Carbonated coffee is a concept that has been tried and - for a number of reasons - gained little traction in the marketplace. So we have to wonder about the viability of Perk!, a new zero-calorie sparkling iced coffee. While the taste of the product is fine, its branding and packaging need work, likely making the product an even tougher sell for consumers.
While most carbonated soft drinks face a decline in demand, a range of new and innovative of boutique and gourmet sodas has elicited renewed appeal in the category. One such brand is Brooklyn Soda Works, and in our review of two of its offerings, Root Beer and Apple and Ginger Carbonated Fresh Juice, we feel that the company has done an excellent job in formulation and packaging.
When the original Coco Cafe variety came out, we knew that we were witnessing something that could take the RTD coffee category by storm. The product was simple in flavor, but super timely and innovative in its use of coconut water. However, there was a big question mark: how would they add additional flavors to the line? The answer is finally here as the brand recently introduced Mocha and Vanilla varieties, one of which garnered a rare five-star rating...
In a world where beverages are pretty much all about providing some sort of value add (in addition to flavor and refreshment), it’s always interesting to see a product that’s going in the other direction. And that’s how we’d sum up this product, Diet Double Cola, which, being a diet cola, is a product that’s about as pedestrian as it gets.
Slingshot Cold Brew is one of the few cold brewed coffee companies that market both ready to drink and concentrate products. Slingshot is also one of the only coffee brands that changes up its formulation from batch to batch with its use seasonally available coffee beans, making it difficult to offer a consistent review of what's inside the bottle. That being said, it is a high quality product with excellent branding.
For many of the raw cold-pressed juice brands that are coming to market, nut milks are becoming a standard part of the lineup. While several brands have taken these formulations and turned them into smoothies, Life Juice has kept it simple with its offering, Spiced Almond Milk.
COGO, a new line of coconut milk smoothies, was the runner-up in New Beverage Showdown 4 at BevNET Live Winter 12. In our review of the two of COGO’s four…
Honest Tea recently launched Honest Fizz, a line of zero-calorie sodas. The four-SKU line, which uses stevia and erythritol as sweeteners, impressed the panel with formulations that showcase full flavors…
Made in Italy, Frizz Coffee is a sparkling and sweetened coffee drink. While this is certainly a niche product (it has no dairy and it’s sparkling -- two things that Americans don’t seem to like when it comes to coffee), it has definitely hit the nail on the head for what it is trying to be.
Riding the wave of momentum for lemonade drinks and health and wellness products, Mr. Mo's is a new line of organic lemonades. While the beverages are enjoyable from a taste perspective, the branding and packaging of Mr. Mo's leaves something to be desired.
Vinki, a line of all-natural juice drinks made with apple cider vinegar, recently underwent a mild rebranding. The products are still being positioned as a digestive health beverage, but feature a new label design that has a more modern and good for you feel. Overall, it’s definitely an improved product, but it’s not totally there yet.
Frizzante is a line of 100 percent natural sparkling juice drinks that comes in three flavors. For better or worse, the entire lineup is based on apple juice, meaning that the flavored varieties don’t actually have other fruits in them (they uses essences, a type of flavoring). The formulation of the drinks leads us to question the direction that the company has taken in its branding and packaging.
Another week, another new energy brand, and, unfortunately, our review of Plasma Energy cites many of the same issues facing other recent entries in the category.
Life Juice is a new line of cold-pressed, high pressure processed juices. The products are packaged and sold direct-to-consumer in individual bottles, as well as in one- or multi-day juice cleanse regimens. With new juice cleanse products continue to pop up everyday, it might be difficult for some brands to stand out in the category. However, we feel like Life Juice has done well to stand out from the pack in both formulation and packaging.
