You are special. Yes you, dear reader. Mr. Rogers said it. Oprah probably says it. And now a canned sparkling fruit beverage is saying it. Me Sparkling Beverages, made by “Juice Creations Company”, are another addition to the exploding “healthy soda” trend and they want to make you feel good about it. The following is the statement plastered on every can:
“You are many different things rolled into a one-of-a-kind individual. You can be energetic, reflective, outgoing, moody, surprising, and unashamed. You don’t fit a category – you are unique. Now there is a beverage as natural and refreshing as you. Welcome to the new me.”
Apparently you do fit a category (well, flavors) because Me features only four of them: “Uninhibited” (Pink Grapefruit) “Vivacious” (Tangerine Pineapple), “Unavailable” (Dragonfruit Blackberry) Curious (Blueberry Lime). With alluring names like that and only 70 calories a can, I figured I had to try all four.
Uninhibited: This is like if you went to a friend’s house when you were younger and their well-intentioned mother tried to serve you a healthier, homemade version of the always popular citrus flavored soda (Squirt, Crush, Fresca) made with grapefruit juice, sugar and club soda. It tastes more like actual juice than grapefruit flavoring. I’m kind of uneasy talking about friend’s moms and usually the word uninhibited in the same paragraph though.
Vivacious: Vivavious definitely doesn’t recall the acidic fake orange flavor of sodas like Crush or Fanta, but reminds me me a lot of Clementine Izze or a pulpless Oragina. I couldn’t detect any pineapple flavor at all. It’d be a great mixer (alcohol always makes me vivacious).
Unavailable : According to Me (the brand, not me myself), “unavailable” means “The unavailable individual has a strong personality, confident in their position and inner strength. They are a bit intimidating, perceived to be unapproachable, yet they offer a great deal of beauty and insight.” Sounds like a total bitch to me. Coincidentally this was one of my least favorite flavors. Dragonfruit has been really overdone in recent years (much like other “exotic” fruits like pomegranate, acai, etc.) and it doesn’t work very well as a soda. I would have just preferred the blackberry alone.
Curious: This was with Unavailable for bottom two flavors for me. The odd pairing of blueberry lime just didn’t do it – plus there wasn’t much fizz either. Blueberry really doesn’t translate well into drink form; I’ll stick with them in muffins and pancakes, thank you very much.
Tags: Blackberry, Blueberry, Dragonfruit, Grapefruit, Lime, Pineapple, Tangerine
