Truvia is crystalline like sugar, not powdered.

Well, Truvia is not that new.  Its been around since 2008.  Based on stevia extracts, its billed as a natural sweetener that looks and tastes like sugar but with zero calories.  Like other non-sugar sweetners — be they artificial or natural — there’s plenty of controversy over whether its good for you, makes you crazy, etc.

For this simple test I didn’t focus too much on the hype.  I just wanted to know how many packs it would take to make a nice glass of sweet tea.

Yes, sometimes I use chopsticks to stir my tea!

To keep things somewhat scientific, I used two of my favorite pre-brewed teas:  Tejava black tea and Trader Joe’s Green Tea.  Both are unsweetened and I love ‘em right out of the bottle.  Here’s the run down as I added Truvia one pack at a time:

1. One pack wasn’t enough.  I could taste some of the sweetness coming through but it wasn’t enough to give me that “sweet tea” taste.  Growing up in the South has spoiled me when it comes to sweet tea.
2. Two packs was just about right.  Contrary to my Southern upbringing, living in California has gotten me used to sweet tea that’s on the milder side of sweetness.  With that sense of taste, I could have stopped at two packs.  But why play it safe!?
3. Ahhhh!  Three packs did it.  Pretty darn close to a sugar-ized sweet tea taste.  I almost felt guilty knowing it was calorie free.

OK, so now I’m going to keep Truvia in mind when I’m considering non-sugar sweeteners.   More guilt-free sweet tea please!

I put out a call for taste buds to my friends Kelvin, Margaret, and Annalise, and the sweetest GF ever Nicole.  Little did they know I was enlisting them to taste some Honest Tea and give me their honest opinions.

Similar to the PomX Tea taste test I did not too long, this would also be a blind taste test with the tasters not knowing anything about the beverage.

With a selection of two teas and two “ades” in hand — some provided by Honest Tea and a couple bottles purchased by me at Ralph’s —  I gathered the tasters in a secluded El Segundo conference room and recorded their opinions.  For reference, the teas are true teas and the “ades” are more like a fruit punch.  Let’s go!

#1 Orange Mango with Mangosteen Honest Ade

Margaret — Yum!  Its sweet but sweeter in the beginning.  Is this peach?

Kelvin —  This is good.  Its mango or something.  I wish it had a little more flavor.  It seems Gatorade-ish.

Nicole — I like it!

Annalise – Note: Annalise didn’t get to try this one because Nicole took the rest of the bottle!

#2 Honey Green Tea

Margaret — This tastes like a traditional tea.  I would drink it.

Kelvin — This is a greeen tea…with some kinda fruit.

Nicole — This dosen’t smell as good as #1.  It has something in the back of the throat.  Some “yuck”.

Annalise — I don’t like the after taste…it taste like “diet” something.  Is this peach?

#3 Peach White Tea

Margaret — It’s OK but I’d drink this quickly.

Kelvin — Hmmmmmm.  This is not good.  Taste like it took on the flavor of the bottle.  It tastes sort of “plasticky”.  How long did you have this before you served it to us? Note:  I had the bottle for just a couple days before serving it to the panel of tasters.  It was also well within the expiration date.

Nicole — No comment. Note:  Really, she said “No comment”.

Annalise — Hmmmm.  OK this is a peach tea.  Better than #2 but really sweet.

#4 Pomegranate Blue Honest Ade

Margaret — GRAPE! This taste a bit more than “just a tad sweet”.  But its good!

Kelvin — This is refreshing.

Nicole — Tastes like communion wine (Note: grape juice!) but without the sweetness.

Annalise — Tastes like grape juice.  Its a little sweet but its better than the others.

Wrapping Up

Wow!  Once again, tastes and opinions were all over the place.  But that just goes to show, ask four people’s opinion and you’ll get four different answers.  That might explain the guesses on peach flavor that were all over the place!

The other thing we discussed were the calories and price.  The tasters that were taking a closer look at their caloric intake — no names! — were pleased with the calorie count for the beverages.  The Honest Ades topped out at a waist-line-friendly 100 calories for a whole bottle (2 servings) while the teas were 85 calories or less for the same amount.

