Suavva, which we first reviewed in 2012, has been given a makeover, both in its packaging and formulation. While maintaining its key ingredient, cacao juice, the beverage, which had been a pasteurized 70 percent juice product, now sports a 100 percent juice formulation that is high pressure processed and promoted as “cold-squeezed.”
Jay Street Coffee, the coffee brand marketed by Japanese tea giant Ito En, has added a potent 6.4 oz. “Coffee Shot” to its lineup. It’s pure unadulterated coffee and made with only two ingredients: water and coffee. Aside from being a nice alternative to Ito En’s tea-based shots, we think that this is a great showcase for the company's ability to also be a high quality coffee contender.
While the concept of mixing cinnamon with coconut water isn’t new, this is the first entry that we’ve seen in shelf-stable form (Harmless Harvest being the first -- albeit a perishable -- option). Having only two ingredients (coconut water and cinnamon), the product has a very clean flavor.
Pok Pok Som is a drinking vinegar concentrate that was developed by the folks behind the critically acclaimed Pok Pok restaurant in Portland, Ore. Available in nine varieties, we chose to focus on the brand's Celery flavor, which, like all products in the line, is packaged in 16 oz. apothecary-style glass bottle with a label that feels both artisanal and hip.
TumericALIVE has extended its line of turmeric-infused beverages with a trio of "Super Blends." The high pressure processed elixirs include three distinct varieties, including a cold-brew coffee product, a matcha drink and a chocolate-infused beverage. Without a doubt, the company has done exceedingly well with the formulations.
The label update for Powered ON (which debuted as ON Beverages) looks cleaner than its initial effort. However, we feel as though it still looks a bit too technical to the point where it doesn’t appeal to one’s senses as well as it could.
Yuvia Pure is a not from concentrate coconut water that is made with young coconuts from Brazil. The product, which claims to not add any sugar, has a slightly sweeter and less salty flavor than what we’ve seen in other brands. However, we can’t say that product this is preferable to those that add sugar.
Vermont Tapped, which is a product from the same company that produces the TreTap line of beverages, is an “enhanced” maple water beverage. The enhancement is maple syrup, which has been combined with maple water, maple flavor, citric acid and carbon dioxide to create a zero-calorie product that drinks like a flavored seltzer.
Proper Soda Co.’s Hibiscus Soda is the followup flavor to its flagship Hop Soda. Unlike Hop Soda, which was essentially introducing a flavor that is rarely seen in non-alcoholic beverages, this variety is a bit more familiar. It uses a rather simple formulation of carbonated water, sugar, citric acid, hibiscus extract, grape extract (for coloring) and natural flavors.
Amid a flurry of holiday- and seasonal-themed beverages to hit the market, Stumptown has launched a new "Winter Cheer" variety. The limited-release flavor is an extension of the company's line of ready-to-drink cold-brew coffee and milk blends.
From our perspective, Purps approach, which is to play in variety of beverage categories with a specific functionality for each product, is way too wide to be successful. Nailing one product type in one segment -- perhaps with a few SKUs -- seems like a much better approach.
Sprizz-O is a new brand of juice and seltzer water blends that comes in six varieties. Packaged in 12 oz. long-neck bottles, each beverage is also sweetened with can sugar and contains 50 calories. We've seen similar concepts come and go, but we think Sprizz-O is off to a good start.
Pickle Juice Shot is a 2.5 oz. product that was designed to help alleviate cramping during exercise. This functionality comes from a blend of vinegar, salt, potassium, vitamin C and vitamin E. The pickle flavor comes from dill flavoring and appears no bearing on whether this product works or not; it appears to be a marketing ploy (or perhaps placebo) more than something that actually needs to be there.
Earlier this year, KeVita splashed into the kombucha category with the launch of its Master Brew Kombucha, a brand extension that is formulated with the company's proprietary probiotic culture and sweetened with a blend of evaporated cane sugar and stevia. While we enjoyed the taste of the varieties that we sampled, it's the packaging where we feel KeVita has put its best foot forward.
