Um Bongo Tropical Drink - It's back! (Iceland) By @Cinabar

People of a certain age reading this blog are about to go all nostalgic for this Um Bongo drink. It was a staple of my childhood, then it disappeared. I can remember the television advertising and most of the words and tune even though it was from several decades ago. Um Bongo Um Bong, they drink it in the Congo. 

Um Bongo has a bit of a patchy history since then; it has had temporary reappearances and then sadly got discontinued again and again. It is now back and available in Iceland, and I would suggest getting this while you can if you are a fan. If you are new to Um Bongo, give it a try and find out what all the fuss is about. Um Bongo is a mix of many tropical fruits and has a distinctive flavour, which for me is mainly pineapple, but with a lovely mix of mango, passion fruit, and mandarin too. I gave the drink a try, and it did taste like I remembered, refreshing and super fruity. It is like a liquidised tropical fruit salad, and I know the nostalgia helps with my enjoyment too. 

Reading the ingredients label, I could see that the ingredients include sucrose, an artificial sweetener, which I’m guessing used to be sugar in the old version, but with sugar taxes, etc., I’m not surprised if this is a switch. I still loved it, and I will go back for more (while it is still available). 

Bagel Spot & Shake It Well - Birmingham [@NLi10] @bagel_spot

 I try not to go out and buy lunch when in the office - it can get expensive! I bumped into a friend who was unexpectedly on site today and we made lunch plans.  A new Bagel shop has opened near work that's just a little too far to get to and back in a normal quick lunch so we made a special trip.

The shop is small but exactly what you need - and it looked like you could eat in too at the back

And look at those juice varieties - I've only had about half of these before so will have to keep popping back.

£5.99 gets you a stacked bagel of your choosing, and a large portion of freshly cooked fries - a good size for a lunch.  I opted for the jerk chicken - taking a risk on the heat levels by adding spicy mayo.  All perfect - great flavours, definitely worth the walk.

In addition to the can with my meal I picked up a Shake It Well juice - Guava Berry Bravo Juice - which appears to be another Birmingham based juice company (what can I say - we need all the Tropical we can get!).  This was a great companion to the meal and I want to try more of these flavours too.

All-in-all a successful trip - It'll take a great effort to stop this becoming a weekly visit!

Razzberry Bang Juice - Morrisons Market Kitchen (@NLi10)

 

I was next door to Morrisons the other day so I popped in for a look at their 'Markey Kitchen'. The idea is that it's a load of authentic street food stalls - like how you might get a gourmet pop-up appear in a mini-golf or bowling alley these days,

I spotted this half price drink and thought it'd be an exciting review.  I didn't take pictures of the whole set-up (would have been nice!) but they did pizza, chicken and some desert parlour things too.  I already had the evenings meal planned so I stuck with the juice.

I'd been out at the IMAX cinema next door - for the film fest which means that you can see films you've missed for £3.  I went to see The Batman because I'm not a massive DC fan but I do enjoy them occasionally. Shouldn't have been 3 hours though...  

I'm always sceptical that this brings new people into IMAX - yet every time there are people in the wrong row and all confused about it (it really isn't that clear).

The juice isn't that clear either - it's full of raspberry (sorry RAZZBERRY) seeds. 

And well - it's basically freshly squeezed apple juice with a touch of orange and raspberry to add pizzaz - and some acid to stop it going a funny colour due to oxidisation.

Technically there isn't any added water here - but it just wasn't that exciting.  Worth £1.25 but at the full £2.50 I'd have been a bit underwhelmed. Nice flavour and fairly refreshing, and the vitamins probably did me good, but I'll try something different next time.

The Infusionist Mocktails - Pina Colada (Aldi) By @Cinabar

It appears we are at the start of another heatwave in Britain. I don’t look forward to them. A sunny day is nice, but a day that is too hot is just uncomfortable. I’m working too this week, so that doesn’t leave much room for keeping cool. So I’m having myself a cocktail, well the alcohol-free kind; The Infusionist MocktaiI Pina Colada.

