CheriBundi

A few weeks ago I got an email asking if I'd like to have a free sample of a product in exchange for doing a review on my blog. I have never solicited anything like that, but have done occasional reviews of things that I like. I looked at the product and thought it seemed like something I would probably like, so I signed up.
This week I got my little box of CheriBundi tart cherry juice, so now I'm keeping my end of the deal and writing a review. ☺

First of all, a little about the product:

cheribundi™ starts as Montmorency cherries grown in Michigan and New York orchards. We use a proprietary juicing process that was developed with Cornell University to make a drink that retains all the power and benefits of the nutrients and antioxidants found in the little round fruits. cheribundi™ has more disease-fighting antioxidants than other juices and has been tested in the lab and field by athletes and people who just work out. Because cheribundi™ is all-natural and not from concentrate, it's a feel-better and live-healthier addition to your lifestyle.

I know tart cherries are supposed to be good for you--full of antioxidents and stuff. My father in law brought home a bottle of straight tart cherry juice once that he'd gotten at a farmers market--but we could hardly drink it it was so sour. CheriBundi sweetens the juice with apple juice, so it is still 100% juice but it's not so sour (they do have a 'skinny cherry' version that is sweetened with stevia). Having tried the stuff my father in law had bought, I was a little nervous about the first sip of the CheriBundi...but wow! They found a perfect balance. It is still tart, definitely, but it's sweet enough that I didn't hesitate with the second sip, or the third. My three-year-old asked what I was drinking and I offered him a sip. He liked it so much he wanted the bottle and drank most of it himself.
On other aspect of cherry juice that the website does not mention is that it keeps things moving along the digestive tract. Anyone who has binged on fresh cherries is acutely aware of this! As a breastfeeding mother, I have always had some troubles with getting backed up, no matter how well I eat or how much water I consume. I have focused on water or fiber or several other things and none of them did the trick for me, but a couple of days of cherry juice had things moving along nicely. So even if you're not worried about any of the other health benefits, cherry juice will promote regularity in a gentle (and non-chemical) way, and that's always nice!
The sampler pack they sent me had two bottles of TruCherry (the basic cherry/apple juice), and one bottle each of SkinnyCherry and WheyCherry (which has whey powder in it and thus has some protein). I didn't taste any difference from one to the next, but I didn't taste them back to back, I tried them across several days. My husband did try them one after the other and said he thought the WheyCherry tasted different and he didn't like it as much. The WheyCherry does have a lot of other ingredients in it, so even though I like the idea of it having some protein, the added ingredients make it lowest on my list.
If you are familiar with 'pie cherries' that is what these are. They are not the big sweet Bings that most of us are familiar with, they are smaller and paler in color, and very very tart. My parents had a pie cherry tree, and I think I was the only kid in the family who liked the pies, because they were not as sweet as other pies. These cherries do 'bite back' for sure, and probably not everyone would enjoy them, but I definitely do. The juice tasted very much like the pie--sweet enough to enjoy, tart enough that one glass is enough. Well, almost enough. I confess that I'd intended to have one 8oz bottle a day for four days. They lasted not quite three days. ☺

So, for my final evaluation:
Would I like to drink CheriBundi regularly? Absolutely! It was yummy, I believe it is as healthy as they say, and it's a very pleasant way to keep ones inners running smoothly ☺
Will I be setting up an account and making orders to CheriBundi? No, and that's for two reasons: Firstly, I simply can't afford $2/bottle, Secondly, they are in New York and I try really hard to buy as locally as possible. So if somebody locally here starts offering tart cherry juice, I'd be all over it; and if CheriBundi starts offering their product through stores I might consider that as well.