When I was little I just didn't drink water at all. I was all about the fizzy. I drunk my body weight in Coca Cola and if not that, then orange, lemon and pineapple cordial. I ran for my borough, county and school. When I was thirsty I drank coke... water just didn't figure. My childhood was full of coke, cream soda, Kia Ora, and Um Bongo. Yes, I led a tropical life. Actually growing up in inner London, I really truly did.
With those sort of drinks in my bones, it's no surprise that when I finally started drinking spirits I was drawn to Malibu and then later Tia Maria. In fact, I only got onto Lager, and earned my nickname of Lager Lager when it took too long to queue for a drink at the bar in University Fresher's Week and you realised you needed a quantity of drink that would last you longer. Those were the days when I learned the phrase "under the affluence of incohol"! But, I digress...
In the early 1980s, we had a weekly delivery from a man with a fizzy pop truck . That'd see me drinking Cream Soda which was a real once a week treat. I loved how when we were little you could bring glass bottles to newspaper shops and get a couple of pence for returning each one. If you had enough, you could then get some decent penny sweets (which REALLY were a penny back then). A visit to Aunty Anne's would always see me offering to trot up the road with her empties.
Funny thing was, back then we had milk in glass bottles that were delivered to the door, then later collected, washed and used again. Same with our fizzy drinks in glass bottles. If Bewitched is to be believed, then cloth nappies were collected laundered and delivered back for use again. Fruit and Veg was spun around loop the loop, in a way that made you go dizzy, by your veggie man, in a brown (I am sure biodegradable) paper bag.
Yet back then I NEVER heard the word recycling. Our refuse was in small enough quantity to go in a metal round bin with a lid, so neglected now, that the only place you see them is on STOMP.
The soft drink industry took off and we all got very fat indeed, as did the TV dinner, and baking took a back seat. Wow that's a real abbreviated potted history, but that is not what this post is about.
We're now going full circle, and finally the things that hippies have known for years, are becoming common knowledge. The changes in the drinks industry reflect this expansion in knowledge and awareness.
I have been blessed in that a lot of the healthier drinks on the market have found their way to my door, and I want to show you some of the healthy hydration we have been undergoing this Summer, MINUS the aspartame that I am dead against (be careful it has brothers and sisters that take its place, so get wise to what to look out for on packaging).
So what drinks have we been rocking:
First up Capri-Sun
If you've ever thought it wasn't for you and yours, check out the new Fruit Crush range, which is 75% fruit juice and 25% spring water. It's only 18% sugar verus the 22% in an ordinary Capri-Sun. There are no other ingredients than the fruit juice concentrate and the spring water, which is GREAT in our preservatives gone mad culture - I am GLAD the tide is turning. Yes, I am being open that it contains concentrate, as I know some people like to know that. There is however ascorbic acid in the regular Capri-Sun, which is one of the components of the Vitamin C complex and acts like a preservative. I just read up on that on the Vitamin C Foundation - very very interesting.
I reviewed Capri-Sun twice during the Summer. Here where it coincided with a Puppet Show we did outdoors: Fun in the Sun with Capri-Sun and here: where it was Capri-Sun that prompted us to buy a lunch box for #CapriSunSchool which is what finally got Aaron excited about starting School (reception) How to Take the Stress Out of Starting School with Healthy Lunchbox Ideas.
I reviewed Capri-Sun twice during the Summer. Here where it coincided with a Puppet Show we did outdoors: Fun in the Sun with Capri-Sun and here: where it was Capri-Sun that prompted us to buy a lunch box for #CapriSunSchool which is what finally got Aaron excited about starting School (reception) How to Take the Stress Out of Starting School with Healthy Lunchbox Ideas.
Next up, Vita CoCo Kids (and adults)
We've been loving Vita CoCo Kids this Summer - I say WE as we both love it, albeit Aaron only loves the apple and blackcurrant and I like both flavours. Firstly they sent us a cardboard box of them to sample, which was simply adorable packaging (see below) and then we spent over an hour at their incredible stand at Lollibop (see below). We were there till we physically got kicked out by bouncers, asked to leave really kindly so by Security, so it was busy, although it doesn't look it below.
It was the Apple and Blackcurrant that we both favoured.
You know, they now have a dedicated kids area of their website: Vita Coco Kids Club.
Welcome to the Vita Coco Kids Club. Here you’ll be able to register to receive your free Rainforest Animals Height Chart and set up your own Coconut Shy where you can play with Monkey to win some great prizes.
We were sent a BEAUTIFUL real WOODEN crate (below), again by Vita Coco (unlike the woodwork effect you see above) once again containing Vita Coco samples. Delish! Thanks very much. So funny that they mention a Monkey, as we do happen to have two of those, thanks to being allowed to take them away from a great Ice Cream Sandwich event we went to a few weeks ago in Covent Garden :-)
Coca-Cola Life
The other thing we have been sent this Summer is a crate of Coca Cola, again wooden. I love it. It contained (1) a can of regular Coke (2) a Coke Zero (3) a Diet Coke and (4) a Coca Cola Life, the last of which was by far my favourite.
