Often marketed as tea drinks, RTD hibiscus-brewed beverages have been popping up with greater frequency in recent years. A relatively new brand is Bissap Breeze, which sells a line of hibiscus drinks and concentrates. In our review of its RTD products, we think the company has done a good job with the formulation and branding of the drinks, but could use a bit of tweaking, and, perhaps, a trimming of its line up.
While the flavor of Go Ape Energy Drink is definitely one that we’ve had before, the company wisely chose NOT to use the classic Red Bull-style flavor that so many upstart brands use. Unfortunately, however, the taste isn't overly memorable or substantially better than what’s out there. And while the ape theme is certainly something that will catch eyes, it does, at least in our opinion, undermine its credibility as a functional product.
With each new variety that Bai adds to its Bai5 line of coffeefruit-infused drinks, the flavor has gotten better and better. Bai's latest introduction, Tanzania Lemonade Tea, is no exception, with the stevia and erythritol providing a level of sweetness that is about as sugar-like as we’ve seen from any drink that has used these sweeteners.
Marketed as "Nature's Recovery Fuel," Whey Coco is a powdered coconut water based-protein drink that contains 15g of protein per serving. The product combines whey protein isolate, freeze-dried coconut water, cocoa, evaporated cane juice, non-fat milk powder, natural flavor and monk fruit extract. Although the product's target consumers are fitness buffs and active individuals, the blend is so enjoyable that we could see ourselves consuming it simply for the taste alone.
Introduced at the recently held Winter Fancy Food Show, Califia Farms’ Protein Almondmilk is one of the company’s more unique offerings, starting with the fact that it contains added milk…
True Nopal Cactus Water is a brand of prickly pear “water” that seeks to position itself alongside coconut water products. Compared with coconut water, it has fewer calories and sugar, however, it also lacks electrolytes, a key selling point of coconut water. Asking coconut water drinkers to forgo a key benefit to simply cut calories is a big mistake. Beyond that, the biggest thing that this -- or any other brand of cactus water -- is missing is an answer to “why am I drinking this?”
Based in New York City, Love Grace produces a line of cold-pressed, HPP organic juices and smoothies. The company has done an excellent job with the formulation of the beverages, often packing a wide variety of ingredients into very approachable and drinkable products. The one thing we would might tweak: packaging. But that's just nit-picking...
Tumeric Alive’s Mineral Green Elixir is a nice riff on green juice, blending its core turmeric base with spirulina, barley grass, chlorella, cardamom and spearmint in a high-pressure processed formulation. From a flavor perspective, the turmeric is still very much a dominant flavor and aroma (it’s pretty hard stuff to overpower).
Healthy Mama “Boost-It-Up!” is an all-natural protein drink that was designed for pregnant women and nursing mothers. With a flavor that is much cleaner than other protein drinks out there, this product seems like something that could be more broadly applied than it currently is. As it stands right now, the target consumer is extremely narrow.
Flash-pasteurized and aseptically-filled, Juiceology is a four-SKU line of juice blends that have been blended with whole grain extracts, including oats, barley and brown rice. While the beverages are pleasant to drink, the branding and packaging seem at odds with the name Juiceology. That said, will consumers look at Juiceology as simply another me-too super-premium juice brand?
REBBL Tonic is a line of organic, herbal tonics that are made with a blend of exotic ingredients, such as cat’s claw bark extract. While we definitely enjoyed the taste of the drinks, it seems like the messaging on the bottle copy, which includes a heavy emphasis on "herbal tonic," along with the products being labeled as supplements, is something that might be a bit of a deterrent.is going to raise more questions rather than lure in buyers.
Sipp has done a great job of taking a flavor that’s classic at its core and elevating it with elderflower and tarragon. The resulting mixture is balanced, flavorful, and light in the mouth, with just the right amount of each flavor. And the packaging? Well, that's pretty darn good too...
Attempting to lure in sport fishermen with a catchy-sounding name, Reel Adrenaline is a brand of energy drinks that is based out of Florida. Aside from our guess that the target market is probably pretty limited, what you’ve got here is a pretty run-of-the-mill energy drink, albeit one that needs a big upgrade in the graphics department.
Xumma Semi Sweet Cola is a product that was designed, as the name clearly states, to be a less sweet cola. And a less sweet cola is exactly what it is, with 80 calories and 21g of sugar per 12 oz. bottle. While it might be challenging to have a single focus on cola, which is traditionally an area where upstart brands (as well as larger entrants) have struggled to gain traction, we think that the Xumma concept could be applied to other flavors.
