04 June, 2010

Hint Water

Lynnafred was a freshman in high school when we first tried Hint, a unique bottled water containing the barest hint of natural flavors.  We were in Stop & Shop, and she plucked a bottle of Pomegranate-Tangerine Hint from the refrigerated beverage case at the end of the produce aisle.

"Do you mind if I try one of these?" she asked, "It looks cool.  Natural flavors and no sugar...whoa.  No sweeteners at all!"

That was the start of a long-running Hint habit.  Every time we went shopping at Stop & Shop, she'd get a Hint to sip as we wound our way through the aisles.  After trying many of the flavors, she settled on her first choice, Pomegranate-Tangerine, as her favorite.

Unfortunately, our local Stop & Shop underwent a big remodeling project, and to make space for construction, line moves, and so forth, they temporarily reduced their selection of some things.  Not all the Hint flavors were available all the time for a while, and that kind of got Lynnafred out of the habit of picking up a beverage while shopping.

Last week, though, I got an email from Hint's PR folks, reminding me that summer was a great time for flavored water and asking if I'd like a few samples.  Wow.  I hadn't even thought about Hint in a while, so I accepted their generous offer.  I wondered whether they had made any changes to the product and whether Lynnafred would still be totally hooked on them the way she used to.

In a few days, a package hit my front porch; it contained three bottles of  Hint:   One each of Blackberry, Raspberry-Lime, and Mango Grapefruit.  Lynnafred was well pleased: "Remember when I used to get this at Stop & Shop?  This is awesome!!

Indeed, Hint is awesome.  Creator and CEO Kara Goldin came up with the idea after she and her young daughter shared a glass of water flavored with a squeeze of lime.  She wanted to create a flavorful, natural, and unsweetened alternative to traditional soft drinks, and she certainly succeeded.

Here's our take on the three sample flavors we received:

Blackberry: Luscious ripe fruit flavor that tasted like a sip of summertime.  Seriously, good blackberry flavor can't be faked, and Hint Blackberry is good.

Raspberry-Lime:  Ordinarily, Lynnafred isn't crazy about citrus flavors.  This met her seal of approval because raspberry was predominate and the lime was a background note that acted almost like a seasoning.  I agreed, it was quite refreshing.

Mango-Grapefruit:  Like the Raspberry-Lime, the citrus in this one was a background note with mango taking center stage.  Interestingly, though, the combination of flavors was quite reminiscent of Japanese "melon" flavors (a characteristic that heightens its appeal.)

Overall, we found Hint to be every bit as good as it was when we first discovered it.  When you try it out, though, remember that the flavors aren't strong or overwhelming, but rather they're experienced as almost a "tasteable aroma."  And, while I find them most refreshing when served ice-cold, Lynnafred appreciates them most at room temperature because she says the flavor is richer and more intense that way.

Link:

The Hint website -Main page includes a store locator to make it easy for you to find Hint in a store near you.
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2 comments:

Andrew said...

That stuff sounds great....
I would love to have something with a bit of flavor but no sugar or sweeteners to drink all day.

mina. said...

I love hint! There are a handful of fruit-flavored unsweetened waters hitting the market, Twist is another, and there are two more that I frequently purchase and enjoy. So far Hint has been my favorite, for it's flavor choices.