COMMENTARY: Simple Truth cranberry juice

 

It's extremely rare to find a Simple Truth product that I don't like. Then I discovered their 100% cranberry (pasteurized | no sugar added!) juice.

Saying it's tart is akin to... nothing. It's that damn bitter. I don't know of any good use for it, unless I bring it to the police so they can lob it at looters. Now that would be beyond brutality. Hey, if nothing else, the CIA can use it to interrogate terrorists.

So what is Simple Truth cranberry juice? 

According to Kroger's website, it's a beverage free from 101+ artificial preservatives and ingredients, kosher, pasteurized, and contains 70 calories per 8 oz fl. 

The ingredients are simple, too. Filtered water, cranberry juice, cranberry juice concentrate. 

I'm wondering if there's a fourth ingredient. If Death shat its pants and squeezed the slurry into a container, it would taste like the contents of this bottle. (Remember to refrigerate after opening.)

Simple Truth's cranberry mix offerings are very good. Their cranberry juice cocktail is one of my favorites, for example, so I had positive expectations of this product. I gave th e100% juice a fair chance, sampling it on two different days. Likewise, I used Better Half as a lab rat. His reaction was the same as mine... abject horror. 

How bad is bad? I poured 2 oz into a tumbler this afternoon, then filled it with at least 24oz of cold water. The color didn't lighten much as I added the water. The flavor wasn't at all diluted, either. I kid you not. Go buy a bottle for $4 and experiment for yourself.

I won't disparage the actual cranberry however. It's extremely beneficial to the body. It also lends a tart taste to a variety of dishes. Perhaps this beverage can enhance a dish if you actually don't have access to the raw thing? I honestly don't know. I don't plan on purchasing this stuff again.

 

 

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Still interested in cranberries? Nicole Rees offers some advice about them in Fine Cooking Issue 74 ("The Sweeter Side of Cranberries"). Recipes for these delicious nibbles of heaven can be found all over the internet. Just don't overdo it. There's such a thing as too much cranberry.