video review -- watermelon phocus

 Tomorrow, May 16, Phocus is releasing its newest flavor, watermelon. Even though its official release isn't until tomorrow, it was possible to buy it in advance and feel special if you were willing to give Phocus your email address. So, since I'm getting in on this at a time before zero, I figure I may as well do a video review. The same thing happened with strawberry kiwi, which was the prior newest flavor. Except I didn't get around to doing a tasting/review video before the release. so I never posted one. 

By way of background, Phocus is caffeinated flavored seltzer. Each can has 75 mg of caffeine, which I am told is the equivalent of a cup of coffee. As a flavored seltzer, it is unsweetened. So no sugar and no artificial sweeteners.

Looking at Phocus' website, it appears that this is the thirteenth flavor, though I recall there being a "plain" flavor, which I don't see now.

Anyway my thoughts on the new watermelon flavor are above in the video. For the record, it is my new favorite. Below are quick comments about each of the others: I used a random number generator to decide what order to list them in. That seemed fair enough to me.

• Cherry Cola
  Sharon's favorite. Eminently drinkable. Almost tastes sweet
• Strawberry Kiwi
  Pretty good, though the strawberryness is somewhat artificial-tasting
• Yuzu & Lime
  Until watermelon came out, this was my favorite. I guess it still is until tomorrow
• Cola
  Meh. Tastes sort of like watered down cola. It's drinkable, but not much more
• Cucumber
  Yuck. This is by far the worst. I will not drink it under any reasonably-foreseeable circumstances
• Root Beer
  Sort of like cola, only root beer
• Crisp Apple
  Very apple-tasting. I don't really care for it, but I'll drink it in a caffeine emergency
• Mint
  More refreshing than I expected it to be. Not my favorite, but it's pretty good
• Peach
  I don't like peach-flavored things, except those peach gummies. This isn't those, so it's undrinkable. Unless you like peach
• Grapefruit
  I would have thought I'd like this more than I do. It's OK, I guess
• Blood Orange
  Smack dab between Grapefruit and Yuzu & Lime is Blood Orange. It's drinkable, but not a favorite
• Mixed Berry
  It tastes like it should be sweet, even though it isn't.

Anyway, enjoy. Or don't. I won't know. It's kosher, if that matters to you. Actually, it's kosher even if that doesn't matter to you.

ca-fiend!

Being that caffeine is one of most important ingestibles, I am trying to keep track of the caffeine content of various soda products. I've known for a while that Pepsi has more caffeine than Coke, and Dr. Pepper has more than Pepsi. Oh, and Mountain Dew has even more. But at some point it gets difficult to remember the entire heirarchy.

Rather than go to a store and just check all the labels, I have gotten into the habit of checking cans when I either have one (Ssshhhh! don't tell Marina!) or see a friend or colleague having one. The table (so far) is shown in the illustration.

Here are a few comments and notes:

• This is still a small sample (maybe if ,my reader is nice I'll post an update when the list is longer)
• It appears that all products with the same branding (e.g., all types of "Coke" or all types of "Pepsi") have the same caffeine content. I assume that the difference between the 12-ounce can of Coke (2.8333 mg caffeine per ounce) and the 20-ounce bottle of Orange Vanilla Coke (2.8500 mg caffeine per ounce) is due to rounding. Similarly for the difference between Cherry Pepsi and Pepsi (with real sugar).
• For now, this is just about sodas. Not iced teas or energy drinks. I may change that approach if I feel like it.

You're welcome.