I received these complimentary products for review from Formula PR. I was not paid for the following review. All opinions are my own.
These cocoa drinks are from the same folks that bring you the line of organic Honest Teas. This is a new drink called Honest CocoaNova, which is a brewed cacao infusion made with certified organic and fair trade certified cacao beans. It contains antioxidants and theobromine (an alkaloid similar to caffeine) that is naturally found in dark chocolate. The cocoa drinks are caffeine free and only 50 calories a bottle, making it light drink (with 13gm of sugar per bottle).
It comes in three flavors: Mocha, Cherry and Mint.
I didn’t even get to try the Mocha Cocoa drink. My dad drank it that was probably for the best since that particular one does contain coffee and caffeine in it, which has been something I’ve been avoiding lately.
I did try the other two though – the Mint and the Cherry – and of the two I really preferred the Cherry Cacao drink.
This isn’t really a rich, chocolaty flavored drink. It’s not like chocolate milk or anything like that. The flavor is much more subtle since it’s infused with chocolate – so you get the flavor without the added calories. It’s more of a brewed cocoa drink, the same way you’d brew tea (but with cacao beans instead).
The mint was too weird for my tastes – but then again, I’m not a huge fan of mint flavored things. Peppermint patties are passable, I dislike peppermint candies, candy canes never get eaten by me and the only minty things I seem to like are Andes mints, after dinner mints and mint chocolate ice cream (though never, ever my first choice). So the mint cacao drink didn’t sit well with me – the mint was a bit strong for my liking and the chocolate taste was muddled, so I felt like I was just drinking a weird too minty drink.
The cherry cacao on the other hand was much more balanced flavor to me. And this is surprising to me since I really shy away from cherry flavored things. I have this bad perception that everything cherry flavored is going to taste like awful cough syrup. This drink was just the opposite though – a light, nice cherry taste mixed in with a hint of chocolate. Neither taste was overwhelming or strong and made for a nice flavor in my mouth. I liked that one!
Thanks to Shannon at Formula PR for sending me these samples for review!
