Cascal

Product Type:Carbonated Soft Drink: Regular; Container: 12 oz Can
BevNET Review: The Fresh Tropical variety of CasCal is made with a 35 percent juice blend of white grape, tangerine, lemon, carrot (for color), and fermented apple. It’s also one of the stevia-sweetened varieties of the lineup. The aroma of the drink has a mango note to it, which does not line up at all with the flavor of the drink. Instead, we taste orange and white grape as the dominant flavors, with stevia and fermented apple finishing things up. While it’s not an intolerable blend, the lack of balance is noticeable and we’d stick with one of the other flavors. On the outside, the visual look of the product is underwhelming, starting with the generic looking silver can. The orange text is hard to read, while the name, Fresh Tropical, doesn’t seem to be an accurate descriptor of what’s inside. Conceptually, the food pairings (found on the back of the can) are a cool idea, but for a product like this, it seems out of place (we don’t know many people pairing canned soft drinks with food). Overall, there’s some good stuff here, but other parts simply miss the mark.

Product Type:Carbonated Soft Drink: Regular; Container: 12 oz Can
BevNET Review: The only carryover from the original lineup, Crisp White is a blend of pear, white grape, apple, lemon, peach, and fermented pear juices along with natural flavors and carbonated water. Unlike some of the other flavors, this formulation does not contain stevia, which certainly helps it in the flavor department. The product is almost comparable to a non-alcoholic sparkling wine, with grape and pear notes followed by a mellow fermented flavor to the finish. That said, it’s actually one of the more enjoyable and refreshing flavors of the bunch. However, they need to do a better job of explaining why they are marketing this as a fermented product. If it’s solely for taste, then it seems out of place on the front of the can. As for the rest of the can, it definitely feels like a downgrade from the glass packaging that was previously used. The new design feels less exotic and has an almost boilerplate looking layout to it. Finally, it seems strange that there’s no front-of-can distinction between the stevia and non-stevia sweetened flavors. Overall, the best of the bunch, but we still like the old format better.

Product Type:Carbonated Soft Drink: Regular; Container: 12 oz Can
BevNET Review: Featuring a 36 percent juice blend of black currant, white grape, tangerine, and lemon juices from concentrate as well as concentrated fermented cherry juice, CasCal’s Berry Cassis has the most pronounced fruit flavor of the lineup. As far as their claim that the fermentation makes for bolder fruit flavors, this is the flavor where this is most evident. The use of stevia is noticeable, but not detrimental to the enjoyment of the product as the natural sugar in the fruit juice and the tart fruit flavor mask it quite nicely. The fermented flavor is extremely subtle, which might be a good thing as far as the product not tasting that out of the ordinary, but, on the other hand, it also tastes extremely similar to a sparkling juice beverage. This might throw consumers for a loop in the sense that the “fermented soda” tag line is neither explained well on the outside of the can or easily identifiable in the formulation. Packaging is a slim 12 oz. can, which, aside from the logo, looks rather nondescript. The slight personality that existed with the proprietary glass package is gone and so is the eye catching appeal. Overall, it’s drinkable and thirst quenching, but we feel as though the product fails to communicate its purpose or offer anything overly unique in its flavor.