Stonyfield Farm Organic Strawberry Smoothie
Price: $1.69
Serving: 10oz., 1 bottle
Servings Per Container: 1
Calories: 230 per serving
Fat: 5%, 3g
Cholesterol: 5%, 15mg
Sodium: 6%, 150mg
Protein: 2g
Carbohydrates: 13%, 40g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 38g
Potassium: 14%, 500mg
Calcium: 40%
Weight Watchers Points: 4 points
Stonyfield Farm says: Every delicious sip of this incredibly smooth and refreshing drink delivers all fo the natural benefits of our yogurts - calcium, protein, dietary fiber and six live active cultures. Now that’s a taost to your health. Cheers!
We say: New Hampshire is a pretty fantastic place. After all, it has the best campground in the world (Waterville Valley), plenty of hiking, and is the home of Stonyfield Farm.
Granted, the name 'Stonyfield' makes us think of 'Stonybrook' which makes us think of the Baby-sitter's Club and of course then we have to mull over which character would most enjoy this smoothie.
At first we thought it might be Dawn, the child of California hippies. After all, the smoothie is made with 100% certified organic ingredients. Or it might be enjoyed by Claudia, the sweet tooth of the bunch. She'd certainly be satisfied by the 38 grams of sugar. Considering the huge amount of sugar in this drink, Stacy (the diabetic) wouldn't be able to consume any of Stonyfield's smoothies.
In the end, this drink would be Mary Anne's. It is reasonable and predicatable and reliable, all adjectives that we would use to describe Mary Anne. Sadly, just like Mary Anne, this drink also lacks self-confidence, using beet juice concentrate to add color. Isn't about damn time that we admit to ourselves that strawberry juice mixed with 9 ounces of yogurt does not produce a bright pink drink? Yes, we are adults and we can deal with truth in product coloring.
Thankfully, the flavoring in here is simply strawberry. No scary fake flavors, no Splenda, just fruit. And how could this product be improved? For one, we prefer our smoothies a bit thicker (this one was perhaps too drinkable) and we'd prefer Greek-style yogurt as a base. Perhaps Stonyfield can make some tangy fruit-infused smoothies for adults. After all, even the girls of the Baby-sitters Club had to grow up.
[After beginning on the Babysitter's club theme, we had to reference the Wikipedia article about them when we realized that we could not remember Stacy's name. Or whether ‘Mary Anne’ was one word or two. -Ed.]
Filed Under Probiotic Bacteria, Stonyfield Farms, Strawberry, United States, Smoothies, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Organic, Four Stars
Mayorga Coffee Roasters Americano
Price: $1.90 plus tax
Serving: 12 oz.
Calories: 10 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 0mg
Protein: 0g
Carbohydrates: 0%, 0g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 0g
Caffeine: 150mg
Mayorga says: The perfect espresso will be delightfully sweet, have a powerful, potent aroma, be similar in flavor to freshly ground coffee, have a dark, reddish-brown crema that’s both thick and smooth, be one that you love to drink and inspires you to brew for those who share your passion.
We say: We have to admit that Mayorga’s biggest draw is the free wi-fi. Plus, they offer actual dairy-based creamers, a feature that the Vegan bakery across the street can’t match. Unfortunately, their baristas offer only general destruction when it comes to making espresso-based drinks. The only sure shots on the menu are iced beverages and we often the find the markup on iced beverages a bit much to bear. Well, that and we have lactose issues.
So this weekend, when we needed a place to chill out and browse the shoes at Piperlime (good for looking) and Zappo’s (excellent customer feedback on the shoes), we made the mistake of getting something hot.
The Mayorga Americano is simply so-so. Not brutally horrid, but just the average sort of drink that makes one think “Why did I have to go all fancy. I could have just made a cup of coffee at home.” There’s no clue that espresso was involved in the evolution of this drink. For all we know they brewed a bit of French Roast, topped it with some water, and decided to start charging more. The Americano is a bit bitter and lacks any of the subtle sweetness that should accompany fresh-brewed espresso.
We’re beginning to think that the only draws for this chain (free wi-fi and iced drinks) won’t have enough charm to attract us come winter.
Filed Under United States, Mayorga, Vegan, Coffee, Coffee, Fat Free, Four Stars
Sainsbury's Vanilla Bean & Honey Smoothie
Price: £1.29
Serving: 250 ml, 8.5 fluid oz.
Calories: 246 per serving
Total Fat: 6.8g
Saturated Fat: 4.8g
Protein: 9.0g
Carbohydrates: 37.3g
Fiber: traceg
Sugar: 33.0g
Salt: 0.3g
Calcium:30% RDA
Sainsbury’s says: Silky smooth wholemilk yogurt blended with rich vanilla beans and golden Argentinean honey.
