Customer Reviews

The Switch Carbonated Juice, Black Cherry, 8-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24)

5 star:		(91)
4 star:		(125)
3 star:		(89)
2 star:		(36)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

In the Beginning there was Fruit Juice, and there was Soda Pop, and never the twain should meet... unless you mixed them yourself. But then somebody got the Great Idea -- when reconstituting fruit juice after Pasteurization, why not reconstitute it with carbonated water? Thus was born...

Soda Juice!

And I tasted it, and it was Good! Frankly, I found Black Cherry, Kiwi Berry, and Watermelon Strawberry pretty similar in taste, Orange Tangerine more distinctly tart, but I enjoyed all of them.

In the cans you have 5 other flavor choices: The Switch Fruit Punch, 8.3 Ounce Cans (Pack of 24), The Switch Grape, 8.3 Ounce Cans (Pack of 24), The Switch Kiwi Berry, 8.3 Ounce Cans (Pack of 24), The Switch Orange Tangerine, 8.3 Ounce Cans (Pack of 24), and The Switch Watermelon Strawberry, 8.3 Ounce Cans (Pack of 24).

Since virtually nothing is added, the slight nutritional differences must be due to the characteristics of the different juices being used. Fruit Punch, Orange Tangerine, and Watermelon Strawberry have the highest calories, 140; Kiwi Berry is next, 135; Black Cherry is next, 130; and Grape has the lowest, 125. Orange Tangerine and Watermelon Strawberry have the highest total carbohydrates, 36g; Black Cherry and Fruit Punch are next, 35g; Kiwi Berry is next, 34g; and Grape has the lowest, 33g. Finally Watermelon Strawberry has the highest sugars, 35g; Fruit Punch and Orange Tangerine are next, 34g; Black Cherry and Kiwi Berry are next, 33g, and Grape is the lowest, 32g.

Note: all of these are fruit juice blends so those with fruit juice health concerns need to be aware of more than just the title juice. All contain acerola, apple, and grape juice. In addition to their title juices Kiwi Berry contains raspberry and strawberry, and Fruit Punch contains cherry, lemon, and pineapple. Orange Tangerine also contains soy.

Compare and Contrast: a similar product is worth considering: Izze All Natural Sparkling Juice, Apple, 8.4-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24), Izze All Natural Sparkling Juice, Blackberry, 8.4-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24), Izze All Natural Sparkling Juice, Clementine, 8.4-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24), Izze All Natural Sparkling Juice, Grapefruit, 8.4-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24), and Izze All Natural Sparkling Juice, Pomegranate, 8.4-Ounce Cans (Pack of 24). The difference? The Izze products are fortified with vitamins: B6 and Niacin in addition to C and have roughly three fifths the calories, total carbohydrates, and sugars of The Switch products.

I chose a cherry flavor to test, because I like cherry tasting candy and beverages. I came home from work today tired, thirsty and ready for a break. I was happy to find The switch had arrived, and it was already nice and cold since it is a really cold day.

I sat down with my laptop and my switch ready to take a break. I took a nice long drink and found that this tasted nothing like black cherry to me. I reminds me more of Robitussin cough medicine. Another flavor might be more tasty, but I won't be purchasing this product for myself. I will stick to the much for refreshing and flavorful IZZE beverage.

Remember the taste of punch mixed with ginger ale? The black cherry flavor of this tastes a lot like that! I love that flavor, but I don't love the 130 calories you get with each 8 ounce serving. The "Switch" is no exception to that. The label also doesn't mention if it has caffeine or not.

Tastes yummy, but not going to help anyone lose weight!

I don't care if it is just juice concentrate, reconstituted with carbonated water instead of plain water -- the stuff tastes good! The carbonation makes it taste nice and light, instead of super-sweet or -strong like many juices. As a heartfelt devourer of all things cherry, I really liked this Switch black cherry drink.

On the other hand, it was so tasty, so light, so refreshing, that I easily could have knocked down three or four of these SMALL 8.3 ounce cans. However, seeing as the primary ingredient is (reconstituted) APPLE juice (that's right, NOT cherry!) and the tiny can has 130 Calories of sugars (natural to the juice, I'm sure, but still) - it is probably a good thing the can is so small, or I'd have had 500 calories just like that! Even Coke only has about 100 calories per 8 ounces!

Anyway, Switch tastes awesome. When I get more, I want to try it as a mixer with vodka. And I wish the flavor was a little bit more cherry and less apple/grape.

