Harmless Harvest Raw Coconut Water

For a little while now coconut water has been gaining some popularity. Rightfully so, it does have some great benefits for your body. With the popularity spark in the U.S. it seems like there are thousands of coconut water companies now. No doubt I have tasted a very small percentage of all the coconut waters out there, but I still know something good when I taste it. 

This 100% organic raw coconut water from Harmless Harvest by far is the best tasting that I have ever had. I'm assuming most of the great taste comes from the small farms they source the young organic coconuts from. Not only do the high quality coconuts give this water it's unique taste, but the technique they use to pasteurize is what keeps the tastes integrity. Most coconut waters we all know are typically heat treated to kill off any food-borne pathogens. Harmless Harvest on the other hand uses a high pressure pasteurization process to kill off all those pathogens. By applying high amounts of pressure instead of heating it, the water ends up still being a raw product. This raw state must be the other reason to why this product tastes so good. Not only does the flavor not get altered with this pressure process, the texture, color and nutrients are not compromised as well. 

Forget Gatorade... Coconut water is all natural and has loads of electrolytes and potassium to help restore and hydrate your body. In all honesty I believe this is one of the greatest hangover cures. It is also great to have before or after a long work out. One of the problems I have with the Harmless Harvest coconut water is that it is highly perishable compared to other coconut waters that are processed differently. Harmless harvest has to be refrigerated at all times and only has a shelf life of a month or so. Other shelf stable coconut waters I can take in my back pack on a hike and drink it hours later. The other problem is the cost. It is half the size, yet twice the price compared to some other coconut waters. I guess you pay for what you get. Harmless Harvest coconut water is available at select retailers in an 8oz. and 16oz. size. 

Pictures Courtesy of Richard Park Photography

Carl's Jr. Strawberry Pop-tart Ice Cream Sandwich

 For starters I am a sucker for ice cream. I also don't mind a cold pop-tart every once in a while. When my friend told me Carl's Jr. had a strawberry pop-tart ice cream sandwich, it made me feel giddy like a kid and I had to try one. It is a simple dessert concept that I am mad at my self for never thinking of before. They cut a strawberry pop-tart in half, and place a "hand-scooped" ball of vanilla ice cream strategically in between. Now I'm not sure if this was actually "hand-scooped" by a human hand or a machine hand, but the marketing term definitely adds some homemade feel to it. Especially after they put it in this simple non-machine sealed plastic wrap with one lone sticker on the front.



 As for the flavor, it is pretty self explanatory. For my taste buds it was a little too sweet. Now, I understand and expected it to be sweet, but the strawberry filling with the ice cream was just a bit too much. The one thing this ice cream sandwich has going for it was the texture of everything combined. I was expecting the pop-tart, or even the ice cream to be a little hard. That wasn't the case. They hand it to you at a perfect temperature. I wouldn't recommend letting this dessert sit around too long before eating it. You could end up with a little mess and not enjoy it as much. Some people don't like cold pop-tart's, but as you can tell I do. Carl's Jr. serves these for $1.49 - $1.69 throughout the U.S. for a limited time.