just a tad righteous

•••

I am always searching for an alternative to my Cheetos/Diet Pepsi/Nutella cocktail, as I will acknowledge it is perhaps not the best for achieving optimal health. And in snoburbia, you must constantly question and analyze your food choices for corporate responsibility and sustainability. In snoburbia, eating something because it tastes good is verboten.

So I was happy to discover a new favorite: Honest Tea's orange mango,* which has "50 percent less sugar" and contains "mangosteen, a delicious fruit from Thailand." It's organic! I have always diluted juice by at least 50 percent, so this watered down, barely sweet concoction is quite good. And its origins are right here in snoburbia. And they sell it at the snobby deli in Cabin John along with the popped chips and Italian wine. More importantly, Honest Tea "...addresses the needs of economically disadvantaged communities."

•••

* I just noticed that the new plastic bottle has a nearly-3/4-inch indentation hidden in the bottom. Honest.

Comments

[Diana Holquist]

And to think, I was getting my mangosteen from Malaysia. Obviously, subpar.

(If you knew what a mangosteen looked like, you wouldn't drink it. Trust me. Do. Not. Google.)

[AwwwTrouble]

Ha. Didn't you fully read the link? They added that dimple in the bottom a little while back. It was intentional and they used to have that big explanation on the bottle, now in your link. It's the same amount of Honest Tea as before, but having that dimple gives it the structural integrity (or something) to use a thinner, more flexible, easier-on-the-environment plastic for the bottle. Honest to God.

[AwwwTrouble]

Whoops, submitted before I finished my thought. Seriously, the reason for that dimple alone could be an entry on snoburbia!

[Herb]

It was an Honest mistake. You're forgiven.

In all Honest Tea, I read that the high end orange juice which is marketed as fresh and organic at the store is actually stored for over a year in million gallon tanks. Next, to restore it's unique fresh as squeezed taste, flavenoids are added. In all Honest Tea, isn't that a stretch?

[Cavan]

Is it ironic that I have a can of Miller Lite in my hand as I type this? I'm trying to reduce my calories too :).

Though I am drinking a super-corporate mass-produced drink that's not local in the least bit. I'm also loving every sip and can't wait to buy more tomorrow. Then again, I merely live adjacent to snoburbia in downtown Silver Spring...

I tried Honest Tea and thought it wasn't worth the price. I might be preaching to the choir here.

[MattF]

You may jeer, but... Honest Tea's corporate headquarters is located in offices atop the storefronts of Bethesda Row. More snoburban than thou, indeed, more snoburban one cannot be.

[Justafed]

"Adjacent to snoburbia in downtown Silver Spring" is not going to be a phrase you will be able to use too much longer. Actually, you are being over-run even as I type this...

[Danni]

I just discovered your blog and have been reading it all day! Hilarious. While I only moved to the DC area recently, I spent the first 25 years of my life in the Bay Area and the OC (Orange County, not Ocean City like people around here think...). Snoburbs are pretty much the same everywhere. Thanks for the laughs!

[kuri]

I have to wonder - does the manufacturer know the difference between mango and mangosteen?

[Jim Breiling]

Snoburbia ignores sustainability.

Consider the fuel used and pollution generated for making the plastic bottles and then to recycle them (or more frequently add to the ever growing "forever" trash) AND for transporting the filled bottles from bottling facility to store to home (lift a case of bottled liquid -- HEAVY!).

And for what? At what price per gallon?

How about some home made, environmental and financially sustainable, wholesome drinks as the new "in" thing in Snoburdia?

[Queen of the Weezils]

I love me some Honest Tea, especially the green tea versions. I don't care so much about the environmental blah blah blah as the fact that it is the only bottled tea that 1) Doesn't taste like it was brewed with dirty socks and 2) doesn't have as much sugar as a Coke. I don't buy it often, but when I'm out and about, I'll buy it instead of some diet drink.

Oh, and Jim? You're taking the snoburban cake there, for sure. Now that is the kind of enviro-righteousness I expect to find in snoburbia! It'll be the next new thing. I mean, we already all have our Siggs and Nalgenes, right? We just need to squeeze our own juices and brew our own teas, dilute and sweeten them just right, and then tote them around in our reusable bottles instead of water. But isn't it gauche to bring outside food into a restaurant? We'll all have to start getting take-out and eating conspiciously outside so that everyone can see we are being so environmentally awesome with our resusable waters filled with yummy home-made juice/tea.

[Tap Water]

What's wrong w/me? Am I not ecologically sound?

[Milo]

I found a new drink called Man- a - tee. It's darn expensive and hard to find because they use actual Florida Manatee extract to brew it. Drinking it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. See if you can find it at your local health food store.

[kate]

Oh I just love this post! You nail the hypocrisy. I posted about the stupid sh*t I see at Fresh Market (our only upscale grocery in my small southern town) that offers basically a lucky charms kind of cereal that is touted as eco-friendly because it uses "wind-power". What really makes me roll my eyes are all the bottled waters that are purported to raise our IQ's. I say if you have a high IQ you might figure out it is better to avoid disposable plastic water bottles.

[Queen of the Weezils]

I didn't realize orange mango/steen was such a hot topic! Honest!

[Pulp Fiction]

Reuters) - A California woman is suing the maker of Tropicana claiming it is squeezing consumers by touting the best-selling U.S. orange juice as "100% pure and natural" when it is not.

In her federal lawsuit, plaintiff Angelena Lewis said Tropicana Products Inc, knowing consumers "want and demand natural products," deceives them in its advertising and packaging for its Pure Premium juice, including cartons featuring an orange with a straw stuck into it.

Lewis said the unit of PepsiCo Inc actually puts the juice through extensive processing, adding aromas and flavors that change its "essential nature" and give it a longer shelf life.

This deception lets Tropicana charge more than rivals and helps fuel more than $5 billion of annual sales worldwide, according to Lewis, who lives in Vacaville, about 55 miles northeast of San Francisco.

[Jim Breiling]

Coming up as the new "hot" food in Snoburbia: Hemp. Yelp. high in protein, has nature's omega 3- omega 6 ratio, and lots more good things ... but w/o the high; sorry, you still have to inhale burning grass for that.