SAP!

Following the same format as their maple-based soda and seltzer products, Sap!’s Birch product is made by lightly carbonating organic birch sap.

And that’s exactly what it tastes like. If you’ve had Sap! Maple Seltzer, Sap! Birch won’t be too far off. There’s a nuanced difference when it comes to the flavor of birch sap versus maple sap, but for most consumers we think the two will probably be somewhat interchangeable. And the two flavors are separated by only 15 calories and 3g of sugar (25 calories and 6g of sugar for Birch; 40 calories and 9g of sugar for Maple).

In the end, drinking Birch is, much like its maple counterpart, a nice alternative to flavored seltzers that rely heavily on flavorings. It’s clean, refreshing, has a very subtle flavor, and doesn’t leave an aftertaste behind.

Packaging is a standard 12 oz.can. They’ve stuck with the white background and used an even more minimalist design than what you’ll find on their maple products. Specifically, there are lines, which are meant to be birch bark, instead of a leaf.

The only issues we have with this approach are consistency and readability. On the latter, the “Product of Vermont” text is rather hard to read. It requires real focus to read it, which is something that could be easily alleviated. For the former, it’s odd that this product is simply “Birch” whereas their maple products are “Maple Soda” and “Maple Seltzer.” Yet this product, which gets no descriptor, is the lowest calorie of all three. We feel as though there’s a missed opportunity there.

Finally, we wonder if adding birch to a maple brand is something that’s going to help Sap!. This product offers largely the same experience as the Maple Seltzer, which makes us wonder what new consumer base it will help Sap! Reach. Plus, it undermines the nice looking brand that they’ve developed, which features “Sap!” stacked on top of “MAPLE.”

Overall, this is a nice tasting and nice looking product, but we can’t help but wonder if the brand wouldn’t be better off staying focused on maple and perhaps offerings that pair maple with another flavor.

Sap! is a two SKU line of beverages that are made with a single ingredient: carbonated maple sap. It’s a play that’s not dissimilar from that of maple water, which is also maple sap but in its natural, non-carbonated format.

The two offerings, Maple Soda and Maple Seltzer, might, at least on paper, sound like the brand is playing in two distinct categories. But the differences between the two are pretty minimal when you taste it and look at the nutrition panel. The soda has 90 calories and 16g of sugars per can, while the seltzer has 50 calories and 9g of sugars per can. In essence, there is a sweet and slightly less sweet offering that are both closer to soda than they are seltzer or flavored water. Regardless, we enjoyed both of them, especially in comparison to the handful of other carbonated maple water products that we’ve tried to date.

The packaging, which is actually a refresh of the company’s first effort, is clean and attractive. The branding makes a clear differentiation from all of the maple water products out there, although we do wonder if consumers will look at this product with the same enthusiasm as they are starting to look at maple water. However, the minimalist design is aesthetically pleasing to the point where it definitely catches the eye.

From a brand architecture standpoint, however, we wonder if the baggage that comes with “soda” and “seltzer” is worth it. Instead, positioning the product as “sparkling” (perhaps “sparkling maple water”) seems like it would make for a healthier and more on trend brand. From there, we’d consider having “original” and “less sweet” (which we’d love to see at 25 calories) offerings.

Overall, Sap! has done a nice job creating something that looks nice and tastes great, but we feel as though they could take it even further with some additional refinement.