I have to admit, Ocean Spray’s PACt Cranberry Extract Water intrigued me! I totally fell for their Facebook ad:
A woman doing downward dog outside with her dog and her cranberry extract water. Yup, I loved it and you can even see me comment “Adorable!” on their page.
The Product
I found it at my Superstore for only $1.99 per 473 mL bottle. I got the cranberry pomegranate.
I found the idea of flavoured water with “the power” or PACs (proanthocyanidins) of 50 cranberries fascinating.
I *heart* cranberry juice very much. I often water it down though because it is so strong. The idea of having it watered down but with all those antioxidants was extremely exciting.
The Tasting
At first I LOVED it! Nice and cold and refreshing on a hot day. Then… the aftertaste. The “wait, what isn’t quite right here?” experience kicked it.
I looked at the ingredients: Purified Water, Erythritol (Natural Sweetener), Cranberry Extract, Natural Flavour, Sea Salt, Stevia Extract (Natural Sweetener).
I was not surprised to see stevia, a sweetener I have never liked especially because of the aftertaste. What the heck is Erythritol? Apparently it is very similar to stevia in that it sweetens without significantly raising blood sugar. It is also similar because it apparently has an uncomfortable aftertaste too.
Product Review
Bummer. If only they had made it with just a little natural sugar I would have loved this and would buy it all the time. I know that they are trying to naturally sweeten the drink and keep the calories down (only 10 per bottle) but for me it is not worth it. I wish I could just buy the extract and make my own flavoured water with it.
I rolled my eyes when I saw this on their website. Gluten free? Kosher? “Clean” ingredients? Could they have used more health guru buzzwords? I appreciate what Ocean Spray is trying to do but it comes off as more trendy than it does tasty. What a total shame. I really wanted to love this product and did initially but those natural sweeteners ruined it for me.
I give this product three out of five wooden spoons. A noble effort but left me with a bad taste in my mouth…
When I do downward dog, our pups come right for me.
Bummer about the drink.
That’s quite adorable! I wonder if they know that pose is named after them? Yeah, I was pretty disappointed with the drink.
…so is it because of the after taste or the actual sweetener side affect that turned you off of the product.
Yes, the sweeteners turned me off. I drink cranberry juice all the time so that’s what was causing that affect. Such a shame, really wanted to like it.
When you read that erythritol is the next best thing to an insecticide it made me stop drinking and purchasing this product along with a lot of others, water it will be I guess, so sad!
Woah, I didn’t know that erythritol was the next best thing to an insecticide Lacey! I just knew that it was considered a natural sweetener.
I love the less sweet taste of PACT and order it by the case on Amazon. Can’t get it in stores near me.
It is less sweet, it’s true. Glad you could find a way to get it!