So as you may or may not know, Cheribundi was a sponsor of the wonderfully successful Maids of Dishonor - Ragnar Relay Adirondacks team. The company wasn’t able to send us our drinks in time, so they sent us super cute shirts, hats and stickers to hold us over until our drinks were ready to be shipped (which was so awesome of them). Another cool thing about waiting for our drinks is that we could log onto their website and choose our own flavors so we could get a box of just the ones we liked! After everything went through, I came home on Tuesday night to a box of my new drinks..I couldn’t wait to enjoy them!

For those of you (like my Mom) who love Dr. Oz, tart cherries were recently featured on his show. He discussed the 3 major health benefits to this fantastic antioxidant:

• Pain Relief: tart cherry juice has been shown to block the inflammation-causing enzymes that arise in muscles and joints after exercise. The juice is actually used by many athletes after rigorous workouts to aid in fast muscle recovery.
• Sleep Aid: drinking tart cherry juice has been shown to encourage melatonin production (the hormone that brings the brain to sleep) in a natural way, allowing you to sleep peacefully.
• Fights Heart Disease: the juice naturally helps fight triglycerides otherwise known as the chemical form of fat that exists in food, as well as in the body.

Great benefits right? I am always down for some muscle recovery, fighting heart disease and sleeping better remedies! I ended up ordering the Whey Cherry (protein recovery drink) and the Cacao Cherry (because I love chocolate) and tried each flavor the past 2 mornings to see what I thought! Here is my review:

First off, let me start by saying I am not a huge cherry flavor fan. Which might make you laugh considering that is the entire concept of this company. Despite my minimal love for cherry, I was still excited for the health benefits of the juice and figured that I should step outside my comfort zone and give it a try.

I actually like it! It is VERY CHERRY and the tart flavor is tart (hello Captain Obvious!) but I love that a small Whey Cherry bottle still has 8 grams of protein. I drank it after The Refine Method class and was actually pretty full after drinking it (bottle is about 160 calories). I paired it with a Special K granola bar to have a full breakfast but it was great to have a recovery drink that was portable for my walk to work.

The chocolate flavor was even better because it reminded me of the Zico Chocolate Coconut Water that I love so much while also containing even more essential vitamins and minerals than the coconut water. It tasted like a chocolate covered cherry and I will eat chocolate covered anything so that was good for me!

All in all, if you are a cherry-flavored lover, then these drinks will hit the spot. If you aren’t..you may want to just have one once a week to get the amazing benefits from tart cherries! They are a great company who has really hit the spot with the delicious drinks containing so many antioxidants..it is worth a try for yourself!