After drinking almost half a bottle of the Raspberry Rush and almost an hour later, I tested at 6.4 which is a slight improvement.
A general balanced acidity level is between 6.4 to 6.8 and generally the higher the better, which is more alkaline. I have some strips that you place under your tongue to test your pH level - so I had just eaten some hazlenut wafers and tested slightly acidic at 6.2… I usually am much higher than that. I thought it would be fun to do a completely non-scientific test on my pH level. Make sure you refrigerate the bottle between drinking. With all three, I never drank the whole bottle all at once, it probably depends on the person, but 2-3 times per bottle worked for me. I semi-enjoyed raspberry one, despite the vinegar flavor. I want to make clear that the vinegar flavor really isn’t as bad as it sounds! But you need to know that before you try it because the smell and flavor are pretty obvious. Now I’m drinking the raspberry - which doesn’t remind me as much of a viniagrette so much as the grape, and had the most subtle of the vinegar flavors. I drank a quarter of the bottle and gave it to my dad, who gave it to his trainer after a few sips. Burping up the lemon ginger (I didn’t taste raspberry in it) bitterness is not good when your stomach isn’t right in the first place. I picked the wrong flavor for my tastebuds! Honestly, it was pretty bitter and although it’s not pretty to picture it, it made me belch. I’m thinking it’ll help with digestion and energy so what a good thing to drink. My next try was the Trilogy flavor - this was the day after too much wine the night before. I put the rest in the fridge when I got home because they’re pretty expensive! I can’t say that my stomach felt any better afterwards, but I did feel a slight burst of energy with a little better focus than usual… I tend to get easily distracted usually. I could only drink half of the 16oz bottle. It almost felt like I was drinking a grape vinaigrette. I took a BIG whiff- whoah! Vinegar! The first sip actually wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. But, it’s okay if you want to return them.” Of course, this made me very excited to try it as soon as possible so I opened up the grape flavor right away - with a little spray like I said before since I’m not too graceful. “No.” He smiled and said, “It’s really an acquired taste and it’s okay if you want to return them. He also had a little wild look in his eye and wanted to know if I had ever tried it before.
I first tried Divine Grape because the guy at Whole Foods said that was the most well-liked flavor. Whole Foods had many different flavors and of those I purchased three: Divine Grape, Raspberry Rush, and Trilogy (raspberry, lemon and ginger). I can imagine if you give it a good shake! Don’t! Mine shook slightly in the process of buying and and walking to my car and it sprayed a tad bit. I chose Syngergy because it has fruit juice added and since I read about it before I bought it- I was expecting a vinegar taste…definitely want to decrease the vinegar flavor with juice! I was also aware that it has a natural carbonation - so don’t shake it up! The bottle warns you but if you’re not expecting it and don’t read the fine print on your bottles, you’ll notice the bits floating around on the bottom of the glass and be tempted to shake it. Their website shows the potential benefits. The best choice for me was to try what our Local Whole Foods carries - GT’s Kombucha. You can make Kombucha at home but you first need a starter culture to make it and then be very careful so you don’t contaminate it and make yourself sick. You get the idea, many of the natural health community think it’s fantastic. Also, there are die hard Kombucha fans out there that claim a myriad of benefits. Kombucha makers and drinkers say that kombucha helps the body with digestion with probiotics, its natural detoxification process and helps stabilize PH levels. There are two main types - you can buy the kind with green tea, which is supposed to have some added green tea benefits, or black tea, which is the traditional kind. Like usual, the CDC and the Mayo Clinic advise against it until studies are done proving the potential benefits. Kombucha is fermented tea, therefore, there is a slight amount of alcohol in it. I decided to try Kombucha after hearing and reading so much about it. I’m always on the lookout for healthy additions to my kitchen.