This is a fruit juice based drink from the chiller section of the supermarket. It has the flavours of a Pina Colada, with pineapple juice and coconut milk. There is also apple and grape juice in the mix too. It is a slightly milky colour and I poured some into the glass. I feel like to do this properly I needed some posher glasses and a tiny paper umbrella, but I would just have to go with the plain glass.

I gave it a taste and it was delicious. This is such a wonderful fruity tropical flavour. The balance of coconut and pineapple was spot on, it was creamy but also had a nice acidic base giving a tang. I find it super refreshing on a hot day and may go and stock up on some of the other flavours. A nice way to keep cool for the heat wave.

Mangajo - Pomegranate & Green Tea (@NLi10) - Water Juice & Tea all together!

I've already talked about this one before - but it was 9 years ago it turns out!  This doesn't feel like something that could have been around that long - so what did they do right that I just didn't spot?

First of all the health halo on this one is HUGE - Pom & Green tea and no added sugar?  So what is actually inside.

As my past-self's abject disappointment showed - this is water. 11% of the drink is fruit juice (only 2% of which is Pomegranate) and there is 9g of green tea powder per litre.  While that's not much thats possibly enough to give you a boost.

All it really claims to be is hydrating, which is pretty easy.  And it achieves that - see how empty the bottle is?  These juicy waters were all the rage for a time, and still seem to crop up - and this is at least a natural one.

So then - if you fancy a flavoured water, and only want a little one (250ml) and don't mind paying a premium for less chemicals then it's a decent product.  I did enjoy the drink.  And I guess it's low calorie too. 

It's just hard to recommend as a first choice when there are real water, juice and tea usually available right next to these.

M&S Tumeric & Cayenne Shot (@Marksandspencer) by @NLi10

A while back I reviewed a little Marks & Spencer shot drink that was nice but expensive and here is another of the same.

Instead of Kale this one is Turmeric and Cayenne which is supposed to help with inflammation and tastes nice and burny.  Although the bottle front doesn't say this its actually mostly pineapple juice!

91% in fact! Note that there isn't much water in here and it's basically pure juice - which is decent - but you'd expect that for the premium price.

There are a few amazing flavours going on here, and the effect of the little red bits floating in the drink is pretty cool (note to M&S execs - add glitter to a red one of these shots for Christmas and send us some to review).

The flavour is unexpectedly good - the heat from the pepper is just right and the juice actually works - you could use this synergy with gammon and pineapple I'm sure. Again - i'm not sure that I'd buy this myself as I'm usually after a big drink and not a flavour hit, but this is a lot better for you than a lot of the nonsense on the market so it's a reasonable choice.

M&S Charcoal & Apple Shot (Marks & Sparks) by @NLi10

While at the station I noticed these fun little ‘good shot’ drinks in Marks & Spencer’s, but as I wanted a big drink and was off out I just lined them up for a photo and moved on. The kale looks like it had sold out!

A couple of days later and one of my work buddies had picked me up the oddest of the bunch.

And it’s basically 95% apple juice, 2% lemon juice, 2% yuzu juice and some charcoal. Which is all very nice, but it’s just 100ml of apple juice for £1.50 really.

Tastes like apple juice.

Daymer Bay: Pear, Elderfower & Jasmine Juice (Degusta) By @SpectreUK

Staying with my healthy(ish) month, I have this Daymer Bay Pear, Elderfower & Jasmine drink to try. Named after a long sandy beach in North Cornwall, it’s a mix of natural flavours of fruits, plants and water, with no added sugar, is packed full of vitamin Bs, and has no artificial flavourings, preservatives or colourings. It’s also suitable for vegetarians and vegans, and is less than 80 calories for those that are trying to cut a few pounds. So this drink is uber-healthy? Does it sound too good to be true? I don’t know I’m just a blog writer… “What does it taste like?” I hear you ask…
Well on opening the bottle there was a predominant smell of apple juice, which is high on the ingredients, if not in the title. Dominant apple is mixed with pear and elderflower, and a touch of jasmine at the back of the aroma. The pear takes over on initial taste. This refreshing pear flavour quickly mixes with the apple, then a thimble full of elderflower and a tickle of jasmine to finish. This is a tasty drink, though it could be considered as a pear and apple juice with a twist. Refreshing over ice, I’m sure, rather than gulped down out of a bottle between boring meetings in an overly heated office … I’d rather be on that long sandy beach, even in chilly January, and that’s a fact!
Information on the bottle;
The 400ml drink contains 20 calories per 100ml serving (or ‘gulping’ if you’re greedy like me), with less than 0.5g of fat, 4.9g of sugar, and less than 0.01g of salt. For ingredients please see photograph.

