It's ALIVE - Trick or Treat: Mushroom-based Sodas?

While these are not overtly Halloween-themed, in my mind, they're Trick-or-Treat-adjacent. Stick with me and you'll see.

I don't drink booze, I rarely drink coffee, and I don't do artificial sweeteners or diet beverages. What I DO drink is a lot of water, seltzers, and soda. Soda is my coffee. (Soda is a god. Soda is the breeze in my hair on the weekend.) 

Soda is my go-to caffeine boost, but we all know soda is not good for you, and I do like to make healthier choices when I can, so when I spotted these "healthy" sodas at Lidl I thought this could be a great alternative. That is, if they actually taste good. 

So, healthy mushroom-based sodas, a trick? Or a treat? 

The Cola that fell to Earth - Coke Starlight

I am fighting the urge to obnoxiously yell, "SPACE COKE," the same way Peter Dinklage yelled "SPACE PANTS" in his SNL skit a few years back. 

This is a novelty product. I know it, you know it, Coca-Cola knows it...but I had to buy it anyway. It's Space flavored Coca-Cola. SPACE flavored. What does that even mean? There aren't any descriptors on the packaging, and the press release online boasted a "subtle cooling sensation." Will this be like those cooling Chinese ice cream Oreos I tried a few years ago that were mentholated? (I hope not.) I guess we'll see!

You Bet'cha 'Bucha! - Lidl Seasonal Kombucha

Cranberry Cherry Kombucha 

Aldi used to have this house brand kombucha line that I loved, and my favorite flavor was the cherry cassis, but I haven't seen it in ages. In fact, a lot of my old Aldi staples have been MIA for a while now. No more balsamic glaze, no more pizza pockets, no more 3-packs of onions (one white, one red, one yellow), and now no more kombucha? Aldi, my love, where did things go wrong? 

With prices on the rise, and not being able to find my favorite products, I have been gravitating towards their competitor, Lidl, more and more. Not only does Lidl offer coupons, and mark products down as they near their expiration date meaning you can scoop up items for 30-50% off their already low prices, but they have a very healthy kombucha section with seasonal rotating flavors. Like this one.

I'm on a Tea-Kick Lately (Master Kong Tropical Iced Tea)

Master Kong Tropical Fruit Iced Tea - Hung Vuong

Colorful packaging always wins me over, and this features every color in the rainbow PLUS a bunch of appealing fruity imagery. Other than it being labeled "Iced tea" and having tons of fruit on it, I know absolutely nothing about this product but...

Technology is really amazing you guys. I have a Pixel phone, so I took a photo and ran it through Google lens, and not only did it translate some of the bottle for me instantly, but it reverse image searched and found out that this is Master Kong brand tropical fruit iced tea. (And you can scan the code on the cap for...something. Prizes I presume?) We're living in the future.

 Now that I know what it is, let's see how it tastes. 

Pinkies up! It's Tea-Time - 3 different teas (Lidl & Aldi)

Tea Time

Long story short, I like tea, but my ex was obsessed. He would steep bags of green tea, peppermint tea, jasmine tea, and black tea, all mixed up, for hours at a time. Tea snobs would probably have a heart attack looking at the concoctions he made, but, I enabled him. (My bad.) Especially during the pandemic. 

He went through tea so quickly that last March, when things started shutting down, I stocked up. People probably thought I had a bunker somewhere, but with his heavy usage of about 12 bags a day, what I bought would have been about 2 months worth. Imagine a large kitchen drawer filled with peppermint and green tea bags. Not long after that, he was gone. And here I am, STILL drinking peppermint tea over a year later. (Because I'm stubborn and hate wasting things.)  

I am so sick of peppermint tea. So let's shake things up with some fruity summer flavors from Lidl and Aldi.   

Blue are the feelings that live inside me - Pepsi Blue

Pepsi Blue - 7-Eleven

I wanted to introduce this as a "taste from my childhood" but I was in high school. So it's more accurate to say it's a taste from frizzy-haired-awkward-teens.

I remember getting this from gas stations from time to time, so I was excited for it's return. Just looking at it brings back every lyric to Eiffel 65's, Blue (Da Be Dee.) I had their CD back in the day and used to stay up watching MTV2 on the weekends so I could see their weird music video with CG aliens (along with other animated videos like Daft Punk and Gorillaz.) 

Without further ado, let's drink some Windex Da Ba Dee Da Ba Di!  

Double Dose of Melon Goodness - Haribo Watermelon and Major Melon MTN Dew

Watermelon Haribo & Major Melon MTN Dew

Spring has sprung, literally yesterday, but I'm already craving summer, and nothing says "summer" like watermelon. I have two different products today, one a candy, the other essentially humming bird nectar, who wants to take bets that I'll be bouncing off the walls later? 

