Drink Flavorings & Juices

I started drinking these Great Value (Walmart) flavor packets a few years ago when the 10 pack was only $1. I think the box of 10 packets are now over $2. There is a Dragon Fruit flavor that I liked, but seldom make anymore, and I have tried numerous other flavors, and other brands, but one combination that I have consistently liked is the following:

Mix the Iced Tea with Lemon and the Pomegranate Lemonade together in water. Then add a little cranberry and orange juice. For some reason I have failed to tire of these flavors mixed together and I drink an enormous amount of this concoction each day. *I even added Mandarin Oranges into this and it works well, but I don’t consistently do this.

I have glass carafes, not exactly shaped as those shown above that I use for this mixture.

NOTE: There is a competing brand of orange juice from the one shown above, but the container is about 7 oz. smaller. However, it took me a long time to recognize that these OJ containers were not the same size, but once I did, I took out my calculator and determined that the 59 oz. carton was just a little cheaper per ounce. I think the pricing you saw was about $3.18 for the 52 oz. carton, and about $3.54 for the 59 oz. container. If they were the same size container, you would buy the cheaper one at $3.18.

ANOTHER NOTE: So, I write the above note this afternoon, and later I go to the IGA to especially buy the Homemaker Premium (orange juice) with Pulp and what a surprise. After a couple of years of carrying the Homemaker OJ, there is none on the shelf, and they have a new, even cheaper house brand of OJ. I bought the new brand, and will see if it has enough pulp and flavor to replace the Homemaker brand. If not, I’ll try to track down another grocer to buy Homemaker from.

ADDENDUM [ 10/09/23 ]: I tried the new brand of OJ and it had a good flavor and had noticeable pulp, so I don’t have a problem with purchasing it again.

There was a Great Value Limeade flavor for a while, but I think that has been discontinued. Strange for me, I didn’t like drinking this at home, but when I carried packets of these in my car, I loved to get a “water to go” and add the Limeade flavor to the water after a restaurant meal. *I guess this GV Limeade flavor packet is in a similar category to the Wasabi Soy Cashews that were/are at Fresh Market. Even though I enjoyed them, not enough other people did.

I was cleaning my apartment and what did I come across, but the “last flavor packet” of the GV Tropical Limeade. Sometimes, they get wet inside and the powder becomes a solid cake, but this hadn’t happened to this packet. I was able to open it, pour the powder into some water and make a last “taste” of the Tropical Limeade. And, as you can see above, I was watching the Cary Grant movie, “North by Northwest.” It tasted good, and I still think I would prefer drinking it after a meal at a restaurant;-)

Let’s throw a reminder in regarding the tea at Smithfield’s Chicken -n- Barbecue. Smithfield’s sweet tea tastes really good. It is sweet and flavorful. Smithfield’s unsweet tea SUCKS, BIG TIME! Their unsweet tea tastes like they use cigarette ashes and water to make it. That is the closest, honest appraisal of their unsweet tea. No amount of sugar or sweetener is going to make their unsweet tea palatable. Why? Hell if I know, but that’s the case. I’ve written at least a couple of emails up their contact/management, and no reply. But I can’t be the only person who has made note of this. I can only think that this must be a cost savings to them… and perhaps the Federal Government should test out the ingredients. They might actually find I am right. “Soylent Green is PEOPLE!” No, “SCNB’s unsweet tea is made from cigarette ashes.”