We say: Yogurt smoothies are the halfway house between food and drink. They fill that low-blood-sugar gap that occurs in the late afternoon and taste delicious to boot. This drink is perfect for a ‘Leave me alone I’m having a moment’ comfort indulgence and should not be shared, even with one’s supposed life partner. Requests for sharing will likely be met with glaring and possibly violence as you defend this ambrosia of a yogurt smoothie.
When Sainsbury’s says their smoothies are “silky smooth” they aren’t kidding - if this smoothie was a human it would be the king of cool, hanging out in swank lounges and chilling with all of the fine ladies. Before you know it you’ll be at the bottom of the bottle wondering what happened to all of that deliciousness. Of course, when we got to that point we had a momentary lapse of sanity and considered pulling out a pair of scissors and cutting apart the entire bottle to lick out every last drop. Yes, we’re that desperate.
As an added bonus, Sainsbury’s went the natural route, using the simple ingredients of whole milk yogurt, apple juice (for natural sweetening and thinning the yoghurt), Argentinean honey, vanilla extract, vanilla beans.
We’re not sure why they needed to point out that the honey was from Argentina because it wasn’t sexy or dressed as a bullfighter. So, does provenance make any sort of difference? The non-Argentinean vanilla provides subtle but still strong flavor, combining with the South American honey to give this a comfort food factor of 10. At 246 calories, the size of a ‘diet’ microwave meal, this is an unfortunately hefty drink, but that’s what we get for enjoying something so unbelievably creamy.
Filed Under Probiotic Bacteria, Vanilla, Sainsbury's, United Kingdom, Smoothies, Five Stars
Krispy Kreme Rich Coffee
Price: $1.69 plus tax
Serving: 16 oz.
Calories: 18 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 4mg
Protein: 0.6g
Carbohydrates: 0%, 0g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 0g
Caffeine: 230-350mg
Krispy Kreme says: A refined, aromatic coffee with balanced, rounded intensity. It’s a roast with a simple name, but a complex and robust flavor.
We say: Some people allege that we stop at the Krispy Kreme for coffee because it a) has doughnuts and b) is on the way to work. This is not true.
We stop at Krispy Kreme because their coffee is reliable. That and we have the willpower to resist the doughnuts from Krispy Kreme, especially since the ones at the Dupont Circle store are deep fried somewhere else, trucked to the store, and then simply glazed here. That sort of grossness is simple to decline.
However, their coffee is not easy to turn down. First because it $1.69 for a 16 ounce coffee. While this is a bit much to make the beverage a daily habit (we’ll suffer through the free stuff available at work most days), it is enough to guarantee that one is getting something of a bit higher quality than your standard gas station fare.
You might think that 4 stars is a high reward for providing consistent better-than-gas-station coffee, but if you’ve ever had a job that involves waking up at 4:45 a.m., you understand the importance of routine.
Filed Under Vegan, United States, Krispy Kreme, Gluten Free, Coffee, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Coffee, Fat Free, Four Stars
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Lemonade
Price: £0.99
Serving: 250ml
Calories: 64 per serving
Fat: trace
Sodium: trace
Protein: 0.1g
Carbohydrates: 14.8g
Fiber: 0.2g
Sugar: 12.8g
Caffeine: 0mg
Sainsbury’s says: Lemonade made from freshly squeezed lemons. Sharp yet refreshing.
We say: Summer means summer drinks and you don’t get more summery than old fashioned lemonade. Sadly, society has become accustomed to chemical drinks rather than good ‘ole squished lemons. This drink harks back to a finer age when grandma squashed the lemons from her own back garden. One pleasant surprise in these times of complicated ingredients you need a degree to understand is that this lemonade contains only water, freshly squeezed lemon juice, sugar and lemon pulp.
Sainsbury’s lemonade is sweet initially (but not sickly), with the sour finish expected in all good lemonades. It reminded us a bit of the aromatic honey and lemon one would use to treat a cold. Plus, we were pleasantly surprised to find they’d not sieved it, leaving the elixir au natural with bits of lemon pulp. Reaching the bottom of the bottle we experienced a refreshing sour shiver from that pulp sediment. Due to the strong flavour this is not a down in one gulp drink - and savoring rather than gulping is the point of this lemonade. It’s only ‘fizzy’ nature is the slight zing from the fresh lemons, so you’ll need to look elsewhere for something carbonated.
Instead of the laborious squeezing of tons of lemons you’d need for decent lemonade Sainsbury’s bottled product really does reach the spot. And the complete lack of artificial sweeteners ensures that the taste is pure and fresh, not the chemical aftertaste found in other lemonades. Too bad it’s not a very large serving and didn’t refresh our thirst so much as make us want to drink 2.
Filed Under United Kingdom, Sainsbury's, Vegan, Lemonade, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Juice Cocktails, Four Stars
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