Time to Chuga some Chaga?
Perhaps the most unusual beverage at the event was Chaga Tea (pegged for a 2016 launch in classic, peach and zero sugar variants), a tea brewed with organic, wild crafted chaga, a fungus that grows on birch trees and is claimed to have multiple health benefits.
While judges at the New Beverage Showdown were intriged by the product, however, co-founder Luke Evans had to field several questions about how to communicate the concept and the benefits more effectively on his labels.