If you’ve been following me on the internet for any length of time, you know I have always been obsessed with finding the perfect refreshing drink, whether it’s long gone Pepsi Blue, Code Red, Ca Phe Sua instant coffee, Starbucks’ much missed Tazo Berry Chai, Dunkin Donuts’ Mango Fruit Blast, and so on. Well, here is a new one, the Bai5 line of antioxidant waters. I was describing my favorite flavor, Congo Pear, the other day and said “It’s got real pear juice and coffee fruit and white tea extract! It’s a water-based drink!” to which someone replied “So it’s pear-flavored coffee tea water?”
Yes it is, and it tastes great.
Bai5 has about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of green tea, but this delivers a gentle, kicky perk-up, not the massive, number-crunching crank of my morning Aero Press coffee. The fruit flavors are all delicious (although I found the Ipanema Pomegranate a little too acidic) and great to hydrate after a night out. I’ve tried Brasilia Blueberry and Panama Peach as well—each bottle has only about 5% fruit juice, just enough to give it some body and flavor, but the flavors are distinct. The sweeteners used are stevia and Erythritol, and leave no aftertaste.
I know I sound like an ad, but this is a really tasty drink. I guess the main reason to drink it is for the antioxidants—free radicals begone. The only problem is that since it’s a water-based drink (yes that is the dumbest thing anyone ever said) you can down it very quickly, and at between $2-3 a pop it isn’t cheap. It’s a little hard to find but you can buy it on Amazon.
As long as I’m mentioning other uses of the coffee bean, I also like Starbucks’ Refreshers, which are made with Green Coffee Extract from the unroasted beans. This debuted during last year’s Comic-Con and luckily they were giving them away for free on my walk to the Con, or I might not have discovered the restorative powers of the Cool Lime Refresher—caffeine and vitamin C in one cup. Perfect for the blogger on the go.
Green Coffee Extract and coffee fruit have all sorts of crazy claims about health benefits…I have no idea of any of them have any factual basis. I just know I like to chug my fruity coffee tea water.
Bai5 sounds like something that my spouse might enjoy; unfortunately, she cannot tolerate artificial sweeteners (or even natural non-sugar sweeteners). We also check to ensure that beverages do not contain aloe or some derivative, as she is alergic to aloe.
I’ll look for it. As an artist who pulls some late nights it’s never bad to have a pick-me-up around the 11th hour. I understand it’s not a complete boost, just a gentle shake. Sometimes that’s all I need. Thus, if I’m really tired then going to bed is the only option.
Also, I’m a fool for tea. I drink plenty of it. This might be a good combination.
I really wish I had seen this article 15 minutes earlier. I just got back from my local sandwich shop and they had a cooler loaded with these. I had been thinking about grabbing one but then wound up sticking with some plain ol’ water. Now im sitting here eating Thai Red Curry soup wishing I had a Bai5 to go with it.
REVIEWS AREN’T MEANT TO BE PUBLISHED ON THE BEAT UNTIL 4PM!!!
I am going to give you a stern ticking off for this, MacDonald
Comments are closed.