Reviews

Venice Cold Brew is a product is made with direct trade coffee beans, which are steeped in natural spring water for 12 hours. The company triple-filters the liquid and bottles it. The end result is strong, but smooth, and compared with the rest of the cold brew category, the flavor is definitely up there with the best of them.

Pressed Juicery recently added a couple of 2 oz. shot products to its portfolio of cold-pressed juices. The Vitality Shot and Wellness Shot are both flavorful, and we like that the company uses a square-shaped 2 oz. bottle, which creates visual continuity with the rest of the brand.

Teonic is a brand of 100 percent organic, unsweetened herbal teas. Packaged in 8 oz. apothecary-style glass bottles, Teaonic comes in a number of function-focused varieties, such as "I Love My Liver" and "I Love My Skin." For us, the overly functional and preachy vibe of the labels is slightly off putting, especially because what's inside the bottle is flavorful and tasty.

Produced in Vermont, Purify Juice is a cold-pressed, high processed juice brand. In our review of three of its varieties, we appreciate the minimalist quality of the labels, but feel that a bit more information about the ingredients and a nutrition facts panel is needed.

Temple Turmeric recently added a new mainstream-oriented line of turmeric-infused beverages that are feature a lower calorie and sugar count than its primary offerings. Described as “fully-functional thirst-quenchers,” Temple Turmeric's Super Lights beverages come in three approachable flavor varieties: Hibiscus Berry-Ade, Lemon Ginger-Ade and Strawberry Lemon-Ade.

Based in the beach town of Montauk, N.Y., Sweet'tauk produces a line of premium, cold-pressed lemonade beverages that are high pressure processed. Available in four varieties, the drinks come in 12 oz. bottles designed with a summertime motif.

The evolution of Golazo continues in 2015 with refined flavors, USDA Organic certification, and updated packaging. The shift appears to be an effort to make the products more mainstream and intuitive. The same can be said about other changes to the packaging, which further reduce to the soccer theme that Golazo used as a launching pad.

Califia Farms recently added a two-SKU line of horchata drinks to its portfolio of dairy alternative, juice and coffee beverages. Made with a base of rice milk and almond milk, the products come in Cinnamon and Vanilla varieties, each packaged in 48 oz. carafes.

Mucho Gazpacho produces a three-SKU line of bottled gazpacho drinks, each made with a very clean list of ingredients, including tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet onions, and bell peppers, olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt.

Announced yesterday as the top cold beverage product at the 2015 Summer Fancy Food Show, White and Vine is the fourth flavor variety for Owl’s Brew. The cocktail mixer is a blend of white tea, pomegranate, lemon peel and watermelon. Here's our take:

Based in San Francisco, Clearly Kombucha produces a line of organic raw kombucha that are blended with a hint of juice and also include natural flavors and colors. On the outside, the product has been given a major packaging upgrade since we first saw it a few years back.

L.A. Libations has launched an extension of its Arriba brand with a classic-style horchata drink (as well as a coffee-infused version). Unlike the original Arriba product, this one contains no added energy ingredients. It’s milky, sweet, and slightly viscous with a pleasant taste. If it’s horchata flavor that you’re after, this is certainly a pretty good option.

Recently, Revive received a design overhaul, which has shifted the style from a more serious looking label to something that feels like it’s out of the craft beer industry.

Auriganic is a 100 percent juice beverage that features auricularia auricula (aka wood ear -- an edible fungus). While we appreciate the functional ingredient in this product, we’re not convinced that this is the right approach.