Blue Monkey Coconut Water

Product Type:Juice: Coconut Water and Juice; Container: Packet
BevNET Review: Designed to be mixed with 16 oz. of water, Blue Monkey’'s Instant Coconut Water is a decent solution for people who want coconut water on the go. In terms of flavor, it tastes much saltier and noticeably less sweet than their ready-to-drink products. Still, for what it is, it'’s rather enjoyable and it definitely makes for a convenient way to add electrolytes to water that you might otherwise be drinking straight up. Packaging is a 20 gram packet, which, for the Blue Monkey brand, is one of their better (and cleaner) packaging designs. The front of the packet is very easy to understand and has visual appeal – two things that some of the other products could improve upon. Overall, we really like this product.Reviewed on: 2/14/2011

Product Type:Juice: Coconut Water and Juice; Container: 12 oz Can
BevNET Review: For their straight-up coconut water offering, Blue Monkey has opted to go with a steel can-based product sourced from Thailand. In terms of the flavor, they’'ve picked a good one, with the coconut water having a nice balance of salty and sweet and a more distinguishable coconut flavor than some of the other brands out there. For a steel can, they'’ve done a really nice job of making it look clean and almost chic (despite the seemingly random “Blue Monkey” name), with a vibrant label that is way more attractive than any of the other can-based coconut waters that are out there today. However, it still has the potential to be better, especially if they can remove some of the redundant text (e.g. the dark blue ring around the top of the can). Overall, a really solid effort that’'s definitely our favorite canned coconut water.Reviewed on: 2/14/2011

Product Type:Juice: Coconut Water and Juice; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Made with a blend of 80 percent coconut water and 20 percent guava puree (along with agave nectar and vitamin C), which the bottle states is “not from concentrate”, Blue Monkey Pure Coconut Water + Guava is a very enjoyable product. The flavors are natural and straightforward, with a mellow base of coconut water and the gritty tropical flavor of guava. They seem to have gotten the balance right, with just enough fruit flavor and just enough coconut water to make the drink quench your thirst and satisfy your senses. As far as the packaging goes, we like the use of a familiar 16.9 oz. resealable bottle. And, for the most part, we like the execution of the branding, which is clean and appealing. What we don’t like is the top quarter of the label, which is loaded with unnecessary text (e.g. “coconuts gone wild” and “bio-active natural minerals and electrolytes”) that doesn'’t help sell the product. Plus, the package would look much cleaner if it were all blue. Packaging tweaks aside, we think that this product definitely has what it takes to be a player in the category.Reviewed on: 2/14/2011

Product Type:Juice: Coconut Water and Juice; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Instead of going with a citrus flavor, Blue Monkey decided to go with Passion Fruit, which, at least in terms of tartness and acidity, appears to have similar qualities. Like their other 16.9 oz. offerings, Passion Fruit is made with two ley ingredients, coconut water (82 percent) and passion fruit juice (18 percent). Vitamin C has also been added. This is the lowest calorie offering of the lineup, clocking in at 65 calories per 8 oz. serving (compared with 80 calories on the others). This is consistent with this flavor'’s lighter mouth feel, making it slightly easier to chug than the other three. Packaging looks very much like the other flavors, with the most noticeable difference being the green band around the top of the bottle. Also, they’'ve reduced the text that'’s on the band, eliminating the “coconuts gone wild” and French translation. The result is something much cleaner looking, so we’'d love to see this applied to the other flavors. In addition, putting more emphasis on the words “passion fruit” would be good – it’s not a visually recognizable fruit for most Americans. Overall, another strong effort from Blue Monkey.Reviewed on: 2/14/2011

Product Type:Juice: Coconut Water and Juice; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Blue Monkey’s most complex flavor is this one, Pure Coconut Water + Acai & Pomegranate (even the name is complex…). Made with pure coconut water (80 percent), pomegranate juice, acai juice, agave nectar, citric acid, and ascorbic acid, the product delivers balanced notes of tart, sweet, and salty. It’'s rather impressive, especially since pomegranate is something that could definitely overpower coconut water. Plus, they'’ve kept the grit often found in acai juice, which is definitely a welcome sign of quality. Blue Monkey has made a great start with the packaging, especially in choosing a more traditional looking (and resealable) bottle than some of the other products on the market today. However, the volume of text is overwhelming and there are little nuances that could be addressed (e.g. the prominent 100 percent natural badge). Ultimately, we think that “less is more” is definitely true with a product like this. Cleaning things up just a bit would make this an even better product.Reviewed on: 2/14/2011

Product Type:Juice: Coconut Water and Juice; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: After sampling all of the Blue Monkey flavors, this one, Pure Coconut Water + Mango, is the star of the line. Using a straightforward mixture of 80 percent coconut water and 20 percent mango juice (“not from concentrate”, but also including agave nectar and vitamin C –-- labeling loophole or not, it'’s confusing), the product is extremely addictive, with just the right balance of sweet fruit flavor and slightly salty coconut water flavor. It'’s very pleasing to the senses, delivering hydration in a natural and gulpable form. On the outside, the 16.9 oz. bottle is, at least today, nicely differentiated from the other products in the space and it has the added benefit of a resealable top. The product’'s branding is clean and relatively appealing, but we don'’t like the '“coconuts gone wild'” portion of the bottle. It’'s distracting and the content that they’'ve chosen to include is technical and not going to help the sale. Killing this off would allow for more spacing, which would create a minimalist look that’'s very much in-line with the two ingredient formulation. Overall, a top-notch effort that, with a few tweaks, definitely has serious potential.Reviewed on: 2/11/2011