Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.
If I had to describe Pine Bros Softish Throat Drops, I would say it is the prepster of cough drops: Understated, classic and somewhat unexpected. And totally comfortable in Martha Stewart's home.
Which puts these drops ahead in my book because I loves me some prepster style and Martha Stewart's home.
After my review of Ricola's new cough drops, getting a sampling of three of the Pine Bros throat drops gives me the opportunity to be the Cough Guru I always dreamed of. Being the generous Guru that I am, I shared this with the Hosh and two of our friends who happen to have great taste in cough drops.
Normally, when talking about something that goes in my mouth, I would start with flavor but instead, I'm going to talk texture. What does "softish" even mean? It's a cross between a hard candy, gummy and a caramel.
Once, I made caramels from scratch and let them heat up a little too hot in the sugar boiling process and ending up with a caramel that really stuck to my teeth while also standing up to a bite. If you were one of the people I gave those caramels to, you now know the texture of Pine Bros drops. Except they're honey, cherry or licorice flavor.
Let's talk flavor. These don't taste anything like those in-your-face, all about the menthol cough drops. Actually, they're pretty much like candy. Subtle candy that takes a long time to eat and might keep some rowdy children quiet longer than the average candy. In fact, I bet that I could give these to children and they'd never know it wasn't candy. The honey flavored is the best honey candy I've ever had. The cherry flavored has the taste of real cherries (as opposed to the outlandish artificial cherry flavor found in so many cough drops.)
One my aforementioned friends with great taste specifically noted that she never experienced a pronounced cherry flavor. It was like an ebb and flow of cherry, never quite peaking in the way she had come to expect of cough drops. I'm not sure she thought this was a good thing and I'm not going to put any words in her mouth, unless that word is PINE. You know, because the drops have the word PINE formed on them.
The Hosh is the only one who likes licorice flavor so I let him at a whole bag, a bag that he almost completely demolished in one sitting. My thought? Gross! But when I tried one, it was the most pleasant licorice flavor I've had since my days of drinking Jager. Oh, how times have changed. He also said this was the flavor he would most like to have if he was sick because he felt it was more effective on this throat.
Which brings me to effectiveness. My friends said that they didn't feel these drops would be effective while they had a cold. Again, the characteristic understated nature of the drops just doesn't try to compete with the full blown medicine in the mouth experience with which the other cough drops define the industry.
But maybe that's why they're called "throat drops." I found my throat was soothed after eating a Pine Bros drop, given I wasn't ever sick or coughing while I tried these. And it's a possibility that popping one after another just made my throat feel soothed because it was forming a thick coating of the softish sugar.
It's also worth noting that these drops had a short list of ingredients that I could actually identify if I saw them in their natural state. Things like Gum Acacia, Honey, Corn Syrup, Water, Sunflower Oil and Carnuba Wax. Elderberry Concentrate is found in the Wild Cherry flavor. Caramel and Anise Oil can all be found in the Licorice flavor.
For those who would rather lean on all natural cough remedies, I would definitely recommend Pine Bros as honey, elderberry and anise are all known to help the immune system fight colds and flus. Plus, they also come in these awesome pucks which would make it easier to administer to children who are feeling under the weather instead of some kind of cough syrup. They'll think it's candy.
Though I'm not entirely sure this isn't candy.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
Which puts these drops ahead in my book because I loves me some prepster style and Martha Stewart's home. After my review of Ricola's new cough drops, getting a sampling of three of the Pine Bros throat drops gives me the opportunity to be the Cough Guru I always dreamed of. Being the generous Guru that I am, I shared this with the Hosh and two of our friends who happen to have great taste in cough drops.
Normally, when talking about something that goes in my mouth, I would start with flavor but instead, I'm going to talk texture. What does "softish" even mean? It's a cross between a hard candy, gummy and a caramel.
Once, I made caramels from scratch and let them heat up a little too hot in the sugar boiling process and ending up with a caramel that really stuck to my teeth while also standing up to a bite. If you were one of the people I gave those caramels to, you now know the texture of Pine Bros drops. Except they're honey, cherry or licorice flavor.
Let's talk flavor. These don't taste anything like those in-your-face, all about the menthol cough drops. Actually, they're pretty much like candy. Subtle candy that takes a long time to eat and might keep some rowdy children quiet longer than the average candy. In fact, I bet that I could give these to children and they'd never know it wasn't candy. The honey flavored is the best honey candy I've ever had. The cherry flavored has the taste of real cherries (as opposed to the outlandish artificial cherry flavor found in so many cough drops.)
One my aforementioned friends with great taste specifically noted that she never experienced a pronounced cherry flavor. It was like an ebb and flow of cherry, never quite peaking in the way she had come to expect of cough drops. I'm not sure she thought this was a good thing and I'm not going to put any words in her mouth, unless that word is PINE. You know, because the drops have the word PINE formed on them.
The Hosh is the only one who likes licorice flavor so I let him at a whole bag, a bag that he almost completely demolished in one sitting. My thought? Gross! But when I tried one, it was the most pleasant licorice flavor I've had since my days of drinking Jager. Oh, how times have changed. He also said this was the flavor he would most like to have if he was sick because he felt it was more effective on this throat.
Which brings me to effectiveness. My friends said that they didn't feel these drops would be effective while they had a cold. Again, the characteristic understated nature of the drops just doesn't try to compete with the full blown medicine in the mouth experience with which the other cough drops define the industry. But maybe that's why they're called "throat drops." I found my throat was soothed after eating a Pine Bros drop, given I wasn't ever sick or coughing while I tried these. And it's a possibility that popping one after another just made my throat feel soothed because it was forming a thick coating of the softish sugar.
It's also worth noting that these drops had a short list of ingredients that I could actually identify if I saw them in their natural state. Things like Gum Acacia, Honey, Corn Syrup, Water, Sunflower Oil and Carnuba Wax. Elderberry Concentrate is found in the Wild Cherry flavor. Caramel and Anise Oil can all be found in the Licorice flavor.
For those who would rather lean on all natural cough remedies, I would definitely recommend Pine Bros as honey, elderberry and anise are all known to help the immune system fight colds and flus. Plus, they also come in these awesome pucks which would make it easier to administer to children who are feeling under the weather instead of some kind of cough syrup. They'll think it's candy.
Though I'm not entirely sure this isn't candy.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
