
The $3 water so hydrating and refreshing you won't believe it's made with cacao pods: 'Seriously the best drink EVER!'
And it happens to be light, tropical, naturally sweet — and, yes, made from chocolate. Well, kind of. Blue Stripes Whole Cacao Water is sourced from the pulp of the cacao fruit (the very same fruit that eventually gives us chocolate).
Blue Stripes Vanilla Cacao Water
Smooth and mellow, vanilla is the perfect just-sweet-enough yet still subtle flavor.
The vanilla extract blends beautifully with the natural tang of the cacao fruit, yielding a crisp and refreshing treat that even feels a little bit indulgent (without the added sugar).
All Cacao Waters contain nutrients, electrolytes, and antioxidants for the ultimate refresh.
$2.99 Shop
Now you may not think of chocolate as 'refreshing,' but that's because we've all been distracted by the candy bar version. Cacao fruit is actually a superfruit that is packed with antioxidants, electrolytes, and essential nutrients, and Blue Stripes is one of the few brands that uses the entire cacao pod to make its products — not just the beans.
That amounts to big benefits for both you and the planet. Expect more flavor, more nutritional value, and less waste. Eco-conscious people, take note: As much as we love the chocolate industry, it wastes a whopping 70 percent of the cacao pod during actual chocolate production.
Only the beans are used in that process. By comparison, Blue Stripes upcycles the whole thing, including the beans, the shell, and the fruit. Honestly, this is great for everyone and everything involved — you, the farmers, and the planet as a whole.
From a nutritional perspective, the difference is like night and day. Consuming the entire cacao fruit means you'll get vital fiber, minerals, and vitamins that support your overall health. (Not that you need an excuse to treat yourself to Blue Stripes' delicious beverages and snacks!)
So, what does the water taste like? Imagine something crisp and clean with just a bit of a tropical tang, kind of like a cooler sibling of coconut water. It's never syrupy and there is absolutely no added sugar. Only two ingredients make up Blue Stripes Whole Cacao Water — triple-filtered water and organic cacao fruit puree.
It packs a punch, delivering a naturally energizing vibe that feels great whether you're cooling down post-workout, guzzling during the work day, or sipping with a meal.
And it's super affordable and comes in a variety of fruit-forward flavors, like mango, vanilla, passion fruit, and plain cacao, all of which are naturally delicious and capture cacao's lovely flavor profile. It's shelf-stable, too, so you can stock up and sip away whenever your heart desires.
Some people even blend it into their smoothies for an added nutrient boost, which we highly recommend for the extra hydration and antioxidants!
Blue Stripes was co-founded by Oded Brenner (yes, of Max Brenner chocolate fame) and Aviv Schwietzer with a goal of turning the chocolate industry on its head. By using the whole cacao fruit instead of tossing 70 percent of it away, the impact is huge and supports global sustainability efforts in an impressive way.
If you're looking for a tasty new beverage that hydrates and nourishes, Blue Stripes Whole Cacao Water could be exactly the wellness upgrade you need.
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The Guardian
37 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Trump hiked tariffs on US imports. Now he's looking at exports – sparking fears of ‘dangerous precedent'
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the White House bearing an unusual gift. 'This box was made in California,' Cook reassured his audience in the Oval Office this month, as he took off the lid. Inside was a glass plaque, engraved for its recipient, and a slab for the plaque to sit on. 'The base was made in Utah, and is 24-karat gold,' said Cook. Donald Trump appeared genuinely touched by the gift. But the plaque wasn't Cook's only offering: Apple announced that day it would invest another $100bn in US manufacturing. The timing appeared to work well for Apple. That day, Trump said Apple would be among the companies that would be exempt from a new US tariff on imported computer chips. The Art of the Deal looms large in the White House, where Trump is brokering agreements with powerful tech companies – in the midst of his trade war – that are reminiscent of the real estate transactions that launched him into fame. But in recent days, this dealmaking has entered uncharted waters. Two days after Cook and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had a closed-door meeting with Trump at the White House. The president later announced Nvidia, along with its rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), will be allowed to sell certain artificial intelligence chips to Chinese companies – so long as they share 15% of their revenue with the US government. It was a dramatic about-face from Trump, who initially blocked the chips' exports in April. And it swiftly prompted suggestions that Nvidia was buying its way out of simmering tensions between Washington and Beijing. Trade experts say such a deal, where a company essentially pays the US government to export a good, could destabilize trading relations. Martin Chorzempa, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said that it creates 'the perception that export controls are up for sale'. 'If you create the perception that licenses, which are supposed to be determined on pure national security grounds, are up for sale, you potentially open up room for there to be this wave of lobbying for all sorts of really, dangerous, sensitive technologies,' Chorzempa said. 'I think that's a very dangerous precedent to set.' Though the White House announced the deal, it technically hasn't been rolled out yet, likely because of legal complications. The White House is calling the deal a 'revenue-sharing' agreement, but critics point out that it could also be considered a tax on exports, which may not be legal under US laws or the constitution. The 'legality' of the deal was 'still being ironed out by the Department of Commerce', White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters this week. Nvidia and AMD's AI chips are at the heart of the technological arms race between the US and China. Nvidia, which became the first publicly traded company to reach a $4tn valuation last month, creates the essential processing chips that are used to run and develop AI. The US government has played a role in this arms race over the last several years, setting regulations on what AI chips and manufacturing equipment can be sent to China. If China has less computing power, the country will be slower to develop AI, giving a clear advantage to the US. But despite the restrictions, China has been catching up, raising questions on how US policy should move forward. 'They haven't held them back as far as the advocates had hoped. The US has an enormous computing advantage over China, but their best models are only a few months behind our best models,' Chorzempa said. For US policymakers, 'the question they've had to grapple with is: Where do you draw the line?' The AI chips Nvidia and AMD can now sell to China aren't considered high-end. 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The quid pro quo that would be of great concern to the [tech] sector is anything that reduces their reputation for privacy and security,' Powles said. 'That's thinking of government like a transactional operator, not like an institution with rules about when, how and for what it can extract taxes, levies and subsidies.' But that seems to be how the White House runs now. When explaining to the press how he made the deal, Trump said he told Huang: 'I want 20% if I'm going to approve this for you'. 'For the country, for our country. I don't want it myself,' the president added. 'And he said, 'Would you make it 15?' So we negotiated a little deal.'


The Guardian
37 minutes ago
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Puppy fat jabs: are our pets next in line for weight-loss drugs?
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'What owners should expect to see is their pet eating appropriate portions without the previous food obsession – they'll still eat regularly and show interest in meals, just without the excessive begging, scavenging or gulping behaviour,' he said. The company is planning trials in dogs, and hopes to launch its implant commercially in 2028 or 2029. Klotsman said: 'OKV-119 represents an additional tool for veterinarians treating pets where conventional approaches have been insufficient, similar to how GLP-1 therapies have provided new hope for human patients struggling with obesity despite their best efforts with diet and exercise.' Prof Peter Sandøe, of the University of Copenhagen and the director of the Danish Centre for the Study of Companion Animal Welfare, said such drugs could potentially help some pets, such as food-obsessed dogs. 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Reuters
37 minutes ago
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US-India trade talks scheduled for August called off, source says
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