Tio Gazpacho (Discontinued)

Tio Gazpacho is in the midst of making a switch to conventional formulations (they were previously organic) and 10 oz. bottles, but in the meantime they have found the time to release a very unique new flavor to their line of drinkable soups. The new flavor is called Maiz, and it is corn-based.

The product’s other featured ingredients are roasted poblano and lime. From there, the list of ingredients is somewhat lengthy, with spices, veggie stock, garlic, cilantro, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and thickeners (gum arabic and cornstarch) among what you’ll find in the bottle.

Fortunately, all of these ingredients combine to create something that’s full bodied and vibrant, which is definitely in line with the other Tio Gazpacho offerings. The corn flavor is really quite unique as far as beverages go -- and it’s a nice change of pace from the style of the other Tio Gazpacho products. However, we will say that we found the product to be more enjoyable as it became closer to room temperature. But regardless, there’s some real depth to this product and we got hooked on it quite quickly.

On the outside, the shift to a 10 oz. bottle makes total sense as this is a much more manageable portion size. For existing customers, the shift away from USDA Organic will probably be a bump in the road, but a lower price point (the product is now $4.99 as opposed to previously being $7+) might help soften that. From a design perspective, we think it’s clean looking, visually polished, and, at least as far as drinkable soup products go, intuitive as to what the product’s purpose is. However, there is something about the Southwestern style of the flavor that seems slightly at odds with the notion of gazpacho.

Overall, we really appreciate both the innovation and execution of this product. While drinkable soup still seems like a very nascent concept, this offering -- along with the shift in packaging and price point -- should definitely help Tio Gazpacho continue to position itself as the leader in the space.

We’ve been big fans of Tio Gazpacho since its beginnings back in 2014 when we gave it an award as part of BevNET’s “Best of 2014.” While there have been many products before it that have attempted to bottle up the the flavor of gazpacho, Tio Gazpacho took it to a whole new level in terms of freshness and quality thanks to the use of high pressure processing.

But while we’re fond of the three flavors that they’ve created up until now, there’s always been somewhat of a gap between the Gazpacho Classico and the other two, Gazpacho Verde and Gazpacho de Sol. While they are perfectly fine flavors in their own right, they didn’t have the same bright flavor as the Gazpacho Classico.

With the introduction of Gazpacho Rosado, which is a watermelon gazpacho, that’s finally changed. This flavor, which blends watermelon, red pepper, cucumber, tomato, lemon, sea salt, cilantro, olive oil, white wine vinegar, black pepper, and cayenne, has that bright flavor that we love about the original, along with the refreshing flavor of watermelon. There’s also a note of cayenne at the finish, which we really like. The subtle heat is a nice third wave of flavor that really helps round things out. All in all, we really love the blend of sweet, savory, and spicy to the point that it’s coming close to being our favorite flavor.

On the outside, the product uses a 12 oz. wrapped bottle. For the review, we evaluated a non-wrapped bottle, but we expect the quality will be similar to Tio’s other products. The label has a purplish hue, which fits nicely with the other products. And since it’s closer in color to a traditional gazpacho than the de Sol and Verde varieties, we feel as though this one might pull better, too.

Overall, Gazpacho Rosado is a really well-executed and flavorful addition to the Tio Gazpacho lineup. It’s definitely one of our new favorites.