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G.L. Alfieri fresh fruit mango nectar: Thick mango drink with a pure and concentrated flavor. Easily consumed in a few gulps. Just realized the name is eerily close to Guy Fieri; realization does not impact score. 3.5/5.0

glalferi drinks mango nectar fruit 3.5 recommended ferrybuilding glalfieri fresh
2016 07 20 20.12.59

Tower Ginger Beer: Soda with poorly designed packaging tends to be very authentic - they're created by small distributors who don't have a marketing/branding team. Tower, a Boston-based soda company that's apparently been around since 1914, falls into this category. Upon further research, I found that Tower was actually founded in Somerville. The ginger beer soda is very strong, with a sharp spicy flavor, but the aftertaste was a bit strange and musty. Somehow, though, this adds to its authenticity. Purch... (read more) 3.0/5.0

soda drinks broadwaymarketplace boston somerville tower ginger beer 3.0
2016 07 19 17.02.07

Shribark Toasted Coconut Caramel Snack: Up to this point, I've avoided this brand of snack from the Media Lab Leanbox, fearing that it was another questionable health-food snack. Lacking alternatives, though, I decided to purchase the bar and was pleasantly surprised. The texture is very good, with a sweet caramel that binds together the granola and seeds that comprise the bar. It was very filling and leaned more towards the candy end of snack bars. Would purchase again. 3.5/5.0

recommended leanbox shribark toasted coconut caramel snack 3.5
2016 07 18 19.05.36

Lotus Foods Shoyu Arare Rice Crackers: Purchased from Whole Foods, this is the second flavor of rice crackers I've tried from the Lotus Foods brand. The product is made with whole grain brown and black rice "sourced from small family farms" (very Whole-Foods-marketing friendly). The rice crackers themselves are more hearty than most and have a distinct soy flavor. Nonetheless, I do prefer the Thai-flavored crackers I previously purchased, and I also prefer rice crackers with a more diverse set of textures and flavors. 3.0/5.0

wholefoods lotusfoods shoyu arare rice crackers 3.0
2016 07 13 18.37.29

Happy Lemon Lemon Jasmine tea with boba: I revisited the Boston location of Happy Lemon to try a citrus-based drink this time around and purchased this beverage at 50% sweetness. The boba texture was very good – firm but still chewy. Much better than other boba options in Boston. The drink itself was highly acidic, which was refreshing but masked any of the flavor from the jasmine tea. Still, a very solid drink. 3.5/5.0

boston drinks recommended happylemon lemon jasmine tea boba 3.5
2016 07 19 00.28.49

365 Honey Flakes & Oak Clusters Cereal: A slightly elevated version of Honey Bunches of Oats, sadly with less clusters but with a more complex honey flavor. Corn flakes retain crunchy texture in milk. A solid breakfast option. 3.0/5.0

wholefoods 365 honey flakes oak clusters cereal 3.0