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For me, if I have an easier option, I think freshly squeezed juice is definitely better than all those packaged juice, simply due to the fact that even if they claim that it is “freshly squeezed” , they will always be some way during the process in which vitamins, nutrients or something is lost. The only way to prevent that is go get a fresh fruit and squeeze it immediately. Of course, you will need to drink it immediately as well. Or the vitamins and the nutrients might escape. And manufacturers tend to add some chemicals or heat processing in order to preserve their juice – make money what! Longer shelf life means more profit for them. That is the nature of business. We can’t go much about that. But what we can do is spend money on stuff that we want and would want them to come up with. Yes, in other words, you vote with your wallets. So if you want convenient juices without all trouble of squeezing them yourself but you want them without preservatives or any additives, then you should avoid those brands which do and buy those that don’t. It will encourage them to start producing foodstuff that we want.

So, let me introduce to you this Ashton Valley brand of fruit juices. If you are lazy and do not want to squeeze your own juice, this is the best alternative. It comes without any preservatives and best of all, it is NOT from concentrate – direct crushed juice. Yes, that means no high heat treatment. It is important that we get the juice as fresh as possible.

Photo of the Ashton Valley Crush  Apple & Strawberry Juice in a big glass bottle. Although it looks quite big, it is actually just 1 litre of juice. But very heavy. I had to carry this from Sheng Siong to my house. My arm almost broke off half way.

I like the design of the bottle. And the colour of the juice is just beautiful.

There you have it – Red and Green Apples & Strawberries. Looks so tempting. 100% Australian Fruit. You see the continent of Australia (green and yellow island) on the right? Yes, it is to tell you that it is from Australia.

No added sugar. No added preservatives. No added colour. No concentrate. If a beautiful girl walk pass me, I also no concentrate on work what. I think they meant, not made from concentrate (as in those juices that have been boiled into a thick syrup). Their juice plant is right here in the orchard so the fruit is always fresh. Their juice is crisp and pleasant on the palate and may be enjoyed on its own or as an accompaniment to most good foods. True, especially in warm weathers, this drink is absolutely delicious. Even my father (who doesn’t really like cold drinks) enjoys this.

Oh, this is a product of Australia. Land of Kangaroos. I like Kangaroos too. I mean, who doesn’t? They are so cute till the moment they kick your head off.

Some nutrition information for you to err…absorb. As for the ingredients, they are freshly squeezed apple and strawberry juices and vitamin c! Wow! Very short ingredients list usually mean one thing – less processing and that means healthier food (or drink in this case)! So if you see a product with a long list of ingredients with very weird chemical sounding names, then you better avoid them.

See, there are sediments at the bottom. Proof that it has not been processed at all. Most juice manufacturers will pasteurised and filter their products so that it will look good for their customers. I would prefer all those good stuff in my drink.

If you have any interesting drinks you would like me to review, give me a hoot below.

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Yes, it finally came! 100g of Jasmine Pearl Dragon Green Tea has arrived by mail and I am eager to try it out. As you guys should know, I had bought this 100g of green tea from eBay and it comes with free shipping. Not a bad deal. If I am not wrong, the seller is based in Hong Kong, either that or his own supplier is based in Hong Kong. Probably a very good business transaction. And if you are wondering why I bought this online instead from some local store in Singapore? Well, I guess the main reason is that the prices of high quality green tea is extraordinarily high in Singapore. Much more expensive than if I bought it from overseas. You would expect Singapore, a country with a good majority of Chinese would have some value for money tea stores. But you are wrong. Or I could just not be looking at the right places. The price of this 100g Jasmine Pearl Dragon Green Tea is about S$16. If you can find the same type of green tea in Singapore for the same price or lower, please leave a comment below. I would very much like to know where in Singapore sells such cheap tea.

Anyway, I hope that you guys know that drinking green tea is good for you. The huge amount of antioxidants present in green tea will help you fend off free radicals seeking to destroy your cells. And it taste good too. Every morning, I would have a cup of tea, either green tea or rooibos tea. It is a extremely refreshing start in the morning. Some people drink coffee, I drink tea.