Sky tomatoes - does tomato juice taste nicer in flight? (@NLi10)

Recently I saw on a news program a tiny bit mentioning that the umami effect for food was stronger on airplanes, and that this made tomato juice taste stronger. So let’s try it out.

Jet 2 were happy (if not a little confused) to sell me a can of premixed tomato juice ready for a cocktail, but without the vodka.

It has a few things in that may make the taste a little more umami, but as someone who used to enjoy a Bloody Mary I’m used to the flavour - even if it has been some time.

It looks a bit mad on the plane - like I’ve forgotten my spaghetti - but it’s easy enough to try! 

And unsurprisingly it works. It just pops a little more, it’s like the sweetest and saltiest tomato juice ever. Now, science doesn’t really know whether it’s the altitude or the noise of the plane that weakens our other taste receptors but it’s quite a handy fact to have in your back pocket. If you can get Japanese food, or tomato based food on the plane it’ll probably surprise you with its flavour compared to the standard non flying food that you tend to order.

Thor Dry Apple and Ginger Spritz (@DegustaboxUK @thordrinks) By @SpectreUK

I'm still hobbling around on crutches after an operation on my knee and sort of stuck upstairs through sheer wobbliness trying go up and down them. So I asked Cinabar to find me a suitably healthy blog out of all the snacks and drinks I have piled up downstairs. She came back with this Dry Apple and Ginger Spritz, from Thor Drinks, in London. Described as having a 'blend of apple and warm spice', Cinabar probably couldn't have found a healthier sounding drink. However, as I'm up here and she's down there, I'll have to take her word for it!

On opening the bottle there was a pleasant fizz from the carbonated water in the ingredients. There was an instant juicy apple smell from the pinkish liquid inside. The fizz got up my nose sniffing the bottle opening too much to retrieve much more than the mildest of hints from the ginger. Oh well, it did say 'warm spice', whereas I'm used to fire breathing bottles of ginger beer that burn the hairs in my nostrils. No super ginger spice was warned or promised of here, so I couldn't expect any. Having said that, a warm spice there was indeed. This warm spice tickled my nose hairs on first taste which mixed with the juicy sweet apple, and ran straight into the aftertaste. This is a very refreshing, lightly fizzy, tasty apple and warmly spiced drink. I'd recommend over ice, but I haven't been given a bell to ring and my phone is just too far away to hobble to…

Information on the label;
This 275ml bottle contains 69 calories, with 0g of fat, 0g of salt and 15.7g of sugar. Ingredients included; carbonated water, apple juice from concentrate (6.5%), cane sugar, natural apple flavouring, natural ginger flavouring, citric acid, and natural food colourings.

Mangajo Goji-berry & Green Tea (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

Recently Cinabar and her mom have been mad on Smoothies they keep making from a contraption they have in the kitchen. It blends just about anything (including fingers of the unwary) and makes the most horrendous noise. I can hear it outside, or upstairs, or even in the car… anywhere! Shocking! Anyway, I thought I’d get in on the fruit drink game, but without the noise and the weird desire to chew when trying to drink a thick Smoothie.

This Mangajo Goji-berry & Green Tea drink is an infusion of green tea and goji-berry juice. Noting from the ingredients there is also apple and mandarin added. I don’t think I’ve tried anything with goji-berry juice in it before. I know we have goji-berry plant in the back garden that simply refuses to bear fruit. I digress, on smell this still orange coloured drink has a citrusy aroma with strong hints of mandarin. On taste mandarin is a more dominant flavour with goji-berry and apple cutting off the shear mandarin flavour and giving this refreshing drink a more mixed fruity taste. This drink is an innovative step away from the usual mixed red fruits that seems to dominate the shelves in the stores. I would have it again, as it didn’t last long once opened and gave me a quick buzz first thing in the morning.

