Banal Leakage » vitamin water

I’m a Substitute…

martymankins — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:35:03 +0000

Back when I first started this blog, I did a post that talked about one of my favorite juices – Vitamin Water XXX – and how it replaced my soda intake. I still drink a few of these a week and they are part of my regular store purchases.

XXX – The only way to go

However, there are times when I go to find this flavor and the particular store I’m at is out of stock. Instead of going into a panic and thinking I have to drink one of the other craptastic flavors, I have decided to see if there’s another brand, a substitute if you will, for my adored Vitamin Water.

Life Water by Sobe

In this mass market of competing beverages, it turns out that Sobe has created a brand called Life Water. They have a plethora of flavors, just like Vitamin Water and are about the same price [about $1.59 if you buy them in single form, or $1.00 each on sale]. There is no exact equivalent to the XXX Acai-Blueberry-Pomegranate Vitamin Water flavor, but there is one that’s close – Pomegranate Cherry, or Zingseng as they call it.

This is the only flavor I have tried so far and I really like it. It’s light, not too sweet and it’s got cherry in it. It’s a really good substitute for my Vitamin Water and I’ve been able to find it in most stores I’ve visited. It’s definitely going to be a flavor I will drink and keep around. I may actually purchase it instead of the Vitamin Water XXX flavor if I want a change.

Tilt 8%

Now onto something alcoholic. It’s been some time since I posted about my ~~love~~ like for Tilt 8%, which is pretty much the only beer-like beverage I will consume. But thanks to the wacky liquor laws here in Utah, you can’t buy this brand here. I must purchase as many as I can during my twice-a-year visit to Mesquite, NV. At only $1.30 a can, it’s a great deal.

The quick solution to getting your buzz on

But something has changed. Thanks to a bunch of worry-warts in elected positions, energy beers such as Tilt have sparked a controversy about mixing caffeine and alcohol, despite the fact that most of these energy beverages complied with all of the regulatory rules. In legalese speak, that means they were forced to change the formula. Now my beloved Tilt 8% contains no caffeine, taurine and guarana. Could this mean a change in taste? I had to know.

The can on the left is the new formula – NOTE: contains alcohol – NO SHIT!!

I did a side-by-side comparison, since I still had a couple cans of the original formula left in the fridge. I had to clear the palate between each swig to ensure I wasn’t going to confuse the two. After finishing off both cans [and feeling really good, I might add], I determined that flavor wise, the new formula was a bit sweeter and it had a slight after taste. Not enough to keep me from buying these, but enough to notice something was different. Of course, the caffeine advantage is now gone, so it’s just the 8% alcoholic content doing it’s job [the "get the party started" buzz hasn't changed, thank goodness]. I’ve got at least 20 cans of this left, so we’ll see how repeated intakes of the new Tilt 8% will prove to be…. *hic*

No Soup For You!

Three soups, all the same, but different labels – very confusing

I’m not much of a canned soup guy. Oh, I’ve eaten my fair share of Cream of Mushroom and Chicken Noodle over the years. And I’ve used them to make things like beef stroganoff and turning ramen noodles into more of a meal. But for the most part, it’s not something I consider an entire meal.

But things change when you find the right brand and style. Campbell’s has these Select soups that are actually not bad. Paired up with a grilled cheese sandwich, this makes a cold night at home at bit more pleasant. Although that pleasant feeling goes out the window when you go to restock the flavor you’ve become attached to and it’s not there.

Case in point: Campbell’s is notorious for changing labels on their top-tier soup brands. Take the above photo. Over the course of 7 weeks, the four grocery stores I frequent had these three different soups. Notice any difference? The can in the middle was the one I had been purchasing until I could no longer find it on the shelf. The can to the left is the one that I found after 20 minutes of pulling soup cans off the shelves. The can on the right is the one I found two weeks ago, after looking for the previous label marked “Mexican Style Chicken Tortilla“

WTF Campbell’s… are you trying to deter people from buying your soup? At least the photo used on the left and right cans is similar, which helped. And I’m not against a soup called “Tequila Lime Chicken and Rice“, but confusion is not something I want when looking for a soup.

So what’s the difference between all of them? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. They all taste the same with the same ingredients and flavors. Even the Tequila Lime doesn’t have any lime in it, at least none that I tasted. I now must scout out each one of these the next time I go to purchase soup at the grocery store. Of course, at this point, maybe I should just stick to eating one of my all-time favorite soups – Chili’s Chicken Enchilada soup. See, I can even make a batch of it at home with this recipe I found. Yum! I know what I’m making this weekend.

The best soup ever!

So now the big question is: did I make you hungry?

Scooter Sunday #20

martymankins — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 22:17:54 +0000

It’s time for another edition of Scooter Sunday, back in Salt Lake this weekend, celebrating Labor Day [a national holiday here in the states]. Have I really done 20 of these so far?