The foil pack the Jasmine Pearl Dragon Green Tea came in. Look at the label if you don’t believe me.

Hmmm….that is one of the pearls. It is actually green tea leaves that have been dried and rolled into a ball and then scented with Jasmine. My friend told me it looks like a moth-ball. I have to agree. lol.

I put them in a metal tin, just like those tea tins you find in the stores. Even Coffee Bean and Starbucks also sell their teas in such tins. My father has tons of these tins in the kitchen. I am sure he won’t miss one. Anyway, from this picture, they look like those eggs which at any moment will hatch some little cockroaches. Eeeeeeek!

As you can see from this picture, the green tea ball is breaking apart in the hot water and slowly the leaves are starting to form. Initially the tea balls will all float on the hot water, but after a few seconds, they start to unfold and most of them will sink to the bottom of the glass. I usually drink tea in those English tea cups, but for this photo I used a transparent straight glass instead so that you guys can see the actual tea.

There, quite a number of the tea had sinked to the bottom of the cup.

Check it out – the tea is ready for you to drink! A bit greenish in colour. But do not drink it immediately. Place your nose on the rim of the cup and take a deep breathe – that’s the wonderful Jasmine fragrance you are smelling. The actual tea tastes quite nice. A refreshing aftertaste and very subtle sweetness , this tea is just wonderful. Of course, it could be because I have been drinking green tea from tea bags all these while that I have no idea how great green tea is actually.

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Vinegar, vinegar, vinegar. Have any of you ever tasted vinegar in raw form before? I know that we Chinese do add vinegar in some of our noodles, but those are mixed with oil, chills, meat, sesame seed oil and other ingredients, so the taste is slightly diluted and changed. I am talking about straight from the bottle vinegar. Yucks, it taste damn gross. Something a bit like Soya sauce flavour but with a much pungent nose-hitting aftertaste. And the smell is just horrible. No one in their right mind would drink vinegar, no matter how diluted it was. I had always thought that vinegar is only good for enhancing flavours and nothing else. Yes, you put them in salads, in noodles and sometimes as a sauce. However, after reading the Internet, I realize that (fermented and un-pasteurised) vinegar can be a very health promoting beverage, though drinking vinegar straight up can be a huge challenge only the brave (like me) dares to take.

If you have been browsing our local supermarkets, you will definitely have seen this Shih-Chuan Fruit Vinegar on the shelves.These are actually fermented vinegar which fruit juice have been added. And some of them actually tasted quite nice. I think that this would be a more appealing choice to consumers rather than drinking just vinegar. Of course, I am not sure whether the vinegar in the drink has been pasturised or not. My emails to the manufacturer has not been answered. So, let’s hope that there is still some health benefit to be gained from drinking this.

Ahhh….this is the Shih-Chuan Plum Vinegar pack. All green. lol!

Another view of the Shih-Chuan Plum Vinegar. Check out all those delicious looking very ripe green plums. Looks good doesn’t it?

Hmmm….ready to drink pack. Yes, that is it. Convenience is all that matters. Plum aroma, sweet and sour taste that moisture(?) your throat and quench your thirst. Remember guys, this is vinegar, rinse your mouth after drinking as it might affect your teeth enamel. You can experiment by placing an egg shell in a bowl of vinegar and checking the result.

Ahhhh….140ml only! The only thirst this drink is going to quench is my baby nephew’s.

The back of the Shih-Chuan Plum Vinegar.

Yes, made in Taiwan. Several of my friends like Taiwanese variety shows. I don’t know why. The ingredients for this drink are water, plum juice, fermented vinegar and fructose. Not sure what kind of fructose this is, but if it is corn syrup, then yucks!

Oh by the way, deposition is a natural occurrence. I guess what they meant is that it is okay to find sediment in the drink, as the fermented vinegar will tend to have some strands of disgusting stuff. But for me, I found no such thing.

Ahhh….the nutrition table for you to enjoy.

Some labels for you to ogle at.

