Auriganic: Hawthorn Berries

Auriganic is a 100 percent juice beverage that features auricularia auricula (aka woodear -- an edible fungus). Other ingredients, which provide the actual flavor of the drink, are hawthorn berries, mango puree, apple juice concentrate, and lemon juice concentrate. All of the ingredients are listed as being organic, aside from the added filtered water. The drinking experience is sweet and rich, with 240 calories and 48g of sugars per bottle. While we appreciate the functional ingredient in this product, we’re not convinced that this is the right approach. What the company has created tastes more like a tropical fruit drink than something that’s a good-for-you product (we’d say the same for the goji berry flavor as well). We’re not sure what the right flavor profile is for this product, but we’re pretty sure that this isn’t it. Honestly, we feel the same about the branding and packaging. For starters, it’s odd to have a product called “Auriganic” that isn’t certified organic (even though the ingredients are organic). From there, we found it very hard to tell the difference between the two flavors, although they are in reality so similar anyway. Plus, the company needs to better explain what the product is -- and why you should drink it (the explanation on the back is wordy and hard to read). Regardless, the product feels rather technical in style, which will probably make for some challenges in building a loyal consumer base. Overall, we feel as though Auriganic needs some work to make it more palatable and marketable.