Was this a mistake? - Dark Blend Coffee Coca-Cola

Dark Blend Coffee Coca-Cola - Aldi

We heard you like caffeine, so we put some caffeine in your caffeine. (Any of you out there even remember Pimp My Ride?)  Anyway, Coke released a new line of sodas blended with coffee. There are three flavors available: caramel, vanilla and dark blend. That said, my opening line is true, these do have more caffeine than normal Coca Cola, but it's still far less than a typical espresso drink or any of the energy drinks on the market. So their angle  is less about energy boosting, and more about flavor.

I guess there is an audience out there for such a product? Personally, I was really skeptical about the whole mash-up. I thought it would either be so lightly flavored you could barely taste the coffee, or it would be so over the top it would be disgusting. Needless to say, I ended up seeing a 4-pack at Aldi and decided to jump in with both feet. 

So, I have four cans of this stuff (three now that I gave one to my buddy Jared, @farbeyondsippin on Instagram), so let's see how it tastes and what I can do with it!

A Taste of Summer in the Dead of Winter - Peach Hibiscus Kombucha

Lidl Peach Hibiscus Summer Tropics Kombucha

For the record, this isn't one of my "oops, I meant to review this," products. I'm not sure if this is a super early release, or leftover stock from summer, but there was tons of it on the shelves at Lidl and it's not expired. Why not give it a shot? It can be a little taste of summer as I prepare for more snow on Sunday. 

Familiar, Yet Different - Green Tea Ginger Ale

Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale - ShopRite 

Another April impulse buy. I normally don't go to ShopRite, because I'm cheap and prefer Aldi, but during the early days of home quarantine I had a hard time getting groceries delivered to the house, and my ex and his daughter were into things like Mountain Dew and Mio water enhancers, so I sewed a few masks and braved the stores to make a massive grocery run for the household. 

Along with essentials, I grabbed this, and a few other random items thinking they'd be fun to review, after all I'd have so much free time at home that I could get back into blogging again...(poor, naïve, past-me had such good intentions.) Now here I am, 5 months later, fingers crossed it's good! 

The Power of VOODEW 2, Electric-Boogaloo

VooDew 2 - 7-Eleven

Mountain Dew is keeping the Halloween spirit alive with their second Halloween Mystery Flavor, MTN DEW VOO-DEW TWO (electric Boogaloo), and it's just what the Witch-Doctor ordered. (And it's a lot of fun to say out loud.)

I was a huge fan of last year's version. Everything from the label design to the flavor itself was so well done, and now it's back again, this time with a new mystery to solve.

2 Watermelon Kombuchas - Battle of the "Booch"

GT Watermelon Wonder and Lidl's Organic Spring Fling Kombucha  - from Lidl

I live for the summer, but I also adore Halloween, so I find myself feeling very conflicted when the season starts to change, and it's hitting me harder this year than ever before. On one hand, the days get shorter, and the temperature drops, so no more sun and tank tops, but there's Halloween candy and spooky decor to look forward to, which warms my black little heart. 

Why can't there be a real Summerween, like in Gravity Falls? It's like it was custom made for me!

Anyway, I spotted these watermelon themed kombucha flavors at Lidl and thought they would be a fun foodie send off for the dumpster-fire that was summer 2020.

How can something wet, be so dry? (I thought only alcohol could do that?)

Dry Sparkling Soda  - Aldi

I spotted these in the aisle at Aldi and my first thought was, "Ooh, pretty bottles!" Upon further inspection, these bottles aren't directly printed upon, they're covered in these shrink-plastic sleeves covered in delightful watercolor illustrations. Cute, and practical as far as production is concerned, but up-close they're pretty beat up. There are scuffs, nicks, and slashes all over them peeling back the wrapping and exposiing the glass bottle underneath. For something with such a lovely design, it's presentation gets lost in all the imperfections that come with shipping and displaying their item. Still, the concept of a potentially dry naturally flavored fruity soda is intriguing, so I picked the two prettiest bottles to review.   

Then, at the check-out, they rang up for almost five freaking dollars a bottle! A pretty steep price for a beverage, especially at Aldi, but I already committed to giving these a shot so I stuck with it. Now knowing the price, I'll be holding these up to a pretty high standard. Will these deliver? 

