Tasty News: Trying New Castle Nutrition

Tasty News: Trying New Castle Nutrition

I was loath to give my sister too much credit when it wasn’t due, but it sure was due in this case. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t be standing in the bright, welcoming establishment that was New Castle Nutrition.

When I couldn’t think of something to pitch for my latest assignment, she recommended that I write about a local business, because of course, that is very relevant to us students. My mind immediately went to the aforementioned café. 

I’d heard about Poland Nutrition, partly because my sister had gone a few times and partly because I’d seen on social media other teenagers frequent it. And I’d always been intrigued. What was it about these health drinks that had swept the local teenage population up in such a frenzy? It wasn’t just these Gen Z’ers, of course, who were patronizing this establishment and those like it, because I had seen several adults as well on the Poland Nutrition page, but teenagers posing gleefully with their beverages seemed to be flooding my Instagram feed.

And darn it, I wanted to be in on the fun!

Enter New Castle Nutrition. It was new (by the time I had the pleasure of going there, it had been open only eleven days), it was local (at the right end of the Union Square, where the old Sweet Frog frozen yogurt shop stood), and it was seeing similar success to Poland Nutrition. I’m sure its being a significantly shorter drive away had a lot to do with this.

The café seemed to be calling my name, and I’d have jumped at any opportunity to visit it. So that’s how I found myself there on that fine Tuesday evening…strictly on Free Lancer business, of course. I was excited to see what the hype was all about.

Even before I’d ordered and tried my drink, I was impressed. The white walls made the space feel so open, and against one wall were a few red cushioned chairs and a table beside a bookcase boasting board games and books. They clearly wanted people to stay, and I liked the lengths they went to make the space inviting. Depending on how I got along with her, I could see myself bringing my college roommate here and just hanging out while we drink our beverages.

Almost everyone who came in was dressed in workout attire, having presumably come from Planet Fitness to the left. Not being much of a gym enthusiast myself, I’d completely forgotten about that facility when I pitched this story idea, and looking back I can’t believe it, because the location was perfect. Once you were done with your workout, you could head a few stores down and purchase a shake or tea. I don’t want to say that you would be rewarding yourself with it because that’s not how you should view any food or drink, but the thought of the cool, tasty beverage you’re going to get later might make that circuit training go a little faster.

Being new to this sort of establishment, my mom and I didn’t quite know what to do in terms of how to order, so we just seated ourselves at one of the tables. Like all the tables, ours had a little punny sign on it that said, “What’s shakin’?”, and being the pun fanatic that I am, I loved it.

Not long after, a very bubbly woman came to our table and asked us if we had ever been there before. Maybe it was that obvious. 

We told her that we were new to this scene, and she proceeded to explain to us how the business of creating and ordering our beverages worked, as well as the different types of drinks and the benefits of the various beauty boosters. She ended by placing a slip of paper on our table. 

If you have ever been to a restaurant like Burgatory in Cranberry or Blackout Burger in Grove City, you know that one of the options for ordering is filling out a piece of paper, checking off what burger and sauce and toppings tickle your fancy. This was very similar, being a simple matter of choosing a shake or tea and going from there. The only difference here was that instead of your waiter coming to your table and taking your paper, you had to go up to the counter and hand the worker your paper.

I knew I was going to order a tea because I’m generally not a shake person, so for me “going from there” consisted of selecting what size of tea, what flavor of tea, what aloe, and what beauty booster I wanted. I opted for a regular-sized peach “mega tea”, which was basically double the amount of aloe and tea concentrate found in a non-mega tea, with mango aloe. That combination seemed safe.

Now all that was left was to place my order. Nervously (because I’m very socially awkward and so don’t exactly relish approaching people on my own in general) I made my way to the counter, waiting for the customers in front of me to finish their business.

When it was my turn, the worker took a look at my paper and asked me if I wanted a beauty booster, because I hadn’t checked off one. Figuring since they were free that it couldn’t hurt to get one, I asked which one she recommended, and she said that either orange or tropical fruit would work nicely with the peach-mango flavor. I chose the tropical fruit booster because I was a lover of all things tropical.

In seemingly no time at all my drink was ready. I, equally nervously, approached the counter again to grab it and headed back to my table. I took a sip, a long sip. Then I took another.

Quite excellent, I must admit!

I visited New Castle Nutrition with my mom on a Tuesday. As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of a peach Diet Snapple that I drank three days later, on Friday. They have a very similar flavor profile, one that I like very much. As for my mega tea, I could really taste the mango notes, both from the aloe and presumably as part of the tropical fruit beauty booster…because hey, what’s tropical fruit without some mango? 

With a lot of fruit-flavored food items and beverages, there’s an artificiality to them that you either like or you hate. I flip flop between the two groups depending on the fruit flavor in question. But this drink, with just the right amount of sweetness that didn’t wander into overpowering territory, didn’t taste artificial at all. Sure, I didn’t feel like I was eating a fresh peach, but it was reasonably close to the real deal, which added to my enjoyment.

My mom liked it too, which says a lot about the level of sweetness because she isn’t the biggest fan of overly saccharine drinks. But if you do like that rush of sugar that you get from a particularly sweet beverage, you won’t be disappointed, because there are tea bases available that are intentionally more on the sweet side. There is truly something for everyone.

I also feel obligated to mention the ice. They use the relatively soft kind that comes in small chunks. I’ve attached a picture of it so you get a better idea, but let me just say that this was yet another reason to love my tea and heavily consider coming back.

Before I knew it, I’d downed the last drop. I felt an acute sense of loss as I looked in my cup and realized there was nothing left but ice, no matter how good the quality of it was.

So, what’s the verdict? New Castle Nutrition is indeed worth the hype. If you have a chance to go, please do. You won’t regret it. I can’t speak on the shakes, but I imagine that they are just as delicious as the teas.

And, Isabella, I suppose I have to thank you for being the reason behind this article.

 

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