Virgil's Micro Brewed Diet Root Beer

Continuing along the lines of my last blog, here is another drink review. A bit of a background first. I'm always on the search for good tasting, low to no calorie drinks that are healthy for you and don't contain artificial chemical sweeteners like most diet sodas do. Personally, I'd much rather eat my calories than drink them! It's proved to be quite a task to actually find drinks like this with very low to no calories. In the past, I'd found plenty of drinks with calories in the 60 to 100 range, but if you drink 4 of these a day, that would be 240 to 400 calories in drinks alone. While better than drinking tons of juice, that's still too much for me!

I usually shop for groceries at places along the lines of Whole Foods. Up until quite recently, I hadn't found any diet sodas that were super low in calories. Until I discovered Virgil's Micro Brewed Diet Root Beer. This stuff only has 6 calories per 12 oz bottle. And it tastes really great too. It contains no artificial sweeteners at all and instead relies on the plant based stevia and xylitol for sweetness. For those who are unfamiliar, xylitol is a naturally occurring substance that is found in some fruits, vegetables, and other plants. It has the benefits of being good for your teeth and some studies have shown that it aids in the prevention of cavities. Stevia is an herb that has been used in certain parts of the world for hundreds of years. It is completely calorie free.

Because of the use of these two products in the Diet Root Beer, the drink is considered to be a dietary supplement. On the label, it has "supplement facts" instead of "nutrition info". The label also has an illustration of a guy who looks quite a bit like Jesus in a plaid shirt, serving up the root beer to some kids sitting at a table. I guess that must be Virgil though. But he sure does look like Jesus to me.

This diet root beer has a really great flavor to it and has just the right amount of carbonation. Not too much and not too little. It leaves a bit of an aftertaste of xylitol, which doesn't bother me, as I enjoy the flavor. However, some people may not like this. Overall, I think this is a wonderful product and I hope this starts a trend of more super low calorie natural diet sodas being created. Virgil's brand also has diet cream soda and diet black cherry soda available as well, although I have not tried them.

Inko's White Tea

I came across Inko's White Tea about two years ago and have been hooked ever since. It needs to be pointed out that this is an iced tea that has already been brewed. The tea comes in 16 oz. glass bottles. It comes in a wide variety of flavors, but my personal favorites are Honeydew, Blueberry, and Peach. Each flavor that I've tried has a crisp, light flavor that is very refreshing. With only 56 calories per bottle and 14 grams of sugar, this is a healthy alternative to sodas or fruit juices, some of which contain over 50 grams of sugar and 300 calories for a comparable serving size! Plus, tea contains quite a bit of good anti-oxidants which have numerous health benefits.

The only potential downside for some people may be the price. At close to $2.00 a bottle, some might not want to pay that much. However, I personally feel that to get better quality products, we often have to pay more. So it's worth it! If you can't find it in your local grocery store, they'll deliver it right to your door. Check it out!
http://www.healthywhitetea.com/

Life is short.

I haven't blogged in almost a month. Some friends of mine have been dealing with an awful tragedy. They lost a good friend in a bad motorcycle wreck. He was engaged to be married in November and was only 29. I had only met him a few times. (They all live in a different state.) But he seemed like a great guy and I know my friends adored him. This really hits hard. I've never known a person my own age who has died before. When someone young dies, it really makes you stop and think about your own life and the fact you could one day be gone in an instant. May you rest peacefully, Jeff.

On to happier things. I'm planning to write some reviews of several things in the next few days... So, you can look forward to a review of a really good, flavorful iced white tea; diet root beer that's actually good for you and doesn't contain any chemical sweeteners; and another diet soda made with green tea and doesn't contain chemical sweeteners.
Stay tuned...