to the photos.

The water post was intended to kill time until I was prepared to begin. By the way, I have not kept my promise regarding bottled water. It is just too convenient.

On to what will be included in The Potable World. This blog will be a running catalog of beverages of as many types and origins as I can obtain. Most of these beverages will be canned or bottled,however, some will be sourced from taps, barrels (steel and wood), and animals. The organization of the beverages over time will be by type of drink. If it seems interesting, the geographical source of the beverage will also be used as an alternative organizing principle. I think it will after a while. It is The Potable World after all.

High-level beverage categories are as follows:

Waters

Teas & Tisanes

Coffees

Juices (fruit and vegetable)

Milks

Soft Drinks

Energy Drinks

Beers

Wines

Ciders

Spirits

Cocktails & Mixes (including non-alcohol)

I don't intend to review liquid or near-liquid foods such as soups, broths, sauces, and puddings, unless they are part of a drink. It should go without saying that reviews of liquid medicines will not be included, and that they should never be part of a drink. For example, if someone offers you a NyQuiltini, don't drink it. Leave the party.

The Cocktails & Mixes category is intended to capture the hybrid drinks. Besides traditional cocktails, this would include shandies, nogs, virgin versions of alcholic cocktails, and those random softdrink mixes that kids love to do at soda fountains. I happen to enjoy a splash of lemonade in my Sprite, 7-Up, or Sierra Mist, for example.

For Juices, most will be container versions, however, I will be juicing a variety of fruits and vegetables in order to compare fresh juices to those that are pasteurized and otherwise preserved.

Normally, I don't intentionally drink caffeine, but I will be doing so for this blog. And, I haven'tevolved like most people to where I have the enzyme lactase readily available in my digestive track, so the Milks will present a special problem, but I'll see what I can do about that.

I'm excited and nervous about this. I'm looking forward to things like an intensely hot ginger ale or an exotic fruit juice and I dread buttermilk and anise-flavored spirits (respectively, not mixed.)

In the next post, I'll describe the method and the ratings I'll use. I'll also make a plea for you to follow along and post your ratings. We all have different palates, however slight, and hearing what you think will be the thing that adds value to a simple blog like this.

Let's start with water

In the United States, access to safe potable drinking water is something that nearly all of us take for granted.  If you're thirsty, turn on the tap and fill a glass.

(Or if you're a kid playing outside in the heat of summer, take a swig from that garden hose, after you run the hot water out of it, of course.  Not that I recommend this.  I'm sure there are terrible consequences to prolonged exposure to drinking water from a plastic compound hose that has been subjected to the elements, but, if there is, it didn't stop me as a child.  We had the good sense not to dehydrate ourselves, even if we were too ignorant to avoid potential contaminants.)

So, it seems only natural that water should be the first entry in The Potable World.  It is the primary ingredient in making all kinds of drinks, from juices to alcoholic beverages.  It is the first beverage I have everyday (we'll discover my relationship with coffee later) and the last one I have in the evening.

Before we go further, let's get rid of the "8 glasses a day" myth.  I know of no better debunking site than Snopes.  Check out their take on this nugget of health wisdom.  We only need to replenish the water that we lose.  For most of us, that is about one liter per day.  If you work in the heat, play sports, sweat a lot, etc, then your requirements will be much higher.

We all know what water tastes like.  And, not surprisingly, it varies greatly in taste by water system, well, bottled water, filtered water, etc.  That means that over time, we'll have specific entries regarding various waters here in The Potable World.  Today's post is a bit more general in nature.

Let's deal with the elephant in the room, too.  The big debate over bottled water is twofold: first, is it safer than tap water? (related to this question is whether it even tastes better than tap water) and second, is it a smart way of transporting and consuming water?

There are many studies and reports on the former question.  This one at WebMD sheds a little light on the controversy.  There are many more like this.  Also, blind taste tests abound showing that tap water is not much different, and many times much better than bottled water.

Bottling water and shipping it around the country or the world is probably one of the dumber things we do if we consider that it isn't any healthier or tastier than the tap alternative.  Bottles have to be made from plastics.  Plastics are made from oil.  Water is heavy.  It flows easily through pipes, but needs to be trained and trucked when we capture it in bottles.  We pay far more for bottled water than we do for gasoline.

For alternate views to the above, check the trade sites for bottled water.

Oh yeah, I do drink bottled water.  All of this extra cost and potential waste was never a consideration for me.  It was all about the convenience.  The grab and go aspect of bottled water.

At home, we filter our water from the tap.  We use bottled water for traveling and commuting, sporting events and camping.

I promise that I will stop buying bottled water for routine water usage.  However, I will buy flavored or enhanced waters for purposes related to The Potable World.

In the meantime, I'll buy a plastic jug and fill it with water from my own tap.