Fresh off an appearance on NBC’s Shark Tank, Pricklee Cactus Water, which originally launched as Pricklee Superfruit Water a few years ago, has just launched a substantial rebrand to their core lineup. They’ve also adjusted the formulations since we last reviewed the products in 2019.

The lineup still consists of the same three flavors: Prickly Pear Original, Wild Strawberry + Hibiscus and Tropical Mango + Ginger. The products are made with water, prickly pear puree, agave, natural flavors, lemon juice, and vitamin C. The end result are formulations that have 40 calories, 7 grams of sugar, 90 mg of potassium and 23 mg of vitamin C. 

They are marketed as having antioxidants and electrolytes as well as having half the sugar and calories of coconut water.

Before we get into the taste, we want to address Pricklee’s rebrand. The old packaging, which was heavy on shades of blue, felt much more like it was trying to be an offshoot of coconut water since the category largely uses this same color scheme. The new design has less blue and uses more vibrant colors to give it a more modern look. In addition, the Pricklee logo has a new type treatment, which is a script font that has straight rather than curved edges.

Now described simply as “cactus water” rather than “superfruit water,” Pricklee’s new labels are built around a desert landscape that features its individual fruit flavoring as well as a large cactus that almost has the shape of a person. This feels a lot more playful and inviting than the wave illustration that was prominent in its previous iteration. At the bottom, there’s a blue area that is drawn to look like water in which they’ve placed the flavor name and a callout for the calorie content. 

The visual rebrand is a transformative move for Pricklee. The revamped product feels both fresh and polished at a level that wasn’t quite there in the prior versions.

As for the liquid, the flavor tastes slightly refined from what we remember of their earlier products – although we remember liking these formulations, too. The prickly pear flavor is mild and refreshing, especially with the touch of sweetness from the added agave. 

Prickly Pear Original has the cleanest flavor of the bunch, while the flavors in Tropical Mango + Ginger Wild Strawberry + Hibiscus  are both accurate, although we’d probably favor the former. Still, both are quite enjoyable. 

Finally, there’s Pricklee’s positioning. We definitely like that they are embracing cactus water, which definitely feels more intuitive than the previous “superfruit” branding. However, we’re still not sold on the comparisons to coconut water – a mature category that feels a bit dated relatively. Fortunately, this feels like a much more secondary message than it was in Pricklee’s previous efforts. 

Overall, this rebrand is a massive step forward for Pricklee. With the branding and the liquid both in a really great place, we think that this is the brand’s best opportunity for success so far.