Honest Tea doesn’t really stand out on the convenience store shelves, which are cluttered with jumbo-size Rockstar and Monster energy drinks, plus a few juice drinks in bright, colorful bottles that are more sugar than anything else.

But Honest Tea does stand out once you compare ingredients. It is one of the few drinks out there that has health benefits and contains a minimal amount of sugar. Out of all their flavors, my favorite is the Pomegranate White Tea With Acai.

This is “a delicious, lightly sweetened blend of antioxidant-rich organic white tea, pomegranate and Brazilian Açaí.”

Your sense of smell is treated to a pleasant aroma, which is more like the fruit than tea. But the taste is the perfect combination of white tea and berry flavors. It actually tastes a lot like white tea I would brew from tea leaves at home, which is a good thing.

The slight pomegranate flavor is kind of like how you can get white tea with peach, pear, plum, and other flavors, except this time you’re tasting white tea with pomegranate and the acai. (I’ve had a few of those antioxidant drinks based on acai berry juice, so I think I know the acai taste… although it’s similar to pomegranate anyway…)

Overall, it’s very nice how that works out. With some pre-brewed teas, the fruit flavor is nonexistent, or it overpowers the tea. Honest Tea gets it right.

Honest has the perfect sweetness, too. This tea is sweet enough that it’s really good, but not overpowering. Any sweeter and it would taste like the crap other companies pass off as tea.

Being organic and natural, it’s just about as healthy as what you’d brew yourself. (Honest Tea white teas have 70-95mg of the antioxidant EGCG per bottle.) It uses organic cane sugar so it could possibly have more sugar and calories than how you’d drink tea normally (if you drink tea without sugar, that is,) but for most people this will probably be just right. Convenient, too.

I enjoy drinking this white tea, and I might even buy it sometimes when I’m on the run. What I don’t like though is anything that comes in 20oz plastic bottles. What a waste of plastic…

Sure it’s recyclable, but that requires that your city or town has facilities for that. My hometown only has recycling facilities for paper, aluminum, and glass, so plastic usually gets thrown out and ends up in a landfill…

So mostly I brew my own tea, and only buy these drinks if they’re on clearance sale or if there is no bulk alternative.

My final verdict is…

This is pretty good stuff, so if you like good tea, you should like this. I won’t be drinking it much, though, because I prefer to brew my own green and white teas at home. (Brewing your own tea is cheaper, fresher, and doesn’t waste little plastic bottles.)

So I will stick with just a few Honest Ades and teas on occasion and focus on brewing my own tea. But for tea drinkers who want real tea and prefer the convenience of a bottle, I can’t think of a better choice than Honest Tea.

Official website: honesttea.com (White Tea w/ Acai page)

[Click here if you would like to get your product reviewed on CoachLevi.com.]

When it comes to healthy refreshment, one name that comes to mind is the Honest Tea company. They produce a variety of organic teas and other beverages, with one being Honest Ade (which is a great addition to their teas.)

The two flavors I’m testing today are Orange Mango and Limeade.

Both of these drinks are certified organic and contain just a few, all natural ingredients. You won’t find high fructose corn syrup, sucralose, or other garbage in these.

The ingredient selection also yields a mere 48 calories and 12g sugar per serving.

Honest Ade Orange Mango

The mango is such a delicious fruit and is probably one of the best flavors you can have for a fruit drink, and the Honest Ade Orange Mango does not disappoint.

This is a great compromise between something strong and sugary like Gatorade and the various flavored water drinks. It’s stronger than flavored water and tastes a heck of a lot better, too. The strong flavor is similar to Gatorade, although it’s definitely not as sugary. It just has a full, tasty flavor.

I’d recommend this to pretty much everyone!

But don’t forget the ingredients… take a look at this list and you’ll see that the great flavor is accompanied by great health benefits:

Ingredients: Purified water, organic cane sugar, organic white grape juice concentrate, organic lemon juice concentrate, organic orange flavor, natural mango flavor, mized carotene (for color), organic orange juice concentrate, organic mango blend, Vitamin C (asorbic acid.)

Plus it contains a small amount of Mangosteen for some antioxidants and a natural energy boost!

Honest Ade Limeade

“With twice the fresh-squeezed flavor and half the sugar, our organic limeade is sweetened the natural way.”

I’ve been drinking lemonade my entire life, and I know I’ve had limeade, but I don’t think I’ve had limeade that actually tastes like lime. Until now…

This Limeade from Honest Tea is the real deal - I could actually see the lime pulp settling at the bottom of the bottle!

But even then I wasn’t quite prepared for what I was about to taste. I don’t drink soda, but I am used to sports drinks like Gatorade while I’m riding, so I crave strong flavors. Limeade just didn’t have that strong flavor.

All the Honest Tea labels say “just a tad sweet,” but in this case, I’d say the limeade is “just a tad sour.” It certainly wasn’t bad, especially since I like limes, but it didn’t catch me as something I’d drink all the time.

So if you’re used to other fruit juices that aren’t actually fruit juice (but rather high fructose corn syrup with some added flavoring,) this flavor might seem odd. But have a few sips and you’ll probably like it, once your taste buds get past the lack of sugar.

If you’re an existing Honest Tea fan, though, this should be right up your alley. (Assuming you like lime.)

It seems like an acquired taste, because it grew on me as I drank more. By the end of the bottle, I was a full-fledged fan of Limeade! I’m sure I’ll drink it again, but I’ll still go for the mango most of the time.

