Nutritional Soda?

Yesterday when I felt the beginnings of a migraine manifesting itself in my brain I decided to head to CVS and grab something with some caffeine in it. My main goal was to get the caffeine sans the overload of calories. I am a sucker for branding and packaging and the colorful label caught my eye. Regular coke would have done the trick but if I could get some vitamins and minerals thrown in the mix, why not!


Nia... Nia-cina.... Nia-cina-mide? Cya... Cya-noco-ba-lim?

I felt like the little kid in the Breyer's ice cream commercial trying to sound out the ingredients in my soda. A while back Coke introduced a new product called "Diet Coke Plus" that is fortified with vitamins B3 (niacinamide), B12 (cyanocobalamin) and minerals. Like many, I don't drink soda for its nutritional content, but more so for the tingling sensation it gives my throat.

I am a water person. I love drinking bottles of water all day long. Soda is good every once in a while (with pizza, when you're hung over, eating McDonalds, etc...) so I didn't drink the whole thing... but it had nothing to do with the taste. I actually think it was pretty good.

Could I taste the vitamins? No.
Minerals? No.
Did I feel a difference in my body or energy level? No.

I don't know if this drink really does anything outside of the ordinary but if you're in the mood for something "diet" I'd recommend grabbing this and getting your daily dose of Vitamins B3 and B12 (whatever those do) while you scratch your soda itch.

Coffee Woes

Tall White Mocha extra Whip? Check.
Tall Blended Strawberry Lemonade? Check.
Regular coffee?? Umm... I'm a little lost.

I don't know why I feel so much anxiety about going to Starbucks and ordering a normal cup of coffee. Maybe it's the long lines, employees eager for you to know what you want (like going to McDonalds and staring at the menu as if it's actually changed....) or the seasoned Starbucks pros that walk in there and bark their complex orders out with ease (5 shot venti, 2/5th decaf, ristretto shot, 1pump Vanilla, 1pump Hazelnut, breve,1 sugar in the raw, with whip, carmel drizzle on top, free poured, 4 pump mocha... yes, absolutely ridiculous).

For the last few weeks I've been trying to build up the chutzpah to walk into Starbucks and just order a plain coffee (mainly because of their daily special of a "tall blend" and Artisan Sandwich for $3.95) but I find myself unsure of what exactly a "tall blend" is and when I walk into the store my nerves kick in and I feel a little stupid asking them about something so basic.

Anyways, I've decided to stick to Dunkin Donuts for regular coffee because in addition to being less intimidating and having better lids, they use real sizes like small, medium and large and a medium coffee cost me $1.50! I was shocked to hand over such a small amount of cash today! You mean to tell me that coffee isn't supposed to cost upwards of $5 dollars? Huh? What? What rock have I been living under steadily shelling out top dollar to Starbucks... and for what? A little extra pomp and circumstance when they yell out my order and hand me my drink? The "ambience" of which the Starbucks in my building is missing tons of... I'll have Starbucks be my go-to place for sweet, candy like drinks and stick to what "America Runs On" for my normal coffee.