Information on the bottle;

250ml bottle has 75 calories, negligible salt and fat, and having 16g of sugar. Ingredients included; water, fruit juices; apple, goji berry, and mandarin; green tea infusion, colour; safflower and lemon, acidity regulator; citric acid.

Mello Cantaloupe Melon Drink (Waitrose) [By @SpectreUK]

Looking for a refreshing drink after a stint at the gym I found this Mello Cantaloupe Melon drink. Apparently it’s good for your skin, so the bottle states, and at my age every little helps! It has 100% natural ingredients, with no added sugar, preservatives, sweeteners or water. It’s just pure cold pressed cantaloupe melon juice (80%) and pineapple juice (20%), you could say it’s like a Pareto’s mixed fruit juice punch. And at 31 calories I’d burnt that off in less than 5 minutes on a bike ride to nowhere.
On taste the orange liquid tasted mainly of cantaloupe melon… probably about 80% I should imagine, with about 20% of pineapple juice calming the shear melon flavour down in the background. This is a very refreshing and flavoursome drink indeed, and had a thickness almost akin to a smoothie. I’d have this again as it felt very healthy and different from just having a bottle of regular juice drink.

Flamingo Fling J2O White Grape and Lychee (House of Fraser) [By @Cinabar]

In a step away from the ordinary the new summer edition J2O juice drink is named Flamingo Fling. The name doesn't give much of a clue to the flavour, but it does give a sense of the fun and fruity taste. As does the fantastically decorated bottle! The bottle is amazing, its colourful and very pretty. Flamingos seem very in at the minute, I’ve seen them on everything from novelty sun glasses to t-shirts.
The actual flavour of the new J2O drink is White Grape and Lychee. You don’t often see Lychee flavour drinks so I was pleased to see something a bit different. I took a sip. The flavour of the drink is sweet and very fresh. The lychee offers a new cooling but creamy sweet hint to the flavour and the white grape gives it a fruity burst, but makes it feel quite grown up. There is almost a hint of something floral about the taste, I assume this is from the whit grape, but it felt almost like it had a splash of rose to the taste.
Its quite a complex flavour, but the unusual combination of fruits works remarkably well. It manages to be very refreshing but also very distinctive. This will be the perfect choice for summer barbecues, now that the sun is shining. Excuse me while I don my flip-flops and flamingo sunglasses.

By Cinabar

B.Fresh #Sweetgreens apple spinach lemon kale (by @NLi10)

Asda have started strategically putting some healthier drinks into the fruit and veg aisle - including this wonderful looking thing. I'd seen a few people pick them up and give them a shake and then put them back, so I figured it was worth being the one to give it a try.

This is its initial state, note the green dust at the bottom.

Flip it upside down and you get this (12 sec video)

This looks a lot more menacing, and is a better reflection of the colours. That said this is very much an entry level green drink, it both smells and tastes nice!

Essentially it's apple juice, with a touch of kale and lemon juice which keeps the greens looking green. My own smoothies have a lot more kale in them, and taste a lot less like apple juice, they also smell like Farage (the juice at the bottom of the bin) where as this is much more appealing. 

This doesn't feel as worth the money as some other brands do, purely because it feels too similar to a (good quality) apple juice, but as its a refreshing and uplifting combo I'm likely to have more in future.  There are other versions too, and if they contain things that I don't have in stock at home I may buy one and steal their recipes.

This is cold pressed and not pasteurised so will keep its nutrients, so is perfect for when fresh is not available.

WeSqueeze the Green/Orange/Purple One (by @NLi10)

It seems to have been green drinks week here on FoodStuffFinds, but here I have the full set of traffic lights.

A buddy of mine brought these in to work on successive days and let me have a small cup of each for review purposes. First day was the green one.

Make no mistake, green drinks turn heads - and as this one smelt of bin juice some stomachs too! So what is this?

Well it's clearly good for me as it's got good things in it.