The black cherry flavor tastes pretty good.

Although my assistant taster and I did not care for the orange Switch, we like the black cherry. Most people are preconditioned about orange flavor. It is supposed to taste a certain way, but black cherry has more freedom to be individual.

I discovered a wonderful way to use Switch black cherry - cooking salmon! I mixed the Switch black cherry in the blender with a half cup brown sugar and a tablespoon of honey. To that I added a shake of Chinese five spice, a shake of ground cloves, and approximately 1 teaspoon of dry mustard. I mixed that in the blender. I sprayed a baking pan with butter flavored cooking spray. Then I placed boneless salmon - about one fourth fish - in the middle of the pan and surrounded it with slices of peeled pre-baked sweet potatoes. The liquid from the blender went on top of all of it. Into a hot oven (450 degrees) went the pan. As soon as the liquid bubbled, I carefully turned the salmon over, basted it with the glaze, and let it cook five minutes. While it was still in the pan, I cut it into two servings, topped it with pecan pieces and returned it to the hot oven another two minutes to heat the pecans. It was pretty on the plate! I poured some of the glaze over it. Yummy!

Switch black cherry would be nice in ham glaze too.

Mary Lou Cheatham (Jane Riley)
Author of Flavored with Love: Mary Lou's Family and Friends Can Cook

We have tried the Kiwi Berry and did like it. The Black Cherry was an even bigger hit. I may even consider purchasing a bulk pack of these and stocking the kids refrigerator. I would rather them drink more of these than sodas. I would most prefer they drink more water and eat more fresh fruits!

The Switch soda's are a, mostly, excellent alternative to real soda. They cut out some of the worst traits of the major colas like: perservatives and added sugars. Don't let that fool you though, they aren't really a "health" drink due to the high calories. They have almost as many calories per serving as an average Coke product. This black cherry flavor has 130 calories.

They are slightly more expensive than soda as well, and unfortunately the portions are smaller so if you are factoring this expense on dollar per oz you'll come up short with the Switch sodas. If you are more intersted in flavor than cost, these are definitely a better alternative to soda or fruit juice. The carbonation gives them an extra kick like soda, but they have the great sweet taste of juice without the acidic, artificially flavored taste of Coke or Pepsi products. I would take one of these over a Cherry Coke any day!

I tested one can then decided to buy a whole case of 24. Packaging was very sturdy and weathered delivery well. That being said, it is a carbonated beverage, don't leave it sitting on your doorstep too long in freezing temperatures.

Just to wrap up, I'd highly recommend them if you don't mind the cost to portion ratio, and aren't under the missimpression that it's a healthy beverage.

This beverage reminded me a lot of Jones Black Cherry except it doesn't feel as "syrupy" and it was a little more sweet. (But not in a good way.)

When the package arrived I happened to be very thirsty, so I opened it right up and drank it without chilling.

It tasted pretty good until the after taste hit me. For a drink that advertises to be 100% juice it has more of an artificial after taste then I think it should have. The taste reminds me of children's chewable vitamins.

In general I would suggest mixing up your own version of this by combining juice or juice syrup with soda water. Not as convenient, but probably more refreshing.

The Switch Black Cherry is one of the most refreshing drinks that I have ever tried. It is 100% pure cherry juice and the difference from the regular sodas is quite obvious. Right from the first sip it feels richer and tastier than any soda product out there. After drinking it, you may never go back to regular sodas again. It works well by itself or with a meal. This may be an ideal substitute for sodas for kids, as it is a much more nutritious drink. The only problem that I have is the size of the can. At 8.3 ounces it may be enough for a kid, but you would need more than one of these to quench an adult's thirst.

Well Black Cherries are not steak, so what do I mean by meat. I mean that when I eat cherries, and grapes, and other largely hollow fruits, I find the taste is in the textured pulp, just under the skin, what I call the meat. Most black cherry drinks I've had in the past despite the fancy names, could not capture this aspect of the taste, but I definitely detected it here.

I enjoyed every drop of this drink, and was surprised that it was carbonated, something I usually only find with non-alcoholic grape drinks during the holiday season. The carbonation works well with the 100 percent fruit juice blend. I guess it all comes down to price and shipping, if the price is not too bad, and Amazon carries this product, I would probably buy enough, or combine it to get the free shipping. I could do with a supply of these in my fridge.