Their marketing doesn't mention STEVIA much, but that is the exciting NATURAL sweetener that they speak of. Us hippies have known about stevia for several decades, and I am thrilled to see a mainstream company start to use it, whatever their motives may be.
The British Public voted and it seems that they agree with me. Watch this to see which one scored highest in a taste test of REGULAR COKE Vs LIFE.
LoadingWas very excited when a courier dropped this off yesterday. @CocaCola Life with stevia sounds awesome. I get to taste it before it hits the shops #LuckyMe #ThankYou
Their marketing doesn't mention STEVIA much, but that is the exciting NATURAL sweetener that they speak of. Us hippies have known about stevia for several decades, and I am thrilled to see a mainstream company start to use it, whatever their motives may be.
The British Public voted and it seems that they agree with me. Watch this to see which one scored highest in a taste test of REGULAR COKE Vs LIFE.
It's safe to say I loved drinking mine:
Because I mistakenly thought it wasn't in the shops yet I drank the other 3 first and was saving and saving and saving the Life, but as above, I did eventually enjoy it and have bought it several times since! Tick!
Water Our Way from Mum Kind
Mixed berry flavour water Enhancer 30ml (makes 10 drinks) £2.99
Sometimes, one of the best ways to get hydrated, is to drink WATER, good old WATER, but the cost of bottled water soon adds up and all those blasted plastic bottles piling up *sigh* so I was thrilled to be sent this to try:
The Q and A area of Mum Kind's website states:
A squeeze (3ml) of Water Our way adds a natural berry flavour to water and has 17% RDA of a blend of B vitamins to help you feel less tired. We recommend 1-5 drinks per day (about half a bottle / 15 ml is fine).
I have a few drops in a huge Ikea tankard (as below) and it tastes so good I am able to down that large "glass" in one go (I am normally feeling foggy and dehydrated when I reach for it, but not so after). I have already gotten through two bottles of Mum Kind Water our Way and want some more!
LoadingDrinking enough water is EASY when you add "Mum Kind Water Our Way" to it #review contains 3 different much needed B vitamins that each provide 17% of RDA
Next up is NURTURE - a drink we adored over the Summer but I didn't get chance to blog about
This is a fruit crush kind of drink, made by I Mune. You can buy them from Tesco and read about them at I Mune Nurture's website If you freeze it, and let it defrost whilst out, you end up with a beautiful slush. Very handy on the HOT days that we consumed them. When it's warm, it doesn't take many squishes between your palms for them to defrost more. We took them on two days out and each time (because they are totally drip/leak free) the children that were consuming them (3 tried) needed help in sucking the drink up, only initially. Once the valve was open they were fine; it's just the initial strong suck to start it off. It is also hard to open them. But once open, once the drink is moving, they are divine. So not a drink for a lunchbox as I think Aaron would need my help, but then they are marketed at 2-5 year olds.
Their I Mune website states:
100% natural fruity water+ immune support to helpkids stay healthy!
Here's us enjoying them:
BOBBLE Water Bottle
This was NOT sent to us to review. I bought and paid for these, at 12.99 each, two of them, from John Lewis (with vouchers I happened to have). We adore them. You change the filter (I think once a month) that is just inside the lid. The water goes THROUGH the filter, literally as you suck it up, which means you can fill it up, whenever and wherever you are, as long as it is drinking water. Free at the point of use, once you discount for the cost of the bottle and filter changes. VERY convenient. As you can see from the condensation in the photo, we like our chilled!
SADLY we have 1 out of action, as I put it in the freezer meaning to just chill it and forgot. When defrosted the bottom of the bottled was permanently convex, so now will no longer stand up *cries*.
So, there's my sum up of the healthy drinks we've been consuming to stay refreshed and hydrated this Summer.
I am not a Doctor, so please don't make any health decisions or take nutritional advice from me. This is an opinion piece.
Where stated, I have been sent the drinks for review, or in the case of Capri-sun worked with Collective Bias.
We drink water as it's so hot here that anything else just doesn't quench your thirst. I would love to try some of that Mum Kind Water Our Way. I do like water but I could use the extra vitamins.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I like about Coke life is that it implies that the original is Coke Death which is something I've long thought.
And finally, I remember fizzy drinks being delivered by the Lemonade man - we always had them as a treat at the weekend (we had to drink a glass of water first, LOL). Also the green grocer swinging the brown paper bags round to close them. I think there was far less wastage back then as we went to the shops almost every day and bought what we needed for one or two days (maybe three at the weekend) at the most. Don't forget that milk, eggs and yogurts were all delivered to the door by the milkman.
Oh I remember the Corona Man who came round in his van every week! Interesting ideas here but I'm a water girl! X
ReplyDelete