Temple Turmeric Debuts New Drinking Vinegars and Shots in New York

Screen Shot 2017-01-12 at 1.11.12 PMContinuing to branch out from its signature elixir brand, Temple Turmeric expanded its lines of turmeric-based raw drinking vinegars and pure prana shots this month. The company debuted four new SKUs in New York last week, with plans to expand their distribution nationally by mid-spring.

The new vinegar flavors, which also come with a packaging redesign, include Green Alkalizer and White Turmeric Detox to accompany the current Pure Fire Tonic flavor that debuted nationally last year. For shots, the New York company is adding a Red Ginger Shot and a Fire Shot alongside its Turmeric Shot variety. Temple Turmeric founder Daniel Sullivan told BevNET the new flavors had been brewing in his head for a long time.

“Vinegar is such an incredible healer and it’s such an important protocol to get into your daily experience,” Sullivan said. “Because what it does is it helps to balance your pH and it helps to create an environment in the body where it’s very hard for disease to grow. So when you have more of an alkaline body type it’s harder to get sick.”

Green Alkalizer uses a raw coconut vinegar base along with white turmeric, coconut blossom nectar, ginger, lime, lemon, barley grass, black pepper, spirulina, parsley and chlorella. Sullivan says coconut vinegar has “a cleaner, brighter flavor profile than apple cider vinegar,” which allows the other flavors in the recipe to stand out.

“The vinegars create the experience of sweetness when there’s really no sugar,” he said. “Even though the drink might taste like it has a little bit of bright sweetness to it, it’s just the facade of the vinegar. It’s really helpful because we’re all looking for that lower sugar offering, which is really important in functional beverage.”

White Turmeric Detox uses apple cider vinegar along with white turmeric, dark cherry, cardamom and ginger among other ingredients.

Screen Shot 2017-01-12 at 1.11.45 PM“This drink has been on my mind forever,” Sullivan said. “My farmers used to grow ten pounds of white turmeric here and there, but nothing I could really scale. But finally a couple years ago they said ‘we’re ready, 2017 is go time,’ so we started working on this last fall.”

The packaging for the Pure Fire Tonic vinegar has been updated to match the new drinks, with a number of tweaks added to give more play to the drink’s organic credentials, including moving the organic and non-GMO logos from the side to the front. The new wrapping is also no longer see-through, making the text easier to read, although the tops and bottoms of the bottle remain clear so the liquid is visible.

The Red Ginger Shot makes use of elderberry cold brew, white turmeric, honey, ghost pepper, and reishi mushrooms and the Fire Shot boasts 7,600 mg of turmeric along with cinnamon, orange, ghost pepper and vanilla.

“Part of the entrepreneurial venture is you’ve got to continue to pivot, and update and innovate to stay relevant,” Sullivan said. “Everything comes in threes so we decided let’s put out three vinegars and three shots. They’ll all be highly functional, color-coordinated and leveraging what the consumers are looking for in terms of new and distinct varieties of turmeric, low-sugar, drinking vinegars, alkalizing, detoxifying, fat burning, anti-inflammatory. The main premise of what we’re trying to encompass is recovery.”

The national rollout for the new products, all selling for $4.99 per bottle, is slated for March and April, Sullivan said. Among the distributors, HiTouch Distribution will handle the Los Angeles market and HEB will cover Texas.