Health-Ade

Health-Ade Plus, which was announced in mid August, is a line of USDA Certified Organic kombuchas that are enhanced with functional ingredients. 

We sampled four of the line’s seven initial SKUs: Belly Reset, which features ginger, pineapple, and extra probiotics; Beauty, which features biotin and silica; Chill, which contains passion flower, vanilla, and lavender; and Immunity, made with turmeric, ginger, and black pepper. 

The functional component of the brand is an interesting one to market for a product type that already is viewed as a somewhat functional, living product thanks to its probiotic content. 

Belly Reset, which doubles down on this by having added probiotics, seems like the most straightforward and will require the least education. We’d say the same for Immunity, which also feels very much in line with what kombucha is all about. Chill and Beauty are effectively new functions for kombucha. We can’t speak to how efficacious these products are (and neither is going to provide an immediate noticeable benefit, unlike perhaps their forthcoming Energy SKU), but we think that the somewhat subtle manner that they’ve executed these flavors will help consumers give them a try.

When it comes to taste, there’s no mistaking any of these for anything but a Health-Ade kombucha. The base flavor and level of quality is exactly what you’ll find from their flagship line. That being said, Health-Ade Plus doesn’t have something that strongly distinguishes the taste from the core lineup. That’s not a bad thing -- we just think that they’ll largely be interchangeable with the rest of the flavors.

For our palates, the standouts were Belly Reset and Immunity. Both of these have some nice ginger spice to them and this is, in our opinion, still one of the best flavor pairings with the lightly fermented flavor that kombucha naturally has. From there, these flavors diverge, with Belly Reset having a subtle pineapple flavor and Immunity featuring turmeric as its secondary flavor. 

In addition, we also really liked the vanilla note that you’ll find in Chill. There aren’t all that many kombuchas that are flavored with vanilla and it’s a surprisingly good combination. Lastly, there’s the strawberry and rose flavored Beauty. This is a perfectly fine entry, but we preferred the more assertive flavors of the other three.

Health-Ade Plus is packaged in the same 16 ounce brown glass bottle used on their flagship kombucha lineup. However, this product line has a much more minimalist style to it. The label’s background is a single flat color (there’s a different color for reach flavor) and a large plus sign is featured on the front of the bottle. 

Inside this plus sign is the Health-Ade anchor, the Health-Ade Plus logo, and the SKU name.  In the lower left portion of the plus, you’ll find the text “Kombucha+” followed by a list of core ingredients. We found this somewhat easy to miss on Belly Reset, which uses white text on top of a yellow background, but on the other three it definitely caught the eye and was straightforward.

While we really like the look of the plus design, we do have one bit of constructive feedback: we’d like the flavor to be a bit more prominent. This feels like something that you have to piece together by looking at the small featured ingredient list. , We also feel as though there’s enough room on the front of the label to help fit this in.

Ultimately, we think that Health-Ade Plus is a really nice line extension for the brand. These are really well executed flavors and we think that they give the brand a place to offer some more focused and potent formulations. 

With the launch of Booch Pop, Health-Ade is the latest in the growing ranks of kombucha brands that have released shelf stable offerings. The line, which is launching on Amazon in 12 ounce cans, features three flavors: Pom-Berry, Ginger Fizz and Lemon+Lime.

Ranging from 40 to 60 calories per can, these products fall roughly into the mid-calorie range. The addition of cane sugar and 5% juice, which provide the sweetness and some of the drinks’ flavor, results in the products having between 6 and 11 grams of sugar. Like Health Ade’s other brews, Booch Pop is USDA Certified Organic. 

It’s important to note that, as this is a shelf stable product, the live probiotics found in Health-Ade’s flagship product line aren’t part of the equation here. Instead, this product is marketed as having prebiotics, acids from fermentation, herbs and minerals, and real fruit. 

When it comes to taste, Booch Pop has the same base kombucha flavor as Health-Ade, but lighter. Added fruit juices, powders and extracts are used to flavor each SKU, and all three are quite approachable.

Lemon + Lime has a bright citrus flavor, Ginger Fizz has a note of lemon and some smooth ginger spice, and Pom-Berry has the most assertive fruit flavor.

The flavor is different from Health-Ade Kombucha -- it’s less kombucha-forward (there’s only a slight note of fermented flavor) -- but this very much feels like a no-compromise offering. 