Specifically it's 84% apple juice and purée - but it's the cucumber and kale that give it the haunting smell. Thing is, it just tastes like particularly sweet apple juice! Really quite pleasant and drinkable and one I could have again if I wanted something that looked scary but was basically apples.

Next up we have the orange one which is mostly...

...oh - apples again. This time we have 70% Apple and 20% carrot but it's the mango that shines here even though that's the remaining 10%! It thickens the whole thing and tastes like a Rubicon juice mixed with yesterday's sweet Apple. Probably less drinkable than yesterday, but more refreshing.

Finally we have the red one

Which is called the purple one and is mostly...

...apples! 92% in fact - they weren't even trying here. The strength of beetroot means that like the mango it's been blended to just peak out ahead. Maybe the vitamin c added was to help calm it flavour wise, maybe because the contents here aren't the most nutritious of things compadre to carrots and kale.  A nice sipping drink that isn't as insane as the pure beetroot drinks but can be enjoyed.

So - if you want Apple juice that is pretending to be other things, where all the nutritious pulpy bits of the fruit and veg has been reduced to a more drinkable consistancy then this is for you. I'd rather blend my own and have all the pulp, but then that really is more hassle and not possible when out.

Given a free choice I'd pick them in the order reviewed and take the green first, but the mango is maybe the most interesting of the three and more of a stand out in the flavour category than I'd expected.

Trop50 smooth orange (by @NLi10)

As part of my Tesco meal deal there are many choices, most of them are fizzy sugar water.  I tend to go for the fruit juices as they at least contain a little more nutrition with the naturally occurring sugar.  Here we see a diet version of orange juice. A noble idea, let's see what it's like.

Trop50 has half of the sugar of the normal Tropicana.

So - the diet one is mostly water, and 42% orange juice. They have to add vitamins and colour to overcome the differences. And then they top it off with sweetener.  The real juice has 72 kcal...

The new juice has 32 kcal which is half.

The real question is are we losing half of the nutrients by losing more than half of the juice? We know from Fuhrman that nutrients per calorie is the key and I'm not entirely sure this holds up reliably. Surely having the juice with the orange bits in it is even better than either of these too! Diet food confuses me.

How does it taste though? Not so bad - and very similar to the fortified euro orange drinks that Aldi and Lidl have. It's less sharp than the comparative smooth Tropicana, but it's quite nice in its own way. I'd rather have the maximum bits, maximum sharpness and a much larger portion. That said - 15g of sugar in 150ml is two teaspoons which is quite a lot and more than I'd put in the same amount of tea!  Maybe the sugary drinks tax people have a point.

Overall, probably not a diet solution, but a decent alternative flavour.

Vita Guava Juice Drink (Day In Supermarket, Birmingham) [By @SpectreUK]

Manufactured by Vitasoy in Hong Kong this Vita Guava Juice Drink sounded like a Summery tropical taste sensation. I've drank plenty of tropical juice drinks before and I'm sure guava was in their ingredients, I have also tried a pure guava juice drink in a can by a different make before, so I wanted to see if this little carton was just as refreshing. On first taste I noticed this Vita Guava Juice Drink tasted slightly different. It was not as sweet and syrupy, and had more of a natural fruity guava flavour. I have to admit it was still very refreshing and also refreshingly different than our fruity soft drinks that you can buy in regular supermarkets and corner shops. Give this a try, it's different, refreshing (did I already say that?) and healthy feeling. It's a quick fix step away from the norm.

Information on the carton;
250ml with 125 calories, 0g of fat and 31g of sugar. Ingredients include; water, sugar, Guava purée (minimum 5%), ascorbic acid (E330), natural and artificial flavouring, and high in Vitamin C.

By Spectre

Apple, Pea, Lime and Mint Drink (Marks and Spencer) [By @Cinabar]

I fancied drinking a smoothy, with lots of fresh ingredients. As I was in the town centre I thought I’d have a look at the lovely selections of smoothies and juices in Marks and Spencer. As I scanned the shelf this green drink caught my eye, green because it is flavoured with peas. Now as much as I can appreciate fresh veggies and the new trend of adding something savoury to your smoothy (weirdly often beetroot) peas were still a new one on me. They appealed more than beetroot though, which everyone knows just tastes of soil.

