A Review of New Things I Tried #5 (Beverages Edition)

I don't know how popular these posts are--it is, after all, just me saying what I've tried and how I liked it or didn't--but I still like writing them, so for now I'm keeping this series. Here are my unsponsored, unfiltered opinions of three more things. I'm trying to make these posts have themes now (like last time it was all about sweet things) so this one is all about drinks. Here, you will get proof that I do not, in fact, like everything I try.

1. Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion Herbal Tea

Have you ever noticed how most fruity teas taste very much alike? That's because they're most often hibiscus tea that has some flavoring in it. Any Celestial Seasonings tea that is really hibiscus tea masquerading as something else is a "Zinger." I avoid "Zingers." This tea, it turns out, does have hibiscus in it, and it doesn't taste much like peaches, so I was a bit annoyed, but that's my fault for not reading the ingredients as closely as I could have. The main flavor is not hibiscus, though, and there are other things in it, like chamomile. This tea is better iced and sweetened, at which point it becomes very refreshing.

2. Chobani Chocolate Oat Milk

For this you get two photos, because I was in the mood to show you what the oat milk actually looked like. I wanted to love this--I adore the Almond Breeze chocolate almond milk--and when it went on sale and I had a coupon, I ordered it with my usual grocery delivery. I feel like I need to encourage the little store near me that is bringing me food to expand its plant-based options, after all. But I didn't like this all that much. Some of you know how oat milk yogurt can have a weird gritty quality? This oat milk was gritty, too, and no amount of shaking fixed the problem. I don't think all oat milk is gritty. I seem to recall having non-gritty oat milk at some point in the past. But whatever Chobani is doing to their oats, they're gritty.

3. Kedem Sparkling Blush Grape Juice

I'm not Jewish, but as a vegan I look forward to Jewish holidays because the stores carry fun things that are incidentally vegan. Sparkling grape juice may be easy enough to get in most places year-round, and for me it always was, but these days I can only get this sort of thing delivered around Jewish holidays, and it's usually a kosher brand. This Kedem sparkling blush grape juice is less sweet than the usual dark purple varieties (which are typically made from the sweeter Concord grapes, I think). It was a nice treat. L'shanah tovah!