Yerbae

by Yerbae LLC

Review: Yerbae Sparkling Water

Posted: Sep 20, 2017 at 2:24 PM (Last Updated: Sep 20, 2017 at 2:40 PM)

Covers Products: Lemon, Orange Cherry Pineapple, Pineapple Coconut, Pomegranate Berry, Strawberry Kiwi

Yerbaé is a line of zero calorie sparkling waters that are enhanced with a blend of yerba mate, white tea extract, and guarana seed extract. The product is available in five flavors, including Lemon, Strawberry Kiwi, Pomegranate Berry, Pineapple Coconut, and Orange Cherry Pineapple, and comes packaged in slim 12 oz. cans.

The key ingredients in Yerbaé not only give it a flavor profile that’s somewhat unique as far as sparkling water goes, they also give the product 100mg of caffeine per can. That’s a level of potency that’s in the ballpark of a coffee or energy drink and this, more so than the flavor, is really what makes Yerbaé unique.

As for the five formulations that they are launching with, simple is definitely better in our opinion. Lemon, which is the simplest of the bunch, for the most part tastes like a classic lemon flavored sparkling water. There’s a bit of tea flavor at the finish, which is fine, and there’s a slight bite to it. But this is definitely the winner of the five and that probably has the largest potential out of the gate. Tasting through the other four, which utilize more complex flavorings, we were most fond of Orange Pineapple Cherry and Pomegranate Berry. These, too, build off of flavor profiles that are familiar players in the sparkling water space. The final two, Pineapple Coconut and Strawberry Kiwi, have a bit too much flavoring for us.

On the outside, Yerbaé has a busy appearance but still manages to get its point across. The name Yerbaé speaks directly to the yerba mate content, while the design, which utilizes a dark backdrop with white text and a bright accent color, catches the eye. However, one thing that’s missing from the front of the can is the caffeine content. Given the product’s relatively high added caffeine content, we think it’s imperative that this be given more prominent placement. Otherwise, our suggestion is to simplify the message so that there’s a reduced amount of text on the front of the can.

Overall, we think Yerbaé is coming at the sparkling water category with something that’s unique in terms of how it blends the properties of caffeine with a sparkling water. While it’s not the first brand to do this, we feel as though they’ve successfully created something that should have mainstream appeal. There’s definitely some room for improvement in some of the flavors and the overall polish, but it is coming out of the gate with a good foundation.


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