Suja Classic: Spark

Unlike the rest of the the Suja lineup, this variety uses added stevia, presumably to cut calories and sugar levels to something that’s more desirable to those consumers who are watching their intake. While this is all well and good, it does essentially diminish the raw and cold-pressed aspect of the product (at least in the sense that the other products are entirely raw and cold-pressed). Fortunately, the formulation that they’ve created for this product is well done, which effectively keeps the flavor of the stevia to a minimum. It includes water, strawberries, raspberries, lemon, honey, tart cherry concentrate, stevia and cayenne, with the primary flavor being that of the strawberries. The lemon and the heat from the cayenne do a great job of masking the stevia while also adding a nice counterbalance to the tart flavor that the base of the drink has. Visually, this product definitely has the ability to whet the appetite, but we have the same concern that we have about some of their other flavors that use conceptual names (that they’ll confuse, rather than enhance, the consumer while quickly scanning the cooler). Overall, the use of stevia is a unique approach (at least with cold pressed juices that we’ve sampled), but they’ve done a nice job of incorporating it in such a way that it doesn’t detract from the product.