ICIO Flavored Water: Rip Off or Ripped Idea?

ICIO Flavored Water was first introduced in December 2007 in Southern California. It has slowly expanded to different markets and last year I had the chance to do a taste test of this new item in a gourmet market.

This water is fat free, calorie free and sugar free, and has the bonus of being flavored to break up the humdrum of drinking plain water all the time. The packaging of this water is meant to be transportable in your back pocket, because it's shaped like a small flask. While the novelty of the idea seems very appealing to those who are trying to limit juice intake, the price tag that goes along with this flavored water is outrageous! Yes, it tastes good, but it's more of a treat than an everyday solution to an alternative to plain water. Even if you buy it in "bulk" by the case at their website, you will still pay $40.00 for a case of 24 bottles--that's still $1.67 per bottle! EEEEK!!!! At Encinal Market, these flavored waters sell for $1.99 a pop! When I sampled it last year in Berkeley, they had a special: 2 for $5.00! That doesn't seem like a "special" to me! Seems more like a rip off! Or, do you think this is a ripped idea? (Well, this isn't something I would buy on a regular basis, but if someone were to buy one for me, I sure wouldn't mind!)  :)

If you are curious about trying this product, here are a few locations in Northern California that sell ICIO:

Boardwalk Market 

1550 Tiburon Blvd. 

Tiburon, CA 94920

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  Encinal Market 
  3211 Encinal Avenue, Suite C 
  Alameda, CA 94501
• 
  
  
  
  Farmer Joe's 
  3426 Fruitvale Ave. 
  Oakland, CA 94602
• 
  
  
  Harvest Urban - Castro 
  2285 Market Street 
  San Francisco, CA 94114
  
  
• Harvest Urban - SOMA
• 
  
  191 8th St.
  San Francisco, CA 94103
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  Mill Valley Market 
  12 Corte Madera Ave. 
  Mill Valley, CA 94941
• 
  
  
  The Pasta Shop
  786 Fourth St.
  Berkeley, CA 94710

You can also go to their website to locate a vendor at a location near you.

Here's an idea: make your own flavored water at home! It may not come in a cool flask container, but that's okay! You can always get your own glass bottles at Sur La Table or IKEA. 

Cucumber, Ginger, Lemon Mint Flavored Water Recipe is courtesy of Sparkrecipes.com. You can vary this recipe by taking out undesirable elements or adding some that you like. Even though this is not technically a calorie-free recipe, the flavored water only has a miniscule amount of calories in each serving, and I think that's okay!

Ingredients

1/2 Cucumber 1 knuckle Ginger 1/2 cup mint leaves or 2 mint tea bags steeped 1 lemon juiced 1 gallon water

Directions

Peel ginger & cucumber, Puree all ingredients together in food processor mix with water let it sit overnight in frig, strain into another container or water bottles and enjoy ice cold - be sure to refrig unused portions for up to 2 days

Number of Servings: 16

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 16
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 1.3

• Total Fat: 0.0 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 2.5 mg
• Total Carbs: 0.4 g
• Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
• Protein: 0.0 g