As expected, the ingredients here are as simple as possible. It is basically water, organic cane sugar, and lime juice.

My final verdict is…

It’s a good bet that anything from Honest Tea will be healthy and taste good, and the Orange Mango and Limeade are certain winners.

I would recommend the Orange Mango (my personal favorite) to anyone. If you like the crispness of flavored water, this has it. If you like the robust flavor of Gatorade, this has that, too.

Hard-core fan of all-natural flavors? Try the Limeade - it’s as real as you can get.

Official website: HonestTea.com (or go direct to Honest Ade)

As soon as I saw those bars, I was sure I was staring at what could be called “the low-price LARA BAR.”

According to the label, it’s an “all natural fruit and nut bar.” When you see the ingredients, you’d swear it was a LARA BAR - it’s a date bar with some nuts added in. Some of the ingredients are even organic, which is pretty sweet when you consider how I found these on sale for $4 a dozen! (At 33 cents each, I got these cheaper than most candy bars!)

The two flavors I tried are cocoa coconut and cashew, pecan, and honey. At first I thought both of them were kind of bland, but after having a few, I’m beginning to enjoy them.

Continue reading for flavor and nutrient comparisons…

Cocoa Coconut

Ingredients: Dates, almonds, walnuts coated with rosemary extract, honey, coconut, cocoa powder.

Simply put, this tastes like a chocolate bar. One of those semi-bland, organic types of chocolate bar. The first time I had it, I thought it was very bland and dry. After having two or three, the taste began to grow on me. I’m not a huge fan of chocolate, so I don’t love these, but they’re not bad. You do taste a little bit of coconut, too, so that adds to the flavor.

As for the texture, it’s more like Chunks of Energy than the LARA BAR, because these Simple Harvest bars are packed with walnuts and other goodies. The nuts and other additions overpower the date flavor and smooth texture. (I prefer the smoother, more ‘date-like’ texture.)

The best way to describe it is a combination of both; not quite as smooth as the LARA BAR, but not as grainy as the Chunks. It’s decent though (and I’d still prefer this over a Clif Bar or Powerbar.)

Coming in at 200 calories, it’s right on par with most energy bars and granola bars.

Cashew, Pecan, and Honey

Ingredients: Dates, pecans, cashews, honey.

On the other side of the taste spectrum we have the Cashew, Pecan, and Honey bar. It is much better, and sweeter, than the Cocoa Coconut, but I wish it had a shorter name. I think something more concise like “Honey Cashew” would do the trick.

Anyway, this bar tastes great and it’s sweet, which must be because of the added honey. I love cashews, too. But even with the nuts, the bar is still moist and chewy.

The soft texture is nice, but it sure goes down quick for being 240 calories. That’s great on the bike, though, when you just want a good source of energy that’s easy to eat. (Don’t you hate it when you waste energy trying to chew an energy bar?)

Overall I loved this flavor and will be buying as many as I can find at 33 cents each!!

Nutrient Comparison: LARABAR vs Simple Harvest Bar

Considering how similar these bars are, I thought it would be interesting to do a little nutrient comparison. On the chopping block we have a Pecan Pie LARABAR vs the Cashew, Pecan, Honey Simple Harvest bar:

Calories:
LARABAR 200, Simple Harvest 240. The 40 calorie difference looks substantial, except that a lot of energy bars vary from 190-240 calories based on the flavor, so this isn’t surprising.

Total Fat:
LARABAR 14g, Simple Harvest 14g. Exactly the same.

Sodium:
LARABAR 0mg, Simple Harvest 5mg. Practically the same.

Total Carbs:
LARABAR 22g, Simple Harvest 29g. This is about the only place they differ. The Simple Harvest bar brings 7 more grams of carbs to the table, which, again, is great for on-bike eating.

Sugars:
LARABAR 16g, Simple Harvest 21g. 5 of those 7 more grams mentioned above come straight from the sugar. (Which would be from the honey in this case.)

Fiber:
LARABAR 4g, Simple Harvest 4g. Exactly the same, once again.

Protein:
LARABAR 3g, Simple Harvest 3g. Exactly the same, yet again.

So overall these bars are pretty close. The LARABAR has a few more vitamins and minerals listed, but perhaps the Simple Harvest bar has them, too. It might just not list them all, because they aren’t that high in any certain mineral. (Plus, the ingredients are so similar, it would make sense.) The only real difference is that the Simple Harvest bar has more sugar content, but it has honey as an ingredient.

Based on that comparison, I’d actually recommend the Simple Harvest bar as an on-bike energy bar. The honey will go to good use, fueling your muscles!

My final verdict is…

These Quaker Simple Harvest Fruit and Nut Bars have a pretty good taste, they’re healthy, and they’re cheap. That’s perfect for me! As much as I love the LARA BAR, I’m always looking for the cheapest option! So, for $4 a dozen, I’m not passing these up!

I highly recommend the Cashew flavor. (But if you like chocolate, go ahead and try the Cocoa Coconut.)

Website: www.QuakerSimpleHarvest.com

* Although I don’t see these bars mentioned anywhere on the site… (Perhaps they were just test marketed and discontinued because they are too much like health food?)

4/2/2008 Update:
I just got word from Quaker and unfortunately these bars have been discontinued!! My advice is to make your way to a Big Lots department store and buy all that you can for $4/dozen!