Summer is coming, temperature is rising, we get more vitamin D and become happier from basking in the warm rays of Sun. 
Along with warmer weather can come dehydration, if you are not careful!
Staying hydrated is easy if you have something refreshing and tasty by your side. What if this special something is also packed with antioxidants and gives you an all-natural energy boost?
Recently, I received some samples of KonaRed drinks. Ah, the benefits of being a wellness writer, you get some pretty awesome samples! I was really excited to try a drink made out of a coffee fruit! The beverage is made out of a coffee fruit that grows around the coffee bean but doesn’t have coffee or caffeine in it. Usually coffee berries are discarded during the coffee production process, which results in over 40 million pounds of waste just on the Big Island of Hawaii alone! A group of eco-conscious entrepreneurs didn’t like the idea of wasting nutritionally rich product and set on a mission to change the situation. To solve the problem they started KonaRed drink company. KonaRed is altering this situation, providing the coffee industry and its farmers a market for this previously unused fruit of the Kona coffee plant.
After careful research and testing of “folk wisdom,” Roberts discovered the coffee fruit’s powerful antioxidant properties and created a unique berry-flavored antioxidant beverage utilizing this superfruit. KonaRed is sourced exclusively from major coffee producers in Hawaii’s Kona region, and can be traced from the field to the bottle, every step of the way.
Hawaiian Kona coffee fruit – packs an antioxidant punch and ORAC scores (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity score of 2,501 per gram) far above the incumbents. The coffee fruit boasts high antioxidant levels known to fight disease, inflammation, and boost the body’s naturally occurring energy by fighting free radicals. Outdoor and health enthusiasts including Leila Hurst, elite surf champion, and Candice Appleby, the No. 1 women’s stand up paddle boarder, have jumped on board the KonaRed train, touting its anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties.
I really like the idea behind KonaRed and would love to taste a real coffee berry one day! For now, I have KonaRed drinks! 
Taste-wise, I found KonaRed to be a bit too sweet even though quite pleasant. It would be great if the company reduced the amount of pineapple and apple juice concentrate, skipped ‘fruit and vegetable color’, and used no ‘natural flavors’.
To reduce the sweetness I added some sparkling water a few leaves of mint and a lime. It turned out to be a very tasty summery drink so I am sharing the recipe:)
KonaRed Coffee Fruit Summer Spritzer
- 1 bottle original KonaRed
- 1 glass sparkling water
- lime sliced
- a few mint leaves
Pour everything in a 1 liter container, add mint, lime, and pour in the liquids. Enjoy chilled.
Have you tried any new fruits or berries this season? What are your favorite drinks to quench thirst?
