Reviews

Review: OnJuice

Yes, the market has -- seemingly overnight -- become flooded with new cold-pressed, high pressure processed juice brands. Most, if not all, utilize extremely high quality and/or organic ingredients, but does that mean the products taste good? Look good? Not necessarily, but in the in case of South Florida-based OnJuice, the company has done an excellent job with the formulation and packaging of its juice blends.

Review: Chasing Rabbits

While there’s probably some way to turn Chasing Rabbits into a good-looking brand, it currently lacks any emotion that a consumer might connect to. Both the branding and the execution of the design leave something to be desired, starting with the seemingly random name that is “Chasing Rabbits.”

Review: Buchu Life

BuchuLife is a sparkling water that is enhanced with buchu oil, and ingredient that is positioned as having anti-inflammatory benefits. Unfortunately, the product is, at least in liquid form, very difficult to consume. Overall, this variety in this review -- as well as the rest of the BuchuLife sparkling water flavors -- needs serious improvement.

Review: Cocozia

Packaged in the Philippines, Cocozia is a new USDA Organic coconut water that comes in an 11 oz. Tetra Pak container. While being organic and not-from-concentrate will help the brand gain some consumer following, we feel as though this product is going to have to do a lot more to make it in the competitive coconut water space.

Review: LOCA by Oogave

Back from the dead, Oogave, which markets a line of organic sodas, has introduced LOCA, a new brand of 10-calorie soft drinks. The products, which are sweetened with a stevia…

Review: Alley Oop

Alley Oop is new citrus-flavored sports drink from Youthtopia Beverages. Unfortunately, the product, which is made with a blend of natural and artificial sweeteners, is anything but a slam dunk.

Review: Heart of Tea – New Flavors

Heart of Tea recently launched two new varieties -- Lemon and "Victorian," a sweet black tea -- to its line of all-natural, ready to drink bottled teas. While the company has done well to create two great-tasting products, there are a couple hiccups with the each tea, one in terms of formulation and the other in its packaging.

Review: Zico Latte (Updated)

Earlier this year, Zico introduced a reformulated version of its Latte variety, and our review team decided to take a second look at the flavor. Was there a significant improvement in taste? Read on...

Review: Cannabis Energy

Yes, hemp is growing in use as an ingredient in the natural channel, however, the notorious seven-pointed leaf is rarely used in the branding of successful products. When an image of the leaf is used, there's really only a novelty buyer out there; it amounts to very low volume target market. And that's the biggest problem with Cannbis Energy.

Review: Sambazon Purifying Cleanse

Sambazon's Purifying Cleanse is three-day juice cleanse program that consists of three organic superfood blends each packaged in a 1 L Tetra Pak. Unlike many other juice cleanse beverages coming onto the market, the new products are not high pressure processed. Nevertheless, Sambazon has created an affordable and well-formulated program that could find significant mainstream appeal.

Review: Red Ace

Billed as an “organic beet performance supplement,” Red Ace is -- as you’ve probably guessed by now -- made with beet juice concentrate. Packaged in a 2 oz. glass bottle, the product contains added guayusa, water, lemon juice and other flavors. All in all, we're quite impressed with the formulation, flavor and branding.

Review: ALO Comfort

Watermelon and aloe are just about as perfect of a flavor pairing as there is, so it’s no surprise that ALO Comfort tastes as good as it does. Overall, it’s one that definitely lives up to the standard set by the other flavors.

Review: Natural Jones Soda

As winds of change sweep through the beverage industry, more and more CSD companies are realizing that they must adapt to a society ever more focused on health and wellness. Jones Soda is one such outfit and recently introduced a new line of natural sodas made with a proprietary blend of sweeteners. The drinks are quite good, although the packaging could use a bit more emphasis on their low-calorie formulation.

Review: Traders Point Brewhouse Cold Brew Coffee

Traders Point Brewhouse’s Cold Brew Coffee comes in two varieties, Kenyan and Sumatra, based on the type of beans that are used in each product. Which one consumers prefer is ultimately a matter of personal preference, but both were made to the same standard. That said, both are top notch, with a thoughtfully crafted formulation and package.