Riding Days

I’m doing all I can to ride my scooter as much as I can before Utah’s weather turns too cold to ride. If past years have shown any sort of pattern, there will be various good weather days until the first week of November that will be considered scooter friendly.

Park The Car

It will be one week tomorrow (Monday) that I have not driven my car. The car has sat in the driveway for seven days [I did have to go start it today so I don't go out to a drained battery the next time I need it]. I kind of miss driving it, mostly for the Sirius radio I have installed, so I can listen to the commercial-free music channels and Howard Stern. But I have all winter to listen. For now, it’s scooter time.

“Don’t forget, I can hold more than one passenger”

Scooter Storage

As some of my Twitter posts have mentioned, I use my scooter for small trips to the store and other errands, as long as I keep my list to items that can fit under the seat.

Ready for the goods

As you can see, there’s some decent room in there.

I wear my helmet almost every time I ride. For short rides to go get air in my tires or to run over to my step daughter’s house, I sometimes leave the helmet off, but that is rare.

Got to have the helmet. Don’t want to be an “organ donor”

Food Run

As for my errands, once the helmet is on my head, it leaves a decent amount of room for various grocery items. As you can tell, I can fit more than just one bottle of Vitamin Water in the seat. In fact, I’ve had as many as 4 bottles, plus a few smaller grocery items like yogurt and fruit. I try not to pack too much in there, but I fit what I can. What doesn’t fit, gets put in a plastic bag and fits between my feet on the floor board.

Vitamin Water for the day, Club Soda and Tonic for drinks at night

Even last minute requests from my wife’s five year old granddaughter fit just fine.

I bought them for my wife’s granddaughter… really, I did

Smaller fruits like bananas and strawberries have room, but I had a request from my wife to get a watermelon on my way home from work. She thought I had my car. But it was really no trouble. Just had to find one that was the right fit.

Yep.. that’s a watermelon

And a great fit. Amazing, huh?

Feline Goodness

Even the cat wanted to get in on the game. I seriously doubt she wanted a ride since she never leaves the yard.

WARNING: Do not store internally

Useful, and Kick Ass Mileage, too

Not just fun to ride, but practical for those short trips to the store for a few items. And with another 106 mpg from my last tank, it really is cheap to run an errand or two.

A Tale of Two Juices

martymankins — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 01:34:16 +0000

Almost two years ago, I switched to a new doctor. This new doctor, unlike the previous ~~quack~~ general practitioner, wanted to see how healthy I was by giving me a physical. After some blood tests and an ultrasound, it was determined that I had a fatty liver and a small, or “silent” kidney stone.

During our post-test consultation, we discussed the fatty liver and the kidney stone. He asked me how much soda was I drinking, informing me that regular soda consumption can cause kidney stones. Wanting to be honest, I blurted out. “Maybe 4 cans a day,” which was a good per-day average. He continued, “You really need to be drinking less soda and more water and juices.”

Not wanting to give up my love of soda, but also really believing my doctor knew what he was talking about, I decided to try and ween myself off soda [goodbye Dr Pepper... I will miss you, with the exception of those occasional one-night stands].

Today, I drink maybe one soda a week (mostly mixed with alcohol – Crown and Coke is pretty tasty) and consume more water and juice. I’ve never been a juice person, but last year, I finally found one that I like: Vitamin Water XXX acai-blueberry-pomegranate.

This flavor is great and having tried some of the others, I really prefer this one. I know it’s got some carbs and calories, but who gives a shit about that… it’s the taste that matters, and more importantly, it’s not soda.

But at a buck a bottle on sale and as much as $1.99 at the corner convenience store, regular consumption can start to get pricey. So I started looking for alternatives.

My fiance’s sister makes a trip to Costco on a regular basis. So I asked her to pick me up some Vitamin Water, specifically the blueberry pomegranate flavor. She returned with a 24-pack of Kirkland VitaRain, and there were more flavors than just my favorite.

My first instinct was just to give away the other flavors and only keep their version of the blueberry-pomegranate. But I figured, what the hell, I’ll see what the others are like.

Tropical Citrus – This shit was horrible. Too sweet. Tang has a much better taste than this crap.

Dragonfruit – Not bad. Not sweet and went down pretty good. No carbs, calories or sodium. And packed with vitamins (heavy on the C). It could be a good substitute.

Kiwi Strawberry – Same zero levels of nutrition as above, but a bit sweeter with less vitamin content. It’s ok.

Blueberry Pomegranate – Very close to the Vitamin Water brand. It seemed a bit weaker, but that could just be a taste bias on my part.

And The Winner is…..

* original boxing ring image can be purchased here

Based on the informal taste test I went through, I found there really was no difference between the two brands. But I’m going to have to stick with the Vitamin Water brand since Costco doesn’t sell a case of just the blueberry pomegranate flavor of VitaRain. Although once they do, I may switch over for the purpose of saving a few pennies.

FWIW, the 5 remaining VitaRain Tropical Citrus bottles are going to be placed inside the community fridge at work, hoping someone will take them.