Not all monk fruit is created equal

In the past year you’ve heard the crew around Zesty talking a lot about Monk Fruit. You may have even seen it popping up on store shelves, in health focused recipes, or your social media feed.

Beginning in Winter 2022, Zesty began using Monk Fruit in our first of its kind malternative beverage, Party Hard Tea.

This antioxidant-rich fruit is a close relative of the cucumber with a juice that’s 200 times sweeter than table sugar yet contains ZERO CALORIES!

We developed Party Hard Tea as a better for you, great tasting alternative to other high calorie hard teas available on shelves across the country.

And this was just the tip of the iceberg of our love story with this amazing ingredient. We soon began adding Monk Fruit to our newly released Pina Montana Hard Kombucha, and even went as far as developing two all new products based around this powerful sweetener, Electric Peak Yerba Mate (releasing late-2022) and two flavors of Postbiotic Sodas (available in select stores now!).

But as with all love stories, there is a jealous rival.

In this case, it wears a mask by calling itself Monk Fruit, but underneath you find something much different.

Monk Fruit has recently surged in the alternative sweetener industry due to its high level of sweetness and lack of calories. Monk Fruit can widely be purchased at stores in granular forms as an alternative sweetener for sugar.

However, not all Monk Fruit is created equal. The sad reality is, the majority of Monk Fruit that is commercially available on store shelves near you, isn’t 100% Monk Fruit.

Upon closer inspection of the ingredient lists, you’ll find that “Monk Fruit” is often made of up to 98% sugar alcohols like erythritol. Seems awfully fishy that the Monk Fruit you buy isn’t actually Monk Fruit, right?

Lakanto Monk Fruit Nutrition Panel

Not only is this somewhat of a “bait and switch,” but sugar alcohols have been known to cause bloating, diarrhea, increased visceral fat, and weight gain.

Our motto at Zesty is, “Making beverages with real food that has more nutrients, and fewer calories.” You can rest assured knowing that when you see Monk Fruit on the label of Zesty’s Party Hard Tea, Party Hard Marg, Pina Montana Hard Kombucha, and the soon to be released Electric Peak Tea and Postbiotic Sodas, it is 100% Monk Fruit Juice – not some substituted BS.

We stand by a policy of full transparency in all our products, and we take pride in using ingredients that work for you – not against. If it goes in the can, you can drink confidently knowing the Zesty team has done the research and testing to ensure you get the premium beverage experience you deserve.

Next time you’re in the beverage aisle or purchasing a “healthy alternative product” take a look at the nutrition label, it might surprise you.

-Zesty Beverages