The combination of pea and mint felt like it might taste like a soup but I was hoping the apple and lime would balance things out. I poured it into my glass and it is hard to get past the green colour of the drink, it isn’t that appetising to be fair. It is also quite thick. It smelt sharp but I gave it a sip and discovered the taste was quite sharp too. I think it must be a combination from the lime and the sourness of the apple, but it gave the drink quite a bite. Far zingier than expected. It took a bit of getting used to, but it grew on me the more I sipped. The pea flavour is present but it isn’t too strong, and it is the mint that gives these quite a refreshing tang.
Once I had got used to it I realised that each glass is worth two of your five a day so that is an extra bonus too!

By Cinabar

Pom Wonderful: Pomegranate & Cloudy Apple Juice (Sainsburys) [By @Cinabar]

I am currently recovering from an amazing cold, the kind of cold that really knocked me about. I still completed an ice bucket challenge towards the end of it, but in retrospect this may have hindered my recovery… Anyway I thought it was about time I went for a juice based drink, to top up on my vitamins etc.
Pom Wonderful have a new flavour out, this Pomegranate and Cloudy Apple and I thought I’d give it the taste test. The bottles are very distinctive on the shelf with their bobbly effect, and do feel very tactile to hold.
The drink itself is a deep red colour, and pours quite thinly, definitely a proper juice and not a smoothie hybrid. The flavour is lovely and rich. The dark fruit has an initial sharpness, and lovely bite, but the apple softens this and leaves a very clean feeling after each sip.
I know NLi10 is a big fan of pomegranate juice, and I can see why. Its very refreshing, and has a crisp taste. I liked the addition of the apple as I feel it just gives it a slightly smoother finish.

The lovely folks from Pom Wonderful want to give you the chance to get creative and win a POM cocktail making kit. In order to enter you need to follow this blog via Email, Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook (all the links are on menu on the right).

Then send an email to admin@foodstufffinds.co.uk with COMP in the subject line, AND let me know how you follow us (i.e. your name on Facebook, your email address that subscribes or your @name on twitter or your name on Pinterest).

To see the kit in action have a look at NLi10’s previous post: http://www.foodstufffinds.co.uk/2013/09/pom-summer-cocktails-by-nli10.html

Competition closes 15th Sep 2014

Terms/Conditions
• A winners will be chosen at random
• UK residents only
• Competition closes 8pm on 15th Sep 2014
• If we can’t get in touch with each winner in a reasonable amount of time to obtain an address another winner will be selected.
• If you have any questions about this competition, please send me an email or leave a comment below.

Good Luck Everyone!

Um Bongo: New Mango-Tango (Tesco @UmBongoUK) [By @cinabar]

Recently Um Bongo had a bit of a re-launch, which made people like me rather happy. It is one of those brands that fills me with nostalgia as it was a regular product in my school lunch box! They have now added a new flavour to the range, Mango-Tango and I popped a large carton of it in the fridge to chill. The packaging was very bright and had the usual Um-Bongo logo on the front of the pack as well as all of the usual characters. I was rather pleased to see they had a rhyme on the side of the box introducing the new flavour too. The original Um-Bongo poem is a bit of a cult classic – you should check out the original advert on YouTube!
Anyway this new flavour is introduced by the monkey and the giraffe and is a mix of apple and mango. I’m actually a big fan of mango juice, but it can be quite a difficult one to find, so it is nice to see it being used in this way. Its also quite a full on flavour, so I was keen to see how it worked out mixed with apple. I found the taste was well balanced, and feels very tropical. It isn’t as syrupy as pure mango juice as the apple mellows the sweetness and adds a fresh tangy aftertaste. The mango is the stronger taste, mellow but sweet with the apple just coming in at the end.
It was very easy to drink, with is lovely sweet and fruity tones. It is definitely one I’ll buy again, and I love that it comes in the larger cartons. It makes a refreshing change to the same old cartons of orange juice for the fridge, and adds a bit of tropical magic.

By Cinabar