Putting the "oh!" in "om"

SoBe Zen Blend

Noshing & Sipping by Stephen Heuser

The food industry PR machine drops a lot of strange stuff on our doorstep. This week we couldn't resist trying a gourmet-iced-tea knockoff called SoBe Zen Blend, which produced an entirely un-Zenlike buzz that lasted about 20 minutes. Maybe it's the "triple ginseng" promised on the front of the bottle, but just as likely it's the high-fructose corn syrup listed right after "water" in the ingredients. It costs $1.09 at one Store 24 (489 Tremont Street, in downtown Boston) and is supposed to be available at local convenience stores -- but we couldn't find it around here, so the South Beach Beverage Company obligingly sent us another bottle for research purposes. Maybe they'll send you one, too. Call (800) 588-0548, or visit their Web site at www.sobebev.com.

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