I finally got around to watching this HBO series everyone’s taking about. And I LOVE it!! True Blood is a fantastic show. It’s well written, has amazing actors, and keeps you on your toes. I cannot wait for the 3rd season to start up this summer. I’m fascinated by how quickly and intensely this show consumed my brain. My husband is delighted and says I’m embracing my inner nerd. And he bought me the Sookie Stackhouse books to keep my occupied until the show starts back up. What a doll.
One aspect of the show I thought my fellow vegans would appreciate is Vampire Bill Compton’s preference for drinking synthetic bottled blood to draining humans. He’s like a vampire gone veg. You could say synthetic blood is comparable to a meat substitute. Way to go, Bill! And Bill is viewed as an abnormal vampire because he doesn’t like to harm humans for sustenance, just as vegans are seen as abnormal for not wanting to harm animals for sustenance. Can you see the parallels here?
And if you haven’t heard, there’s actually a Tru Blood drink on the market. Unfortunately, it’s not vegan. As much as I wanted it to be, I even missed some of the non-vegan ingredients the first time I checked it, like carmine coloring. So, yeah, not vegan 
Ingredients:
Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Potassium Citrate, Carmine Coloring, Potassium Sorbate, Sucralose, Sodium Citrate, Sodium Benzoate, Caffeine, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Caramel Coloring, Red 40, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin B6, Cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12), Folic Acid, Gum Accacia, Ester Gum
Here’s a list of non-vegan ingredients I posted a while back.
But actually, I heard the “Tru Blood” liquid they drink on the show is more of a fruit puree, which Stephen Moyer (Bill) said is quite delicious. So, if you want to mimic the drink on the show, make yourself a fruit puree with cherries and strawberries and other fun red fruits. Or drink some pomegranate juice. Yum! Sounds way better than blood orange soda, anyway.
And check out the show! Season 1 is available on DVD now. And season 2 will be out on DVD on May 25th.
tommy Says:
hey, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s some definitely NOT vegan ingredients.
carmine coloring is the result of boiling insects and taking the left over crystalized bits that turn out to be a natural red food coloring additive, it’s often in ruby red grapefruit juices.
also “cane sugar” is most likely refined through bone char filters, unless it is “organic” but since it doesn’t say it is, it most likely isn’t organic.
and just in general sucralose isn’t the best. they tested it on rats to invent it and it gives 100% of rats cancer but seemingly has no negative effects on people, and also it kills puppies, which they found out when developing it. it’s in the same family of artificial sweeteners as aspartame and splenda.
sorry.
i adore true blood and i was so sad when i sawr the ingredients list. i had to just make my own with some vegan orange soda and cran-rasberry juice. and maybe a nip of rum to forget about what “carmine” is. *shudder*
again, sorry, but i’d want someone to tell me if i was eating bugs.
February 3rd, 2010 at 9:20 pm
Kat Says:
If you like True Blood, you might also enjoy Dexter. I believe its on showtime. Check it out
Also, I’m pretty much a noob to this. What ingredient in that soda is non-vegan? I couldn’t tell.
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Emily Says:
Hey Kat! I do really like Dexter! I need to catch up, though. There are a few questionable ingredients like the sugars, which are often processed with bone char and the “natural flavors”. But the real kicker is the carmine coloring, which is a red coloring that comes from ground up beetles. http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4924953_how-food-coloring-carmine-made.html
February 4th, 2010 at 7:01 am
How to Look Younger | Best Anti-Aging Cream Says:
[...] Happy Vegetable » Blog Archive » Thirsty For True Blood [...]
February 4th, 2010 at 2:34 pm
True Blood Says:
Being a vegetarian and a True Blood fan, I loved this article! I would actuallu prefer mine as more of a tomato drink and less of a fruit drink.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Emily Says:
Tomato drinks work too! And if you add a little alcohol, you’ve got yourself a bloody mary! What a perfect fit for the “all flavor, no bite” motto.
February 25th, 2010 at 10:40 am
Debby Walwyn Says:
I can’t wait to watch the new episode.
July 9th, 2010 at 6:21 pm