Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda

Product Type:Functional: Recovery and Hangover; Container: 12 oz bottle
BevNET Review: As the name implies (in more ways than one), Mary Jane’s is an entry into the relaxation beverage category. Their approach is to use passion flower extract and, more importantly, kava extract. While both of these ingredients are known to have relaxing and calming functionality, kava is really what they are hanging their hat on. In fact, the company’s literature points out that Mary Jane’s has more kava than the competition (although they don’t specify exactly how much). As far as taste goes, the product is quite pleasant, with a cola like taste and finish (thanks to the use of phosphoric acid). There’s a slight herbal note to the product, but it passes pretty quickly. That brings us to the packaging and branding. Using a 12 oz.stock bottle with a stick on label is fine, especially since they’ve given it a pretty nice color scheme and logo. However, the name “Mary Jane’s” (slang for marijuana) is likely to get this product the same backlash that other beverages who’ve used drug references in their branding (e.g. Cocaine, Drank) have had. Really, it just seems like an unnecessary gamble that is ultimately going to stymie just how far this drink can go. Also, we have a concern about the use of phosphoric acid in the formulation. Phosphoric acid is an ingredient which many health conscious and label reading consumers have taken issue with. Our bet is that the type of consumer that’s interested in a kava based relaxation drink is also the same type who takes issue with phosphoric acid. Overall, it tastes good, it looks nice, and it has the benefits of kava – but we think that the name is going to ultimately be the biggest hurdle for this brand to overcome. Reviewed on: 8/24/2009