The tasters were a little surprised at the price per bottle, though, when I told them the bottles retailed for about $2.50 at Ralph’s.  However, I bought them on sale for $1 each.  I’ll have to check Whole Foods to comparison shop because the last time I checked there, Honest Teas were going for around $1.50.  I also found out later that Honest Tea offers coupons online.

As for taste, the Ades captured the popular vote.  In the end the clear winner was the grape-forward flavor of the Pomegranate Blue Honest Ade.  All of us agreed that this was one of the best out of the four we tried.  And with a nod from Nicole, the second best in show went to the Orange Mango Ade.

For more information including coupons and nutritional information, check out Honest Tea’s website, http://www.honesttea.com.

The Pomegranate Tea Line-Up.

Oddly enough, Nicole and I had just been talking about the health benefits of pomegranate just a couple days before so coming across the sale was well timed.

To make things interesting, I covered up the four bottles I bought for a blind taste test.  Here’s how it went down:

#1 Pomegranate Wildberry White Tea (Light Tea)

Michael — Definitely a berry flavor but dry in my opinion. Could use a bit more sweetness.
Nicole — It’s OK. Was that a berry flavor?

#2 Pomegranate Hibiscus Green Tea (Light Tea)

Michael — Very light but in a good way. Very refreshing. Almost like a lemonade.
Nicole — Tastes like funk! Plus it has a skunky after taste.

#3 Pomegranate Peach Passion White Tea

Michael — Peach! Smells leafy but the peach flavor seems artificial. I enjoyed the leafy after taste though.
Nicole — This smells worse than #2. Is this Peach? Give me more of #1.

#4 Pomegranate Blackberry Tea

Michael — Full bodied and strong. Almost has a peppery undertone to it. Sweeter than the others but only slightly so. This one’s my favorite.
Nicole — Smells better than #2 and #3. I like this one the best.

Clearly our tastes varied throughout the test but we both agreed on the Blackberry Tea in the end.

Mothers Circus Animal Cookies

Right now I’m digging into a sample of Circus Animal Cookies from Mother’s Cookies.  You may remember these cookies:  crispy, buttery, covered in white and bright pink icing, and sprinkled with tiny balls of colored candy.  Oh, and cut into shapes of lions, camels, elephants and rhinos!  I remember eating and playing with these cookies as a kid.  

They were fun and tasty then…but not so much to me now.

There is a buzz in cookie circles about the come-back of this cookie.  The company has been around since 1914 but went out of business a while.   Kellogs came to the rescue of the brand, though, and brought back the trademarks and original recipies.

Not having had these in years, I wasn’t a regular and I guess I haven’t really missed them.  I must admit, though, I enjoy the crispness, but the frosting is just too much.  The sweet flavor of the frosting overpowers the butter of the cookie.  Perhaps my tastebuds have matured and I’m growing out of my sweet-tooth.  Whatever the case, I’m sure the kiddies around the world will love them!

As for me, I’ll pass.  The cookies are still cute though!

I like the camels best...or is that a dromedary?

Lions, Tigers, and ....Elephants!

I was browsing the beverages in Whole Foods today and came across Honest Tea’s Agave Mate (pronounced MAH-tay).  Being familiar with the other uses for agave (hello!  making tequila), I was immediately curious.

In the case of this tea, though, agave is not the base, its used as a sweetener.  The main ingredient is the yerba mate.  Unlike agave, I have no clue what yerba was used for!

After trying this beverage, though, I can say that agave and yerba mate come together to make some very good “tea”.  It has a pleasant herbal flavor that’s somewhere between earthy and mildly spicy.  The promise on the label – “just a tad sweet” – is absolutely correct.  The tea has just the right balance of sweetness and spice.

While I paired the tea with Whole Food’s turkey sausage pizza, I could see this beverage going great with just about anything.  Priced at $1.25 a bottle, its comparable to most of the other single server beverages in the WF cooler.  I’ll be back for another sample of this and the other Honest Tea mates!

www.honesttea.com