Rawpothecary Probiotic Water

by Rawpothecary

Review: Rawpothecary Probiotic Waters

Posted: May 26, 2016 at 3:34 PM (Last Updated: May 26, 2016 at 3:34 PM)
Rawpothecary Probiotic Waters

Covers Products: Cucumber Lemon Mint, Hibiscus Grapefruit Basil, Orange Ginger

Rawpothecary is a Brooklyn-based manufacturer of high pressure processed juices and smoothies. Their products are innovative and unique, with a lineup that includes cold-pressed, juices, fiber-rich juice blends, and seed milks.

Their latest offering, labeled as both Probiotic Water and “Probitonix,” all of which are USDA Organic, includes three flavors: Orange Ginger, Cucumber Lemon Mint, and Hibiscus Grapefruit Basil. They’re low-calorie offerings that blend water, vegetables and/or fruit, probiotics, and, in two of the flavors, stevia. All three of the products have an SRP of $3.99.

The end result is something that tastes like a flavored water and has 10-23 calories and 3 to 4 grams of sugars per 12 ounce bottle. As for what we like/don’t like, the first thing to say is that these three products have very different flavor profiles, especially when it comes to their sweetness levels. The lightest flavor of the bunch is the Cucumber Lemon Mint offering. Often called spa water or detox water, this flavor is super fresh, light, thirst quenching and has only 10 calories per bottle. And despite having stevia, you really cannot taste it. The next -- and perhaps our favorite -- flavor is Orange Ginger. At 23 calories and 4g of sugar per bottle, this product has no stevia and is sweetened only with the orange juice. But it’s the hit of ginger that will keep us coming back for more. Finally, there’s Hibiscus Grapefruit Basil, which is the most full-bodied flavor of the trio. There’s a really sharp note of grapefruit to it, which admittedly, was unexpected after tasting the other two flavors. It’s the only one that has a flavor profile that is maybe a step past a flavored water.

From a practical sense, all three of these are the type of product that you can pick up and consume at any point in the day. That’s in contrast to Rawpothecary’s other products, which are likely to replace all or at least some of a meal. As a result, this product has the potential to go wider than their other products, which is for sure a good thing.

However, the packaging, while vibrant and eye-catching, could use some improvement in terms of how it handles the Rawpothecary brand and the name of the product. The eye is first drawn to the callout for “Probiotic Water,” which is certainly the right place to start. From there, several text elements compete for your attention and some of them, such as “crushed & brewed,” don’t feel necessary (at least not on the front panel). Instead, we’d love to see the Rawpothecary logo get a treatment that turns it into a more dominant part of the label. Given that this product already has direct competition from Suja (which is also generally about a buck cheaper), we feel as though this is an important step.

Overall, Rawpothecary’s Probiotic Waters are a smart and well-timed extension for the brand.

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