Well, this is one of the best flavours from Shih-Chuan Fruit Vinegar. I love the plum taste. Probably because plum and vinegar goes so well together. Go ahead and try it. Yes, it is a bit on the expensive side, but you will find it a refreshing change from the regular old fruit juice or soda drinks we are so used to.

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It is about time I reviewed this! If you have been reading the various health sites, you will definitely have came across articles talking about the virtues of drinking fermented vinegar. It seems that this is a very popular drink in a lot of cultures, although most of them probably used different types of vinegars. In fact, there are so many types of vinegar out there that I have no idea where the original vinegar came from. We have rice wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, balsamic, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, malt vinegar and so on. Yes, I know, most of us nowadays use vinegar for our salads and nothing more. But hey, it can be a very healthy drink (or so the pundits claim). I being a sucker for all these will have to try it to confirm what they say.

I purchased the Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar. It is supposed to be the most popular and most beneficial of all the available apple cider vinegar out there, as it is unfiltered and unpasteurised, which maintains all the nutrients and amino acids and others which actually makes the Apple Cider Vinegar is “cure-all”. They claim that Apple Cider Vinegar is a very good home remedy for a number of ailments and pains. However, the truth is, there are not much medical research to support these claims. One possible reason is that there are NO big corporations to help fund these research. Unlike those little pills you pop into your mouth everyday (and paid big bucks for), where their supposed big health benefits are supported by “years” of research and studies.

For those who don’t know, Apple Cider Vinegar is made from Hard Apple Cider. Hard Apple Cider is made from fermentation of apples into alcohol, where the sugars in the apples is converted to alcohol by the yeast.To get Apple Cider Vinegar, you then ferment the Hard Apple Cider with something called “The Mother” which converts the alcohol into vinegar. During this process, enzymes, amino acids, malic acid, acetic acid and so on are created. All these have benefits to your body. To read more about the benefits, please refer to this site: health benefits of apple cider vinegar.

The Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar bottle.

Another view of the Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar.

Who is that friendly looking lady on the top? Must be the creator or the boss of Bragg. This Bragg brand is America’s favourite 100% organic Apple Cider Vinegar. It comes raw which means that it is unfiltered and untreated. And that means that all the beneficial stuff that comes with Apple Cider Vinegar is still in the vinegar. That is why you should only choose those vinegar that have not been filtered and treated with heat or pasteurised.

What? What Mother? This contains no preservatives. If it did, I think I will shoot a nasty email to them. Come on, Vinegar doesn’t need preservaties, ever! It itself is some sort of a preservative, so why the need to add any preservatives? Oh, this Apple Cider Vinegar is made from 100% organic apples. Well, this means that you will feel good and happy, but seriously, what really is the difference between non-organic and organic?

Ahhh….aged in wood. So this Apple Cider Vinegar will have a slight woody smell and flavour? Don’t have, smells more like old sweaty socks.

Bragg Organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar is made from the finest, delicious, organically grown apples. Raw Apple Cider is full of zesty natural goodness and contains the amazing “mother” of vinegar which occurs naturally as connected strand-like chains of protein enzyme molecules and is highly regarded throughout history. Bragg’s Vinegar is a way to add delicious flavour to salads, veggies, most foods and even over popcorn. What? Are you sure? Who drizzle Apple Cider Vinegar over popcorn? Those silly health freaks!

Some very cool recipes for you.

Okay, here we have the ingredients list – certified organic Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, diluted with purified water to 5% acidity. There are no information in the nutrition table. I wonder why they put this nutrition table up in the first place? I guess this is to tell you that there are no trans-fat and so on. Oh yes, this is a product of the United States. Yaaah!

Anyway, I have been drinking this Apple Cider Vinegar for about 3 days already. For me, it taste okay, but my family members are very much afraid of the smell of this Vinegar. It really smell like old socks. But I think I am getting used to it. I normally diluted one tablespoon of the Vinegar with some water and add a tablespoon of honey to it. And drink it in one shot. Oh, do not sip vinegar for long periods as it might damage your teeth. Rinse your mouth after drinking the vinegar. I will report back in about 6 months time and see how I am feeling. Ciao!

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