Sapp: Original

Made with 99.86 percent birch water and added citric acid, the flavor of Sapp’s original offering is very light and quite simple. The product, which is very much in its early stages, has a subtle birch aroma and flavor, which is pleasing to the palate. However, the flavor of the citric acid hits your tongue pretty hard, with a sharp sour note that’s honestly hard to get over. If the company can figure out how to adjust this, there certainly could be something here that’s worth coming back for. Nutritionally, we really like that the product has only 10 calories and 3g of sugars (naturally occurring from the birch water). But we still think that improving the flavor will help this product a lot. We’d say the same for the packaging, which is definitely rough around the edges right now. Producing the product in the Ukraine is probably not a long term solution, so we’re assuming that the packaging for this product is going to evolve a bit regardless. Our specific issues are with the quality and application of the label, the choice of a glass bottle, and the plain cap. We do, however, like the simplicity of the branding that the company has developed. Overall, a nice concept and starting point, but there’s work left to be done.