Naked Juice Blue Machine Boosted 100% Juice Smoothie Review

I was at Starbucks the other day doing some work, when I impulsively decided to review one of the beverages they sell there. I picked up a bottle of Naked Blue Machine Boosted 100% Juice Smoothie which cost $4.27 - way more than I would normally spend on a (15.2 ounce) bottled beverage - so I was certainly hoping that this would not only be tasty and nutritious, but would provide some super-duper fuel for my workout later in the evening.

Naked 100% Pure Coconut Water Review

I'm currently at my folks place visiting for the week which means I have access to more natural foods stores. Yesterday, I dragged the parental units with me to the grocery store and while I was looking around, I saw Naked 100% Pure Coconut Water. They had quite a few flavors such as Lychee, Mango & Pineapple - but I was having none of that. Sorry but Phenom Coconut Water (Reviews) has permanently turned me off flavored coconut waters. So I opted to try the Naked Pure - 100% pure coconut water and nothing else added.

The packaging describes this as being produced from Brazilian green coconuts - and indeed it does taste very similar to if it were fresh and taken straight from the coconut. This is one of my favorite brands of coconut water. And each 11.2 ounce container provides only 80 calories, no fat, fiber or protein and 11 grams of sugars. It's also a good source of potassium (650 mg).

Naked Juice Strawberry Kiwi Kick Review

Picking through the selection of smoothies in the refrigerator case of a convenience store is always a challenge. Despite the fact that most of these smoothies are "all natural" and "100% juice," they're often so high calorie that I steer clear. However, when I have a craving for a smoothie, I look for the lowest calorie one I can find (ideally under 300 calories per bottle). In this case, that was Naked Juice Strawberry Kiwi Kick Energy Smoothie, priced at $3.99 at the airport kiosk where I picked it up.

Like most refrigerator case smoothies, the drink is just slightly thicker than a juice, but not as thick as a real smoothie that you'd blend yourself. The taste was super sweet but also a bit tangy - I found it to be a nice and refreshing combination. On the Naked Juice website, it lists all the fruit inside a bottle, "14 strawberries, 1/2 Kiwi, almost 3 apples and a hint of banana."

Naked Juice Peach Mangosteen Bliss Review

Naked Juice recently introduced their Bare Breeze line, which offers "a refreshing super-premium, 100 percent juice with no added sugar or preservatives." They debuted 2 flavors, Watermelon Chill and Peach Mangosteen Bliss, which is the flavor that I decided upon because the bottle boasts "All Natural 100% Juice" and "A pound of fruit in every bottle." It also details that it contains ¾ peach, ½ mangosteen, 2 ¾ apples, "lots of yummy white grapes", and a hint of lemon.

The most prominent fruit influence that I tasted was the peach, which gives it a sweet, summery flavor, while the underlying mangosteen makes it more tropical. The overall flavor is both refreshing and energizing without being too overpowering. In case you're not familiar with mangosteen, Wikipedia mentions that it is typically advertised and marketed as part of an emerging category of "superfruits" because of it's potential antioxidant strength, but it's nowhere near that of acai (read our review of Brazil Gourmet Acai Nectar).