San Pellegrino Limonata
Price: 99¢ plus tax
Serving: 1 can, 11.5oz.
Calories: 180 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 0%, 0mg
Protein: 0g
Carbohydrates: 15%, 45g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 45g
Caffeine: 0mg
Weight Watchers Points: 4 Points
San Pellegrino says: Sparkling Lemon Beverage
Abi says: My local Whole Foods has a terrific deli. Oh, the crepes are perhaps the most horrible crepes I’ve ever had in my life, but the teriyaki and Indian and barbecue and burritos are all pretty darn good. Add the hot bar, several soups, and gorgeous salad fixings and you’ve got my favorite buffet in town. Except for one little problem: no Diet Coke. That’s right, it is impossible to get a Diet Coke at Whole Foods. And most other drinks there are crazy expensive. I like juice, but if I’m eating an entire meal, I don’t want to pay another $4.00 for an Odwalla Cranberry-Lime Drink. Enough is enough!
That’s why I go for San Pellegrino Limonata. It complements just about any meal, is light and refreshing, and at 99¢ is just about the cheapest beverage you can get at Whole Foods and it comes all of the way from Italy. The terrifically short ingredients list doesn’t hurt either:
- Water
- Lemon Juice from concentrate
- Sugar
- Carbon Dioxide
- Natural Flavors
- L-Ascorbic Acid
One thing I should point out is that this drink, which is best described as ’sparkling lemonade’, clocks in at 180 calories. It might be High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, but it isn’t a spa treatment. Of course, you could drink this and pretend that you’re at a spa. In Milan. Resting after watching a fashion show. It makes the lack of Diet Coke more bearable.
Filed Under Lemon, San Pellegrino, Italy, Juice Cocktails, All Natural, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Soda, Four Stars
Izze Sparkling Blackberry
Price: $1.69
Serving: 12oz., 1 bottle
Servings Per Container: 1
Calories: 135 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 1%, 30mg
Protein: 9g
Carbohydrates: 10%, 33g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 33g
Weight Watchers Points: 3 Points
Izze says: In some folklore blackberries symbolize generosity, in others, grief. Ancient Europeans used blackberrie in spells to create wealth, and in old England, a walk underneath blackerry runners was said to be curative. All very interesting, but we just love them because they taste so good.
Abi says: My mom gives me a hard time for drinking soda. Specifically, I have a Diet Coke problem. According to her, the carbonation leaches calcium from my bones and makes osteoporosis and broken hips much more likely in my future.
It turns out that non-caffeinated beverages are not the culprit in bone loss, thus it is safe to continue drinking Izze’s Sparkling Blackberry Juice. This vibrantly colored beverage is available at the following places: coffee shops.
Yes, that’s all. Okay, okay, so once I also saw it in a bar. But I did not order it. Thus it may or may not have existed. Izze beverages are the Schroedinger’s Cats of the juice world.
With a barely discernible blackberry flavor, this Izze juice lacked the tart punch I expected from such a prickly cane berry. Fortunately, the carbonation gives the drink additional zing, rescuing what might otherwise be described as watered-down blackberry juice and elevating it to the ideal mixer for a cheap white wine cocktail.
Filed Under United States, Izze, Blackberry, Juice Cocktails, Fat Free, High Fructose Corn Syrup Free, Soda, All Natural, Four Stars
Diet Coke Plus
Price: $4.99 per 12 pack
Serving: 12oz., 1 can
Servings Per Container: 1
Calories: 0 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 2%, 45mg
Protein: 0g
Carbohydrates: 0%, 0g
Fiber: 8%, 2g
Sugar: 38g
Weight Watchers Points: 0 points
The Coca Cola Company says: Diet Coke Plus is everything you love about Diet Coke, plus several essential nutrients.
We say: If you didn’t know it before, be warned now that we love Diet Coke. In fact, it the most frequently consumed beverage in our office (including water). Knowing this (and discounting the Orwellian name), we thought that our coworkers would rejoice when we brought in some Diet Coke Plus. You know, the Diet Coke with vitamins and minerals. After all, who doesn’t want to feel as though they’re doing something good just by drinking soda?
Our coworkers didn’t feel the same way. One pointed out that the packaging was awfully gay. Not gay as in happy, but gay as in homosexual. And this was a gay coworker, so we felt that he had a definite level of expertise when it came to calling something gay. What makes Diet Coke Plus gay? The rainbow stripe and teal highlights, that’s what. Not wanting to argue that point (really, who cares if a beverage is gay or not?) we were confronted by another coworker who claimed that it wasn’t as fizzy as regular Diet Coke.
Lacking a fizz-o-meter, there’s just no way to verify that one. Also, she isn’t exactly the Queen of Carbonation, so we didn’t give in so quickly on that claim.
What we can tell you is that there’s a very serious reason why we, supreme Diet Coke lovers, bought only a 12-pack of this stuff and never looked at it again: it tastes a bit like Dr. Pepper. This of course leads us to wonder whether all vitamins and minerals, when added to soda, taste like Dr. Pepper. Also, could one add B6 and Niacin and Magnesium to Dr. Pepper without anyone knowing the difference?
Filed Under Contains Aspartame, Zero Calorie, United States, Cola, Coca Cola, Soda, Fat Free, One Star
Diet Coke
Price: $0.50
Serving: 1 can, 12 oz.
Calories: 0 per serving
Fat: 0%, 0g
Cholesterol: 0%, 0mg
Sodium: 2%, 40mg
Protein: 0g
Carbohydrates: 0%, 0g
Fiber: 0%, 0g
Sugar: 0g
Caffeine: 46mg
The Coca Cola Company says: The most popular sugar-free drink in America, it’s the one that started the fun with its clean, crisp, refreshing taste and stylish can. The original drink for people who want great taste without any of the calories, Diet Coke is a classic.
We say: The Imbibable.com office is staffed with a horde of Diet Coke lovers. Plus, we were born of the loins of Diet Coke lovers, so there’s really no way for us to deny the attraction to this stuff. During Washington DC’s horribly humid Augusts, Diet Coke offers an unmatched morning buzz, one not weighted down by milk, or calories. However, Diet Coke does have some unattractive side effects: wearing away of tooth enamel and yellowing of teeth! Not good.
For this reason, we limit ourselves to one can per day. This ensures that we never get tired of the biting, acidic, nearly gut-wrenching kick Diet Coke provides. And we ever get tired of drinking it, the soda is always perfect for a rousing mentos-involving experiment:
Oh, 2006, you were a fun year
[Nutrition information available from The Coca-Cola Company DOWNLOAD PDF]
Filed Under Contains Aspartame, Zero Calorie, Cola, Coca Cola, Five Stars, Soda
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