Jarritos Tamarindo
Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 11:45AM The other day a reader came up to us, handed us a bottle of Jarritos Tamarindo, and said “This will be the worst drink you’ve ever reviewed.” I was immediately skeptical. “What does it taste like?” I responded. “I have no idea.” He replied. Thus I no longer believed that it would be the worst drink we tried to date. I mean we reviewed liquefied Tofurky & Gravy not two weeks prior. So I asked around to see what people thought of the Tamarindo flavor. Since it’s a popular drink in Mexico I asked those with a higher level of experience with Mexican cuisine. The reaction was very mixed, from “tastes like grape soda” to “I hate it.” The survey just goes to show you that you should just try it yourself, which of course we did on the Popcast: Episode 2. (Now available on iTunes, and the Zune Marketplace) Here for your perusal, is the written review of Jarritos Tamarindo.
The bottle has your standard Jarritos clay pots adorning the label, and the beverage inside is a cider brown. Upon opening the Jarritos Tamarindo I get a whiff of lemon tea. How great would it be if this was a carbonated sweet lemon tea? Let’s drink, shall we?
Immediately it tastes like carbonated lemon tea, seems that I’m a soothsayer. There are few other words I can use to describe it, as this hits it right on the nose. Swishing it around just accentuates the tea flavor a little bit over the lemon. The drink starts out with the mouth feel of an average soda, and then kicks it up a bit with the sharpness that follows. I’d attribute this to the tang of the lemon, but the intensity comes from all sides. The flavor stays with you a little while after you finish your current drink as well. Luckily the aftertaste is a very close replication of the initial taste, so no problem there. Overall this is a good drink. I’m not sure I’d buy it all the time in the store, but it’s a solid drink. If you like sweet lemon tea, then Jarritos Tamarind should be right up your alley.
Verdict: Buy a Bottle!
Twist consumed a bit before the picture was taken... crazy iguana.
Reader Comments (3)
I have a case at home in the garage. Was left over from a family luau. I think I'll try it tonight. thx
Interesting perspective, I never considered it tasting like lemon or tea whatsoever, but I can see your perspective. I grew up eating Mexican tamarind candy and other tamarind products so I'm familiar with the flavor. I just posted a review of two other tamarind drinks on my site, if you can find them you should try them to compare. One is a soda but the other is without carbonation.
http://outlandforge.com/2011/04/tasty-tasty-tamarind/
I like it. I just tried it tonight. I have tried the orange, apple also. They are good as well. They are not strong at all. Weak in flavor.