Clean cup of Life

Yesterday my Alien and I went grocery shopping, and managed to get some fruits and a couple of vegetables to incorporate into our meals this week. We have been trying to add more and more organic foods into our diet, and have succeeded in getting organic grass-fed free-range chicken eggs every single week. But we've been trying to get our meats and other products more organic as well, or at least as processed-free as we can.

Recently, our health has been struck with a mysterious illness that no amounts of testing has been able to even find, let alone give us a solution for. Alien has cut his smoking by more than half in quantity and frequency, and we have both cut our coffee intake to less than a cup a day. This week, we've only had coffee for ~4/7 days; A huge step given coffee, for most of our lives, has been a main source of 'hydration' so to speak. We don't know that this is affecting our health, but we figured it couldn't hurt to try. We have also both started taking daily vitamins, in conjunction with eating healthier, to try and eliminate any imbalances that could be causing problems.

After returning home last night from shopping, and settling down to a quiet evening without much happening, Alien suggested we go to the Meyer in the nearby city "Just to see what they have", as far as food and furnishings. While there we discovered a HUGE selection of natural, whether organic or not, fresh foods and meats as well as a large refrigerator of juices and healthy alternatives. As I was looking at the various options, I saw a great deal, two of these bottles for $4. This was a great size, and price, to try them out and see how I liked them and if I would be interested in buying them more frequently.

One of the four I picked up was a Strawberry Parfait Breakfast Smoothie. The front boasts 10G protein and 21 vitamins and minerals added. Before even purchasing, I recognized that it said it was a smoothie, and bottled or packaged smoothies tend to have sweeteners added to them. So I checked the ingredients to find one of the three big "secret" artificial sweeteners that are harmful to your health and hidden in EVERYTHING. Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium [Acesulfame K], and Sucrose.

As you can see, none of those are listed. More even than that, the "Magic 10", the first 10 ingredients, are essentially natural products. Score! Also listed, I can clearly see each of the vitamins it says it has added. So far, the bottle is accurate in its advertisement, and not at all artificially sweetened. For those interested in the Nutrition Facts, they will be listed below!

Now that I've bought it, time for the taste test. I refrigerated it overnight to let it cool as it IS a yogurt product, and hot yogurt just isn't appetizing. Bottle instructs to shake well as settling is natural and will happen. Check. Open the VERY tightly sealed cap, and took a small sip.

The consistency is deliciously thick, creamy, and smooth. If one could drink strawberry silk, this would be it. The thickness is similar to straight yogurt, with just a hint of a thinness to let only just enough linger to let you enjoy it a bit longer; Rather than have huge clusters of yogurt-y goodness stuck in your mouth until you drink something else. The taste has a strong first 'bite' so to speak that is the true, honest to nature bittersweet taste of a real strawberry. Not enough bite to pucker your mouth, not so much sweet to make your stomach sick. It is absolute perfection. Companion to that first kick is a soft wheat rolling into your mouth similar to when I would, as a child, eat all the raisins from my bowl of Raisin Bran first, and be left with a heaping bowl of crunchy bran. Trade the crunch for a smooth, delicate, rolling attribute and you have this second-taste. Finally, once those two have kicked your tongue to get you going in the morning, the yogurts taste gets its turn. More than providing the creamy thickness, the yogurt gives a rounded vanilla flavor to the overall taste that finishes it off perfectly.

For taste, I'd give it a 5/5. I can't imagine anything that could make this better.
For consistency, I'd also give it a 5/5. Any thicker and it would stick around TOO long, any thinner and it wouldn't be around long enough.
And for packaging, I'd give it a 10/5 if I could. The entire package is open, honest, and well designed as well as informative.

10/10 would buy!! ;D

I'd like to make a few notes now! These are available in 15.2 fl oz. bottles, meaning you get ~2 servings per container. I say that's a lie, because I could NOT leave this alone. However, the cap is recloseable and so is able to be put back in the fridge though I wouldn't recommend leaving it in there TOO long once opened as this IS a natural product and so spoilable.

Official page for the Bolthouse Farms Strawberry Parfait Breakfast Smoothie

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Bolthouse Farms, or Meyer, and have not been commissioned or otherwise asked for this review. The opinions in this article are that of myself and myself alone and written with the sole intent of providing my personal view on a product I have found and am excited about.