Most of the time I sit in my condo with a fan or some air conditioning on me, especially during the summer which in Vietnam is painfully hot. I don't actually NEED a refreshing beverage all that often although I do at least attempt to get a couple of liters of water down my gullet every day.
Well the other day I found myself far from home and unable to just bail and get home right away. It was extremely hot and I was sweating a lot, just like my friends were. We all brought water with us but for all of us, it turned out to not be enough.
Even though in Da Nang it seems as though you are never very far from a minimart we were in a place that was exactly that situation. We weren't starting to panic about dehydration or anything, but all of us were seriously thirsty. Then we rounded a corner and there was a stand, just a little shack with a cooler, that had water, Coke, and a drink I had never heard of called Revive.
My eyes aren't really good enough to read all that was on this container but I was so thirsty at the time that it didn't really matter and since it was less than $1 I bought one without being overly contemplative about it. What I got hit the spot exactly and I can only hope that the claims of rehydration via whatever chemicals they put in there is actually true. They claim it has a bunch of vitamins and electrolytes in there but Vietnam isn't exactly known for their truth in advertising, so if that is the case it is anyone's guess.
What I do know is that it was kind of like drinking something called a "Fresca" that I had many years ago back in the United States, only this one had about half as much sugar. I don't often drink fizzy drinks because there is way too much sugar in them and I would prefer to not be a huge fatass. This one though, in a 500ml bottle, had around 120 calories and I guess that is ok, right?
I glurped down the first one. It was kind of like a 7-up but had more of an almost grapefruit flavor to it. It had a bit of a sweetness to it, but it wasn't overpowering like Coke, Pepsi, Fanta, and all the others like them. I enjoyed it so much in fact that I immediately purchased another one and drank it with the same gusto as the first.
This was an unusual situation for me though because at that point i had been in the sun with very little shade for a couple of hours.
While my initial reason for drinking a "Revive" was driven by lack of choice, I am actually very glad I tried it. I will still likely seek out options with less sugar in the future but if I am ever feeling seriously dehydrated again in the future, I may actually reach for a Revive! If you are ever in the mood for a somewhat fizzy but not overly fizzy drink that has half the sugar content of a soda then I suggest you try it as well. I have no idea if their claim of the other health things in it are actually true but if that is the case I suppose that is an added bonus.