V+V Apothicaire

by Portman Concepts, LLC

Review: Vim + Vigor Expands Into Drinkable Soup with “Savoury Sips”

Posted: May 02, 2016 at 3:35 PM (Last Updated: May 02, 2016 at 7:09 PM)

Covers Products: Savoury Sips - Harvest Melange, Savoury Sips - Heirloom Gazpacho, Savoury Sips - Kale Avo' Basil

Vim + Vigor, or “V+V Apothicaire” as they now refer to themselves, has expanded their offerings from cold-pressed juice to include chilled drinkable soups. The soups, which come in three flavors, including Heirloom Gazpacho, Kale Avo’ Basil, and Harvest Melange, are said to “marry European culinary influences and functional nourishment.”

What they’ve created are some interesting but familiar flavors and, even though they call it soup, they’ve created a nice savory parallel to go with their cold-pressed juice lineup.

Here’s a rundown of the three flavors that we sampled:

  • Heirloom Gazpacho --  Their take on the classic cold soup is a good one. The tomato flavor is bright and tangy, while the red pepper, salt, and jalapeno provide a nice second wave of flavor. With gazpacho being the most widely known chilled soup, we’re sure that this will pull much better than the other two flavors.

  • Kale Avo’ Basil -- Made with coconut milk, kale, avocado, basil, sweet pea, mint, lemon, avocado oil, salt, garlic oil, and jalapeno, this product’s main strength is its velvety texture.  Otherwise, it s quite mellow, with the pea and basil giving it a nice summery flavor.

  • Harvest Melange -- Although it’s not listed on the front of the bottle, this product contains chickpeas,something that helps it achieve its unique flavor and consistency. Otherwise, “melange,” which means medley, is a great way to describe this product.

Packaging for Savoury Sips is a 12 oz. PET bottle, which is the same format used by other high-pressure processed beverages. However, ready to consume chilled soup is still a very nascent concept, so it’s hard to say whether or not this is the right package for the product. But it does feel like an appropriate portion for the product and the label is polished and sets the tone for the high quality ingredients that are found inside the bottle.

However, we do have a few bits of feedback on the copy and layout. First, there’s a disconnect between the V+V Apothicaire and the Savoury Sips branding. The apothecary theme doesn’t really go with soup, which isn’t helped by the separation of these logos. Second, there’s an incomplete list of ingredients on the front. While we’re fans of putting the full ingredient list on the front panel when it’s a really short list, their approach, which, whether intended or not, feels as though it’s meant to be a comprehensive list, leaves off key ingredients (e.g. coconut milk in Kale Avo’ Basil and chickpeas in the Harvest Melange).

All in all, we really like the idea of extending a cold-pressed juice brand into a line of savory offerings. They’ve nailed the flavor of a classic gazpacho, while the other two varieties are a bit more adventurous, so there should be something for everyone. We’d love to see some refinement to the package, but we’re pleased with where things stand at the product’s launch.


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