Joyo is a line of USDA Organic adaptogenic sparkling teas that are low calorie and low in sugar. The brand was founded by author and podcast host Jay Shetty and his wife Radhi Devlukia-Shetty.

Packaged in a slim 12 ounce cans, the drinks come in four flavors: Tropical Green Tea, Black Peach Tea, Black Tea with Lemon and Unsweetened Black Tea. Each has a different level of sweetness and calories, ranging from 30 calories and 3 grams of added sugar to 5 calories and 0 grams of added sugar.  The sweetened flavors use a blend of cane sugar and stevia.

Functional ingredients include a host of adaptogens, including L-theanine, lion’s mane mushroom, reishi mushroom, panax ginseng and acerola cherry extract. These are somewhat commonly used functional ingredients so we don’t expect there to be a large hurdle when it comes to product education.

As for the flavor, all four are straightforward and approachable sparkling teas that are true to their flavor name. Like many sparkling teas that we’ve sampled, these products have an almost tannic note at the front and end with a crisp finish.  But it’s in the middle where most of the flavor is and Joyo has done a nice job of translating classic teas  into sparkling form. We especially like Tropical Green Tea, which has notes of pineapple, lemon, passionfruit and dragon fruit juices, and Black Tea with Lemon, which pretty much nails the classic flavor of lemon iced tea. The other two flavors, Peach Black Tea and Unsweetened Black, are on the same playing field in terms of quality but the other two were just a bigger hit with our palate.

On the outside, Joyo’s design has a colorful and playful theme that feels quite approachable. Having the word “joy” in the brand name certainly doesn’t hurt – and they’ve clearly reflected this with the front panel illustrations.  All four show people in a state of joy – sitting on a beach, walking with a surfboard, swimming, and sitting on top of a mountain peak. In addition to these illustrations, Joyo’s label has illustrations of some of the hero ingredients on all of the SKUs except Unsweetened Black.

The label copy is easy to read and hierarchical, starting with the words “adaptogenic sparkling tea” that sits near the top of the can in an easy to read sans serif font. Further down the can and beneath the front panel illustrations you’ll find the flavor name, a call out for the sugar content, a USDA Organic seal, and the tagline “enhance your mind & body.” 

While most of the branding is intuitive, there’s one element that we think needs a bit of work to unlock the brand’s full potential: the communication and consistency of the sugar and caloric content. Right now, all four SKUs have different levels of calories and sugar and, in the label’s current form, this can be easy to miss. The sugar content of each SKU is in a small black circle on the front panel and it loses out to the more brightly colored illustration that accompanies it.  Plus, there’s no mention of how many calories are in each drink. From our perspective, making some of the formulations consistent would definitely be helpful and we’d love to see a more prominent callout for both the sugar and calories. 

In the end, Joyo is a very solid sparkling tea offering that does a great job of combining great taste, functional ingredients, and a slick and appealing aesthetic. This feels like a brand to watch in the sparkling tea set.