Mio Drink Mixes (022/365)

Keeping hydrated is a very important part of well, every day living.  :)  But I do have to admit, drinking plain water (especially when not icy cool) can get pretty... tiring.  Though I know when dehydrated, it's best and quicker to rehydrate with tepid water, icy cool just goes down the hatch easier for me.

How do I combat the boring, plain, tepid water?  Mio (and Mio-like) drink mixes!  :)  I was never really a fan of the powdered type things since you could really taste the aspartame aftertaste.  With these Mio drink mixes, you don't have that problem.  Plus, you can adjust the flavor easily.

Mio comes in plenty of flavors.  My favorite is probably the Blueberry Lemonade.  Shown above is also Walmart's version... I don't like it.  You can taste the aspartame and the flavor is just weird.  Mio's flavoring is pretty much spot on.  I've yet to try Market Pantry's (Target's brand), but I have a feeling it won't be as great as Mio's.  *shrug*  I'll still try it one of these days, though.

The regular Mios boast (24) 8-ounce servings, but I always get much more than that.  They suggest one "squeeze" per 8 ounces of water.  I'm still not sure how you measure squeezes, but what I assume to be a "full" squeeze is still too much for me.  The Mio Energy boasts 18 servings for the same price, since it's probably laced with Vitamin B and stuff for that energy boost.

I think you're "supposed" to use it up within a month of opening, but I've had these throughout the summer (and no, they're not empty yet, even after hard use!) and they still taste good.  I've experienced no change in taste since day 1.  I love that no refrigeration is needed, as I like to just keep a bottle in each of my bags and lunch bag.  :)

At the price of about $4.00 per bottle, you might feel that it's pricey.  But compare that to buying (in my case) 48 bottles of sport drink, it's well worth the cost.  Besides, it helps me drink more water each day! :)

**UPDATE**

(15 September 2012)

Today, I picked up a bottle of the Mio Energy:  Green Thunder.  While checking out, I thought it looked funny.  The label read that it was good for 12 servings.  I thought for sure that they should have been 18 servings.  But I bought it anyway ($3.50 at Wally World).  When I came home, my instincts were proven correct, when I compared it to my other bottles of Mio.  The older bottle of Mio Energy: Black Cherry was definitely larger, with a label reading 18 servings.

What a gyp!  The older bottles were larger and had 6 more servings for only about $0.25 more in cost.  The Mio website has not yet updated this, but it does show both the 12 and 18 servings bottles.  I wonder if there are two different sizes available or if they are downgrading all of their bottles.  I wonder if the normal flavors (not Energy) are going to get downsized as well.