Still, Booch Pop definitely feels like it’s trying to be something different than its older sibling. This starts with the fact that it doesn’t have the probiotic content that kombucha is known for — something that's been a point of contention for the category as a whole. From our perspective, this is a gateway product that can scale and ultimately drive consumers to (rather than undermine) the wider kombucha market. And we think it will provide existing kombucha consumers, like ourselves, something that provides the same flavor in situations in which a perishable product simply isn’t possible.

Booch Pop comes in a slim 12 ounce can that has been printed with a brightly colored backdrop that’s different for each flavor. Lemon + Lime gets a yellow background with green accents, Ginger Fizz gets an aqua green background with yellow accents, and Pom-Berry has a purple background with magenta accents.

The front panel starts with the Health-Ade anchor logo followed by “Booch” stacked on top of “Pop.” The tagline, “A feel good bubbly beverage,” and the flavor name are below. Finally, a USDA Organic seal is at the bottom with the required package size statement.

It’s a sharply designed and visually approachable can that does a good job of both creating its own identity and making good use of Health-Ade’s existing brand equity.

The only thing that we wonder about is the use of “Pop” in the name. When we first saw this product we immediately wondered if it was trying to be a soda, but that doesn’t seem to be what the brand is going for. We suspect that this may be a common first reaction to seeing this, but, if you’re like us, we think most people will get over it once they try it.

Overall, Booch Pop is a timely and well-executed extension to the Health-Ade lineup. By going shelf stable, this product should, like some of the offerings from others in the kombucha space, help Health-Ade further expand its consumer base. 

Jalapeño Kiwi-Cucumber is a seasonal release kombucha that Health-Ade is launching for summer 2018.

As you can probably guess from the inclusion of jalapeño, this product has some spiciness to it. We’d describe it as having mild to medium spice as it doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors and it definitely doesn’t linger.

Still, this drink isn’t just about spice. The other two flavors, kiwi and cucumber, really take the drink to a whole other level. While they do what you’d expect by adding sweetness and a note of cool, summery flavor from the cucumber, they more importantly add balance to the flavor of the jalapeño.

Last, but not least, there’s the base of Health-Ade kombucha. In this particular SKU the kombucha provides a somewhat secondary note of flavor (a light kombucha tang) and, of course, gives the drink its effervescence.

The pairing of all of these flavors results in a drink that’s complex, balanced, and quite addictive. There’s just enough of each flavor to make you want to go back again and again for another sip.

On the packaging and branding, this product is styled like the core Health-Ade flavors. It comes in a 16 oz. resealable amber glass bottle and features an off white label with a green accent color. Given that all three of the flavor ingredients are green, this seems like an intuitive approach. And that’s exactly how we’d describe the label in general as it’s nicely organized and easy to read.

Overall, we’re big fans of this flavor. It’s innovative and slightly outside the box of the normal spectrum of kombucha flavors -- and the execution is really top-notch.

Health-Ade Kombucha’s latest flavor variety is Blood Orange-Carrot-Ginger, which is taking the place of its discontinued Carrot SKU.

Back in 2014 we took a look at Health-Ade Carrot and referred to it as the brand’s “most adventurous” flavor. Apparently, that’s something that the market noticed as well, so it was time to evolve the flavor into something different.

And that’s exactly how Health-Ade ended up with this product. In addition to cold-pressed carrot juice, it’s also made with cold-pressed blood orange and ginger juices. The result is something that has much more depth of flavor, but it’s also more palatable and mainstream tasting. There are notes of tart and sweet from the blood orange, a subtle vegetable flavor from the carrot, and a light hit of ginger spice at the finish. It pairs very nicely with Health-Ade’s base kombucha flavor, which adds effervescence and a crispness to the finish. While we were fans of Carrot, this is a very big step up.

The beverage is, like all Health-Ade drinks, packaged in the brand’s 16 oz. proprietary bottle. The packaging has come a long way since the beginning, with the company adding a fully custom shape and cap, each of which give the product a more modern feel (as opposed to the old apothecary look). The label is well-organized and appealing to the eye, sending vibes of the brand’s small batch origins. It also exudes polish and professionalism, something that, despite the maturation of the kombucha category, puts Health-Ade in a class that’s shared by only a few other brands.