[1] Flavor your water with (from the top) True Lime, True Grapefruit, True Lemon, and True Orange (all photos © True Citrus).

[2] One packet equals one wedge of citrus.

[3] No fresh lime for your Margarita? No problem!

[4] Try a blindfold test: sparkling water with a squeeze of fresh grapefruit, and sparkling water with a packet of True Grapefruit.

[5] An 8-ounce glass of orange juice has 24g (6 teaspoons) of sugar per. A glass of True Orange: zero calories.
 

[6] If you don’t have a fresh lemon, lime, orange, or grapefruit, just open a packet of the same True fruit. Check out all of these recipes.

Our Top Pick Of The Week is from True Citrus Company: crystallized citrus packets—True Grapefruit, True Lemon, True Lime, and True Orange—that the brand has described as “drink mix.”

To us,“drink mix” describes something from powdered iced tea to punch that we’d rather refer to them as water flavor packets or water enhancers. Or, citrus wedge substitutes. Whatever, they’re great.

The easy-to-carry packets (the size of a Splenda packet) are made from “crystallized” grapefruit, lemon, lime, and orange, which the brand defines as “taste of fresh squeezed lime wherever you go, made from real lime juice and oils.

The flavor really does taste fresh-squeezed. For us, it was love at first sip.

And no more dragging home (and recycling) heavy bottles of flavored water and seltzer. That’s why…
 
TRUE CITRUS IS OUR TOP PICK OF THE WEEK

We started out buying the grapefruit and lime, loved those so much we purchased lemon and orange, and loved those so much that we purchased the whole lemonade-limeade lime, the latter slightly sweetened and for review at a later date.

So this much is true: True Citrus packets have great flavor. What they doesn’t have:

 
Tasting is believing. You’ll be able to say goodbye to:

 
The packets are great for use at home, at work, on vacation, or just on-the-go.
 
 
WHAT IS “CRYSTALLIZED” LEMON, LIME, ETC.?

The “crystallized” powder is made from dehydrated citrus particles (grapefruit, lemon, lime, or orange), made from the juice of the citrus plus oil from the peel*. The process is patented.

True Lemon debuted in 2003, after years of researching how to crystallize (dehydrate) the lemon juice and oils together in order to deliver a convenient, shelf-stable lemon wedge replacement.

The proprietary process locks in the fruit’s oils & juices, capturing authentically tart citrus flavor.

The three other citrus flavors were subsequently introduced (grapefruit, lime, and orange).

Today, True Citrus makes more than 40 different citrus based citrus wedge replacements, unsweetened water enhancers, drink mixes and salt-free seasoning blends.

> You can see the entire range of products here.
 
 
WHEN TO USE TRUE CITRUS

Each packet takes the place of a fresh citrus wedge. All can be used:

 
> Check out all of these recipes!
 
 
GET YOUR TRUE CITRUS

In addition to our own stash, we’ve been gifting boxes to friends and family who’ve expressed the desire to drink more water. Every one of them has become a customer of multiple flavors.

True Citrus products are available at:

 
The regular box of 32 packets costs around $9, or 28¢ per packet. But when you start using several packets a day—as we do—a bulk box of 500 packets is deeply discounted to a mere 4¢ per packet.

When life hands you a [True] Lemon—or Lime, or Grapefruit, or Orange—add it to sparkling or still water and drink it!

> The history of grapefruits.

> The history of lemons.

> The history of limes.

> The history of oranges.
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

You learn something new every day (if you’re lucky), and today we learned why bread tags—the colored plastic tags (photo #1) or twist ties that close plastic bags of bread—are made in different colors.

Also called bread buckles and bread clips, these tags or twists are part of a color-coordinated system that marks when the bread was baked and packaged.

It’s meant to help the market’s stock clerks identify older loaves that should be pulled from shelves.

While we always look at the expiration date before we buy bread, looking at each tag for the loaf’s expiration date would take too much time for food store staff.

The color-coding helps the clerks pull older loaves from the shelves speedily.

> The history of bread tags is below.
 
 
HERE’S THE COLOR CODE

Most bakeries don’t produce bread on Sundays and Wednesdays, which is why they’re missing from this list. The colors were assigned in alphabetical order: blue, green, red, white, yellow.

 
 
HERE’S HOW TO RE-USE THE TAGS

You can find dozens of creative and useful ways to re-purpose the plastic tags when the bread bag is empty.

Our favorite is as “cable labels” to identify computer cables, charging cords, monitor cord, printer cord, TV cord, and others.

You could purchase these colored labels (photo #3) to identify all of your cords, or you could think green and use a Sharpie and your bread tags.

Whether you use cable labels or bread tags, organizing your cords with color-coded labels lets you pick out the cord you’re looking for.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE BREAD TAG

According to some sources, the bread tag was invented by Floyd G. Paxton of Yakima, Washington (1918-1975). The story is that he invented his “Kwik Lock closure” on a flight in 1952.

Necessity is the mother of invention: He opened a bag of peanuts and had no way to close them.

So Paxton used his pocket knife to carve out a prototype closure device from an expired plastic credit card (prior to 9/11/2001 you could carry knives onto the plane).

His invention was later adapted for commercial use as an easy way to initially seal and then reseal bags [source].

Today, Kwik Lok is the global leader in bag closures.
 
 
> The history of bread.

> Check out the different types of bread in our photo glossary.

[1] Go green: repurpose your plastic bread tags. Here are 25 uses (photo © Kwik Lok).

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

[1] Sweet & Spicy Drizzle Oil, a handy new condiment (photos #1 and #3 © DeLallo).

[2] Just a drizzle adds an extra layer of flavor to any pizza (photo © Like Meat | Unsplash Photo).

[3] Add sizzle to pasta, pasta salads and grains.

What’s sweet and hot and a new condiment for your table (or a nice hostess gift, treat for foodie friends, or a stocking stuffer)? DeLallo Sweet and Spicy Pizza Oil!

While it calls itself “pizza oil,” we call it “drizzle oil” or “finishing oil.” It’s the perfect way to add a burst of sweet heat to your favorite foods with just a drizzle:

 
We’ve even stirred it into plain Greek yogurt. Delicious (also as a dip, spread, or baked potato topping).

And if you’re willing, try it on vanilla or chocolate ice cream and pancakes or waffles.

Made with extra virgin olive oil, chili peppers, garlic, and honey, this irresistibly bold condiment is ready to wake up all of your everyday dishes—not just pizza. Use it to dress, drip, marinate, sauté and sauce. Get creative!

Sweet & Spicy Olive Oil is made in small batches from EVOO, garlic, red bell peppers, red chili flakes, honey powder, and cane sugar.

It’s all natural (no artificial flavors or preservatives), non-GMO, gluten free, and certified kosher by KFH.
 
 
GET YOUR SWEET & SPICY PIZZA OIL

Wake up your dishes with no effort beyond drizzling!

> Head to DeLallo Foods.
 
 
CHECK OUT THESE PHOTO GLOSSARIES

> The different culinary/cooking oils.

> The different types of chile peppers.

> Olive oil and olives.

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.