The Beverage of 2024

Welcome to 2025, flavor folks! As you settle into the new year, the time has come again to name a beverage dedicated to 2024. If you aren’t aware of our annual tradition, we Beverage Architects sip on all of the flavorful moments of the previous year and infuse them into a delicious, all-encompassing drink. After all, our claim to fame is our ability to turn anything into a beverage!

2024 was full of highs, lows, and lifelong memories. To tie it all together, we found that friendship and community are the sources of energy needed to catalyze our success in 2025. This is why we’re thrilled to introduce Catalyst as the Beverage of 2024! This coconut water-based hydration beverage has green apple taking center stage, accented with a refreshing melon flavor. Many moments of 2024 helped conceptualize The Beverage of the Year, so join us on this reflective journey into the creation of Catalyst!

The Flavors of 2024

To begin creating Catalyst, we had to decide on a base profile that best captures the inescapable headlines of 2024. In the earlier half of the year, the world tuned into the Paris Summer Olympics. We witnessed Simone Biles' record-breaking flips and tricks, speculated about a rather polarizing triathlon, and likely shed a tear during Celine Dion’s return performance. Following a summer of sports, the eventful U.S. Presidential Election grappled the globe in late 2024. Back-to-back breaking news throughout this season makes for another election cycle that will be etched into history books forever. Inspired by the worldwide community within the Olympic Village and a resounding desire for unity in our politics, we thought a coconut water base would provide a sense of familiarity and vital electrolytes.

Moving on to the standout flavor of Catalyst, which was chosen to capture the entertainment and pop culture happenings throughout the year. We paid homage to Charli XCX’s album, Brat, which significantly impacted the music industry and fostered cultural phenomena. Then, after much anticipation, the Wicked movie adaptation finally graced the big screen and shattered countless records along the way. If Brat’s “girl-power” lyricism and the Glinda/Elphaba duo taught us anything this year, it’s the power of friendship. The color green was a common denominator in these amity-inspired pieces of work, leading us to pick green apple as Catalyst's flavor!

To put the finishing touches on Catalyst, we decided on one final flavor representing a particularly slippery, perhaps moody, four-footed friend that collectively stole our hearts. She would be none other than Moo Deng, the baby pygmy hippo from Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo! To give Moo Deng her proper recognition, we added notes of melon to top off this drink, as various melons are common in the pygmy hippo diet. We are pleased that Catalyst’s finishing flavor pays homage to such an adorable highlight of the year!

The Catalyst of Success

Here at Flavorman, we prefer to consider our cans, bottles, and glasses half-full. Although 2024 was sometimes sour, the sweetness was infused when camaraderie was high! So, we created the Beverage of 2024 as a reminder that keeping your friendships, communities, and connections close will “catalyze” your endeavors this year. Take it from the worldwide sportsmanship of Olympians, the lessons learned from our political landscape, and the empowering odes from your favorite artists – blended flavors are always the strongest!

Let us raise a can of Catalyst and toast to a unified 2025! Cheers!