Tastes Like Freedom - Mountain Dew Liberty Brew (50 Flavors in one)

Mountain Dew Liberty Brew - Wawa

First off, let me applaud Mountain Dew for creating the blue toilet-bowl-cleaner soda color of my 90's-kid dreams. Visually I am having flashbacks to Pepsi Blue and I am 100% here for it, but as I got closer I realized that it smells like a bomb pop. So American, it's amazing! If there are 50 different flavors here, which I kind of doubt, they all must be fruit-based. Actually, aren't all Mountain Dew flavors fruit based? They don't have a cola flavor, so maybe this is the mixed-fruit-smoothie of all their fruity flavorings mixed into one? (With added blue dye because I am sure the true color of a dew-strocity would be nightmareish to say the least.) 

Time to see if I can taste the Dew-infused rainbow! 

Bougie Aldi Sparkling Water Breakdown

Sparkling Water Party!  - Aldi

We're cutting back on soda, as a household, and we've been looking to bubbly water to curb our cravings, and you know what? It's kind of working.

Although all the sugar and citric acid in soda isn't great, our real reason from cutting back is the amount of caffeine we've been ingesting. Between coffee, tea, and soda...it was just too much and it wasn't helping with our already erratic sleep schedules. (Well rested who? We don't know her.) 

Thankfully, Aldi has a lot of sparkling water/seltzer varieties to choose from including the bougie mainstream brand La Croix. It's been two weeks of bubbly water, so, here are a few of the items I picked up and what we think!

You Put The Lemon in the Coconut? - Coconut Lemonade

LemonCocco  - McFarlan's Market $2.29

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to accompany my mom on a trip to Rome. We saw coliseums, churches, and museums. You know what we didn't see? LemonCocco. 

Now, I'm not calling this beverage a liar, but...it's a liar. The text on the can claims that LemonCocco is THE drink in Rome with coconut and lemon vendors lining the streets, and unless this is some kind of recent development, I call BS declare shenanigans. 

To be fair, pretty much all food items puff up their chests and make these bold declarations to drum up buzz and business, so I can't really fault them for that. (Just like every pizza place claims they have the "best pizza in <insert area here>," or were "voted best in <random publication>.") I can't exactly fly out to Rome and search for street vendors to see if their claims are true, but what I CAN do is see if this drink is any good.

Sippin' on Some Snow Pear, Banging on a Street Light! - Quickie Review

Tropicana Snow Pear Juice - Asian Food Markets

After going to the doctor for the first time in five years....I've been trying to get a little healthier. Don't worry, if I ever do get back to regular blogging (which I really really want to do), I won't be getting all health-foodie on you guys. I just need to start taking better care of myself. Ah, the joys of adulthood. 

I lost 14 lbs. of body weight...and gained 14 lbs. of Pomeranian. Meet Pepper! Jack-Jack's new little brother who we adopted a few weeks ago! 

So, all of my pants don't fit, I have a new pup, my day job has been crazy busy, my tomato plants are sprouting, our Chinchilla is getting more and more snuggly, and I bought a butt-load of cool drinks from the Asian Food Market. That pretty much catches you up on my life, so let's crack open some of these bottles and do some quickie reviews!

Enter the G-Dragon - Citrus Tea with a Pop-Idol Tie-In

Nongfu Tea π Citrus Green Tea G-Dragon (Big Bang Promo) - Asian Food Markets

This line of teas has the BEST illustrations on their labels. Seriously, each one looks like it should be printed onto fabric and turned into trendy clothing and throw pillows. I feel in love with their visuals and reviewed their Peach Oolong tea awhile back, and now I'm back again, this time with a BANG. A Big Bang.

The name is Red, it looks Purple, but it tastes like Blue

Redbull Limited Edition Blueberry - Target $2.09

I tried to find a classy way to work in a blue-bulls joke into the post title...but I failed. 

While I'm out grabbing groceries and doing other boring adult stuff, I like to grab a little treat for my boyfriend. Sometimes it's candy, sometimes it's food, but nine times out of ten, it's a random flavor of Redbull. One of his go-to pick-me-up products. 

We've tried a lot of flavors over the years, but never blueberry, which is rarely ever seen on its own. (Normally it's paired with trendier fruits like acai, or lumped in with red-berries.) Will this taste like real fruit? Or will it taste like blue? We shall see...

Hello, is it Tea You're Looking For? - Iced Tea Flavored Candy

Tea Candy, Classic Iced Tea - Gift from Work

I actually found an awesome Lionel Richie mug with that exact saying at the thrift store. 

Most of you know that I got a new job a few months ago, I'm still a graphic designer, but instead of making business cards and custom invites, I'm working with food! Right before the holidays I received a big gift basket filled with different specialty products, like these tea-flavored candies. They sound really refreshing, so let's get this review started!