THE NIBBLE BLOG: Products, Recipes & Trends In Specialty Foods


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GIFT: Water Bottles With A Twist

You can “zing anything” in your water bottle with Aqua Zinger and Citrus Zinger, new concepts that should have great appeal for lovers of flavored water.

The two new water bottles (actually thermos bottles that keep your drink cool as well) make naturally-infused flavored water, full of vitamins and other nutrients plus antioxidants. Commercially flavored waters use extracts.

The double wall stainless steel thermos bottles keep your drink and ingredients insulated. A wide-mouth top allows for the easy addition of ice cubes. As a thermos, the products can be used to carry hot beverages as well.

Both create a convenient new way to enjoy drinking water, adding your favorite flavors to satisfy your palate.

 


The Aqua Zinger infuses flavor from fresh fruit and/or herbs into your water bottle. Photo courtesy Brookstone.

 
AQUA ZINGER

First, the Aqua Zinger: a water bottle that naturally infuses still or carbonated water with the juice and essence of fresh fruits and herbs: basil, blackberries, citrus, ginger, kiwi, mint, peach, raspberries, strawberries and other favorites.

The fruits and herbs go into the bottom, screw-on base where grinder blades pulverize them and send the essences to infuse into the water. Mix and match and get creative: The flavors and ingredients are limited only by your imagination.

Aqua Zinger Flavored Water Maker is $26.00 to $29.00 in stainless steel with aqua, lime green, hot pink or black accents; at Brookstone stores and Amazon.com.

 


Citrus Zinger is a combination water bottle and citrus juicer. Photo courtesy Brookstone.

 

CITRUS ZINGER

When life gives you lemons, add them to the Citrus Zinger. Designed specifically for citrus fruits, Citrus Zinger juices clementines, lemons, limes and other citrus, and infuses the water with the juice. (Most oranges and grapefruits are too wide for the bottle-size juicer.)

It’s the easiest way to extract citrus juice and infuse the flavor directly into your water bottle, enriching your water with vitamin C and flavonoids (citrus antioxidants).

Citrus Zinger is available in aqua, lime green and orange for $20.

MORE TO ZING

The company also makes:

 

  • Vodka Zinger, a way for mixologists to infuse flavor into vodka or other spirits
  • Salad Zinger, which infuses flavor (citrus, fruit, garlic, onion, spices) into olive oil or a vinaigrette (peach balsamic salad dressing is a snap!)
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    Learn more at ZingAnything.com.

      

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    TIP OF THE DAY: Christmas Candy Sampler

    Still looking for holiday gifts? Candy is typically a safe bet: If the recipient doesn’t want to eat it all, he or she can serve it to guests.

    We like this charming candy globe from Williams-Sonoma:

    The six-inch-diameter, reusable papier-mâché globe is filled with 10.9 ounces of classic holiday favorites: a milk-chocolate Santa, cinnamon gummy Santas, red-and-white peppermint twists and a medley of sweet jelly beans and sour gummy stars.

    The treats are beloved by kids and adults alike.

    If you want to create your own nostalgic candy gift, look for a papier-mâché box or other reusable packaging and head to the candy store to make your selection.

     
    A charming reusable container filled with sure-to-disappear-quickly candies. Photo courtesy Williams-Sonoma.
     

      

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    GIFT: Chocolate Crisis Center


    The Chocolate Crisis Center helps you cope
    with delicious chocolate-covered treats.
    Photo courtesy Chocolate Crisis Center.
      A chocolate crisis, according to the Chocolate Crisis Center, is defined as “an emotionally stressful situation caused by an insufficient supply of premium quality chocolate.”

    What are those emotionally stressful situations? The holiday season: shopping, decorating, entertaining, dieting (yeah, sure). It all adds up to seasonal insanity, says the Chocolate Crisis Center.

    Their solution: a variety of chocolate candy pills that “will give you the fortitude to survive the season.”

    Or the office. Or the kids. Or anything, one chocolate bite at a time.

    The Chocolate Crisis Center, which is not a government agency but a Denver-based producer of confections, packages confections in classic pill bottles and First Aid kits: Caramels, truffles, nuts and fruits are enrobed in rich Belgian dark or milk chocolate.

    These delicious confections are then topped with cocoas, spices and fruit essences for a wide range of delectable taste surprises—all with a humorous “First Aid” twist.

     

     

    Everything we tried was delicious. Individual bottles, called Daily Doses, are delightful stocking stuffers or party favors.

    Various kits are larger gifts. There are Calamity Kits, Major Crisis Kits, a Minor Crisis Kit and a Shock Treatment Kit, some assembled from your choice of the Daily Dose candies:

  • Chocolate Sea Salt Caramelita (sea salt caramel enrobed in dark chocolate)
  • Coffee Toffee Crunch (roasted espresso beans and toffee)
  • Dark Chocolate Almond Zen (chocolate covered almonds)
  • Milk Chocolate Cherry Torte (chocolate covered dried cherries)
  • Tiramisu Cocoa Caramels (tiramisu-flavored caramels enrobed in dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa)
  • Triple Chocolate Truffle (truffle center enrobed in dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa)
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    A reusable first aid kit is filled with bottles of chocolate “pills.” Photo courtesy Chocolate Crisis Center.

     

    There’s more, including Holiday Blues Peppermint Creams, a large blue bottle of jumbo “pills” the size of a nickel, a gentle peppermint coating over a soft, green minty center. The mint is very delicate—there’s no throat-cooling blast of peppermint oil. Seven big “pills” per serving is more than most people need to be cured.

    Order online at ChocolateCrisisCenter.com or phone 1.800.329.6950.

      

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