Jojo Energy Drinks

Product Type:Water: Enhanced; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Black Cherry was our favorite flavor of the initial Jojo lineup. Featuring a pleasant tasting black cherry flavor, it offers a familiar flavor that’s satisfying to the palate. Both the flavor and functionality are delivered via a cap dispensing technology, which requires the consumer to twist and shake prior to consuming the product through the built in straw (or by removing the cap entirely). It’s easy to figure out, especially with the instructions on the back panel, but in our tests, the first sip of the product had noticeably more flavor as the remains of the flavor mix seem to get stuck in the straw. And, as cited in the other reviews, we were rather disappointed to see no explanation of the benefits of the cap (like preventing the vitamins and nutrients from deteriorating in water as other brands state). Still, the product is fortified with rhodiola rosea, green tea extract (souce of natural caffeine), huperzine A, L-amino acids, and cognizin (from Kyowa, for focus and memory). While the “focus” function of the drink is too hard to test the efficacy of, we did feel a bit of a caffeine kick from the product. That, even by itself, should help consumers feel like they are getting their money’s worth. However, we’d like to see the packaging push the energy function a bit more. Plus, we’re not fans of introducing a cartoon character in the mix, especially in the case where there’s no equity in the character outside of the beverage. Overall, a nice concept with good execution in packaging and flavor, but we’re not fans of the branding just yet. Reviewed on: 10/16/2009

Product Type:Water: Enhanced; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Jojo Energy’s Mojito formulation is a pleasant tasting mix, although it doesn’t really taste like a mojito. Instead, it tastes more like lime flavored tea, with a light note of the functional ingredients and artificial sweeteners hitting your tongue at the end. That being said, changing the name might not be a bad thing, especially since “Mojito” isn’t synonymous with functionality. As far as functional beverages go, it’s pretty good, finding a nice balance of flavors and keeping aftertaste to a reasonable level. Like the other flavors, this one is fortified with rhodiola rosea, green tea extract (souce of natural caffeine), huperzine A, L-amino acids, and cognizin (for focus and memory). While the drink might function as intended, the positioning of this product seems a bit unclear, with multiple functions calling out at you without any of them seeming overly credible. The main reason for saying this is the drink’s cartoon like theme and the lack of explanation of the functional claims. As a result, we’re forced to focus on the cap, which serves as both a dispenser for the drink’s functional cocktail and color as well as the straw through which the drink is consumed. While it’s a nice use of cap technology, it’s presented more as a novelty than an aid to the drink’s functionality. Overall, this is a nice tasting drink, but with the current branding, the product runs the risk of being viewed as a novelty drink that’s all about the cap.Reviewed on: 10/16/2009

Product Type:Water: Enhanced; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: Jojo’s Orange Sickle was one of our favorites. The non-carbonated formulation is mixed together via a cap dispenser, dropping the flavoring, sweetener, functional ingredients, and coloring into the liquid. After shaking and removing the top of the cap, you’ve got access to a pleasant tasting ace-k and sucralose sweetened drink that has been given a hefty dose of pleasing orange creamsicle flavor. There’s no mistaking this for anything other than an artificially sweetened functional drink, with both the functional ingredients and sweeteners hitting your palate at various times, but not to the point of steering us away from the product. From a functional point of view, the product is trying to improve energy, speed, endurance, and focus. We’re okay with energy, endurance, and focus, but speed is a function that’s vague and ultimately undermines the credibility of the drink. Furthermore, we’re not fans of the cartoon “Jojo” character, which we highly doubt will help drive sales of this product and takes the emphasis off of what’s inside the bottle. And finally, there’s the cap, which is one of the easier to use cap dispensers that we’ve seen to date. However, they don’t explain why they’ve chosen to use this approach, which increases the risk that the drink will be viewed as a novelty product. Overall, the a nice tasting product that’s enjoyable to drink and has some kick to it, but the product still needs some tweaking, especially on the exterior.Reviewed on: 10/16/2009

Product Type:Water: Enhanced; Container: 16.9 oz PET
BevNET Review: JoJo Energy’s “Super Berry” was the first flavor that we sampled. Like the rest of the brand, this flavor uses a unique cap-dispensing technology that requires the drinker to first twist the cap, shake the drink, and then finally remove the cap to consume the product through the straw that lies within the cap. This mixes the flavor, functional ingredients, and color into the drink. From a flavor point of view, it’s enjoyable, with only 4 calories per bottle thanks to the use of acesulfame postassium and sucralose as the drink’s sweeteners. The berry flavor is decent, although on the first sip of the product we got some leftover flavor concentrate that was left on the straw after opening and shaking vigorously. Beyond that, the product has a mild aftertaste from the functional ingredients and sweeteners. Functionally, this product includes rhodiola rosea, green tea extract (souce of natural caffeine), huperzine A, L-amino acids, and something called "cognizin" (for focus and memory). All of this ties back to the drinks functional purposes of “endurance, speed, focus, and energy.” While we can’t vouch for the first three, we definitely felt the caffeine that’s contained in the drink, despite its caffeine content not being disclosed on the bottle. From a packaging point of view, the cap is unique, but feels somewhat like a gimmick both because they’ve failed to explain why they’re using this cap and because of the cartoon character on the front of the bottle. Reviewed on: 10/16/2009