If you are a fan of the Real Housewives of New Jersey you know that BLK water has been shoved down our throats by their constant promotion of it in the story line this season.
On last Sunday's episode Chris Laurita, the Manzo boys and a few other guys headed to a food expo in Washington DC called the Fancy Food Show. They were there to get more exposure for their BLK product and the Bravo cameras were rolling.
There is a lot of buzz on Twitter that BLK is "dirty water" "swamp water" and several other creative terms. I will admit the whole concept of chugging black water absolutely makes me want to gag. I'm not sure why. I enjoy red wine, coca cola sodas and other dark colored beverages. But black water?
So I decided to check out the BLK
website and see if I could find a location in my area where they sell it. Sure enough it's sold at the BevMo. I was making a trip to that area so my three kids and I loaded up and made that one of our stops. One bottle was $1.99, which was much cheaper than expected.
(Me in my car outside of BevMo. My kids thought I was a weirdo because I asked them to snap this picture!)
But back to the BLK
website. I thought it was odd that the site still hasn't launched. As of today it says site launch in 73 days. We all know the taping of this season of RHONJ was last year. Why is the site not fully up by now? I'm sure there is a reason and quite honestly I'm not all that concerned. They had enough information I was looking for anyways. And if you want one of those
BLK shirts the Manzo & Laurita's are always wearing you can buy one on the site for $19.99. (
Maybe they can send us one and we will do a giveaway - hint hint)
After we got home from running errands I immediately put the BLK in the fridge so it would be chilled by the time Rose and I recorded the podcast. In the mean time I went to Twitter to talk about how I was going to do a taste test later that evening. It ended up being one of the funniest Twitter conversations I've had in a while. Thank you to @RealityTVBites_ , @YAMAMASBOX , @duffy1958 & @thekittensmeow for making me laugh. Also, @MoiandI , @BRW_RealityTV and @tracycopy should be mentioned since they responded during the actual taste testing. Twitter can be a fun place. Just be careful after dark (no pun intended). LOL
I'm going to admit that I was anticipating BLK to smell and have a foul vitamin/mineral taste. Plus my funny Twitter friends had me second guessing this whole taste testing thing. I thought I was going to get the runs! (Google fulvic acid side effects.) But I knew I wasn't going to drink that much so I took my chances. I was prepared with a back up glass of ice cold water with a slice of lemon. For my BLK tasting I pulled out a quaint little port glass because almost anything tastes better in a fancy little glass.
When I poured the BLK water it was definitely black. Very very dark. Almost like
Jagermeister (sorry I don't know how to put the fancy little dots over the A). I only wish I had some Jager to compare the color to but I'm going to bet BLK is darker.
Before I took my first sip I smelled it. There really isn't any smell and I consider myself to have a pretty good sniffer. So I slowly took a sip.
I know this sounds weird but for me it initially had no taste but it didn't feel like regular water. No. It's not thick. No. It didn't have things floating around. It was almost like a heavy sensation but it wasn't. I'm sorry, but it was just different. I do love sparkling mineral water. I buy cases of
S. Pellegrino at Costco and most people think that is gross. So to each his own, right?
After another sip I determined there was a slight mineral after taste. Good news was it didn't make me gag like I was expecting. But it really wasn't refreshing to me. Just my initial opinion. Maybe it's an acquired taste.
Let's get into what BLK is. Here is what is written on the actual bottle:
"Naturally black, blk is a refreshing spring water enriched with Fulvic Acid. Our proprietary formula with a high pH of 9.0+ helps to balance the human body's pH levels. blk contains over 77 trace minerals and electrolytes which are an essential part of health and wellness."
"Fresh Water Taste. Maximum Benefits"
"Enjoy The Dark Side Of Water"
"Water quality information my be found at: blkbeverages.com. *These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease."
Nutritional Facts
Calories: 0
Total Fat 0g: 0%
Sodium 15mg: 1%
Total Carbohydrates 0g: 0%
Protein 0g
This morning I decided to compare the color to other dark beverages. As you can see it really is pretty dark.
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| Back Row: (L) BLK water (R) Red Wine/Syrah Front Row: (L) Pepsi (R) shot of coffee/breakfast blend |
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I think BLK has it's place for health nuts who might actually enjoy the benefits it claims on the bottle. I might be a nut but I'm not a health nut so this is not something I would normally make a habit of buying.
This morning before my husband went to work he said, "I saw that BLK water in the fridge. It tastes like shit." I said, "You thought it had a taste?" and he replied "Yeah, it's like that crap they make you drink for colonoscopies.You know, the stuff to make you shit." OK. Let me just say, I am not married to a Joe Giudice! But those were his words.
So there you have it. I thought it really wasn't all that bad. If you are looking for a healthy drink to throw back from time to time maybe it's for you. Hopefully it won't "make you shit" if you drink the whole bottle.
