Category — Non Alcoholic

Hoppers are the first of their kind - a ’soft-brew’ with authentic beer ingredients including hops and malt with the refreshing tang of fruit.  Created by ‘The Juice Brewery’ the soft brews feature a frothy head when poured and are aimed at adults drinkers who don’t want to feel deprived by choosing a healthy ’soft’ option. Hoppers are currently available in three flavours: Apple, Citrus and Blackcurrant.
www.juicebrewery.com.

Aloe Vera drinks are popping up everywhere at the moment. They have been popular for years in Asia for their general wellbeing and digestive properties. These are a range called Alo and follow the functional/mood naming  approach. (Slightly confused by their curiously named ‘exposed’ drink though).

They are said to contain a blend of real olive leaf and real aloe vera and are supposed to be available in the US but their website isn’t that helpful on the matter.  I guess you can email them if you have a desperate need to feel exposed. 

New in France are this line of ‘Awakening Tao Boissons Gazeuses Bien Etre’ (Otherwise known as ‘healthy soft drinks’). There are four varieties available: Hydration & Motion, (blackcurrant, ginseng and acerola) Health & Energy, (kombucha, guarana and vitamins) Wellness & Serenity, (ginger, cardamom, passion flower and vitamins) and Youth & Vitality (green tea, ginkgo biloba and vitamins).

Wikipedia describes the Chinese concept of Tao as having been “used philosophically to signify the fundamental or true nature of the world.”

Not wanting to be cynical but not sure a can of soda can manage this, but hey, in these crunchie times anything is worth a go. 

Diageo has a hand in these somehow.

Star Power is made with 100% star fruit juice, one of nature’s most potent and exotic sources of polyphenolic antioxidants and vitamin C. The drink is bottled with no added sugars or preservatives, and comes packaged in a frosted bottle with a sleek modern design. A percentage of each sale of Star Power will go toward research to benefit domestic agriculture. Find out more at www.drinkstarpower.com

New in Germany from Carlsberg are these pretty organic sodas. Perhaps inspired by the success of Bionade, Beo are low calorie, lightly sparkling drinks in three varieties: Heimat (apple and pear), Einklang (elderberry and white tea) and Ansporn (grapefruit and lemon).

Billed as the “Drinks for the undecided”. Anything and Whatever drinks each have identical cans and the flavor is a mystery until you open and drink it. WHATEVER is still and comes in six flavours - Ice Lemon Tea, Peach Tea, Jasmine Green Tea, White Grape Tea, Apple Tea, Chrysanthemum Tea. ANYTHING is sparkling and comes in Cola with Lemon, Apple, Fizz Up, Cloudy Lemon and Root Beer.

Top flavors. Top idea.

Why has this taken them so long? It’s not rocket science is it? Everyone knows that coke tastes better out of the glass bottles and everyone knows that its a pain in the ass to buy a glass bottle and then hope the store has an opener. And then not be able to reseal it.

Well anyway they have finally done it - Coca-Cola in a glass bottle with a screwtop - and it looks good.  Not quite the iconic bottle design we love but hey it’s better than nothing. Oh and it’s only available in the US sold in a 12 fl. oz. (355ml) glass bottle in a 6 pack (72 fl. oz. total).

We say: It’s almost like the moon landing.

Small drink shots are massive right now. In the US at the moment about 25% of all energy drink launches are energy shots. In the UK this trend really began with Yakult and then all the copycats but it looks like it will move into new areas. Selfridges has just started stocking Big Shotz a vitamin and mineral packed mango and passion fruit juice shot drink. It contains 11 vitamins, Ginseng, Omega 3, minerals and prebiotic.

They say:

“Rather than adding small quantities of vitamins to a lot of juice, we’ve simply added a small quantity of juice to a lot of vitamins”.

We say: Refreshingly simple explanation.

This new green tea from Teapigs in the UK has 137 times more antioxidants than a normal cup of green tea. . Teapigs matcha comes from the renowned Nishio region in Japan. They say it is a ’super hero’ amongst teas. We say it’s beyond cute.

The Independent on Sunday reports that the hugely controversial Cocaine energy drink is actually now on sale in the UK. Have you seen it? Let us know.

If you aren’t familiar with the background to Cocaine energy drink, we have put together a precis for you after the jump.

[Read more →]

Fresh Breath is a new somewhat quirky drink from “Japan Tobacco” which is aimed at Japanese men. According to trends in japan, the sugar free grapefruit flavored drink contains rosemary extracts which helps to freshen the breath!

We love these new Marble POP drinks, inspired by the classic Japanese “ramune” bottles which are recognized for their unusual bottles. Each Marble POP bottle features a marble seal closure which is held in place by the carbonation of the beverage and is pushed open with a special stopper. The innovative pinch in the neck of the bottle allows the drink to flow out while the marble stays in place. Available in Strawberry, Blueberry, Original Flavor and Green Apple across the USA, we think these bottles are beyond cool.

Second in our series of our favourite crazy energy drinks is Pissed Off, launched late last year.

Perfect for Monday mornings I’m guessing.

There seems to be a trend for fictitious drinks at the moment. First there was Tru Blood promoting the new HBO vampire series True Blood, and now there is Booty Sweat from the Ben Stiller film Tropic Thunder. One of the characters in the film Alpa Chino played by Brandon T. Jackson, a rapper turned actor who has made millions with his hip-hop energy drink, Booty Sweat. Check out the ‘fake’ website for the drink.

UPDATE:

The Booty Sweat fake drink from the film Tropic Thunder is rumoured to be made into a real drink to help market the movie. Although, this could be a PR stunt in itself.

When researching energy drinks this week it reminded us how entertaining and um, eccentric some of the products are. So this is the first in a series of our top favourite and bizarre energy drinks released over the last few years. First up, is Deep Throat, an energy drink to “Keep you UP all Night”. We came across it earlier this year when it launched but thought it deserved a second coming. (ahem)

Tags: Energy Drinks, Non Alcoholic

The Japanese just love their RTD coffee drinks and the category is getting more and more innovative. New in Tokyo this summer is a new hybrid drink from Ito En and Tully’s Coffee -a Green Tea and Tiramasu flavored chilled white tea. This drink is made with matcha [powdered green tea], mascarpone cheese and cocoa power. It also contains 55% fresh milk and fresh cream plus agar to produce a rich flavor and “a pleasant mouthfeel”.

AG Barr the company who owns Scottish carbonate Irn Bru has bought Rubicon, the exotic juice company (and corner shop favourite) for £59.8m (US$116.9m). The purchase is seen as symptomatic of the consumer move away from carbonated soft drinks to more health orientated beverages.

New in Japan for the summer months is an ice cream flavored soda from Suntory.

Verity Finest Liquid Tea is made from only tea and water, and comes in three different varieties: Finest Ceylon, Fruity Hagebutte, made from wild-grown rosehip; and Pure Rooibos. The tubes contain 18 tea concentrate capsules which you add to hot water or cold sparkling water. They say: “Tomorrows tea today”

We say: cool development for the tea category

Domo-kun is the cute brown Japanese character which became a cult mascot of NHK’s BS2 (Japanese satellite channel). All manner of Domo-kun branded merchandise is sold, from toys to cell phones…. and now energy drinks.

The new Domoooo! Bubblegum flavored Energy Drink is sold on 250ml cans and features a huge Domo head on each can. Distributed in the USA by Boston America Corp, the drink is sold at a suggested retail price is $2.99