02-05-2025
Rivian is selling $14 orange juice at an LA grocery store
Rivian is selling $14 orange juice at an LA grocery store
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Experiencing a Rivian electric joyride at SXSW 2025
Check out Rivian offering an off-roading experience in downtown Austin, Texas.
Fox - 7 Austin
Of all the things I dreamed I'd one day specialize in, reviewing car-branded high-end beverages from the world's most ridiculous grocery store wasn't on the list. But here we are! Yes, another OEM has partnered up with Los Angeles' number one proprietor of $19 strawberries, Erewhon. Quick point of clarification: We're talking about a single strawberry for $19. Yes, one. Rivian, the maker of the excellent R1T truck and R1S SUV has teamed up with Southern California's Erewhon to produce a cold-pressed organic juice called Electric Adventure. No, really.
This is not without precedent, as last October, none other than Chevrolet partnered with Erewhon to sell us blue Electric Juice. To refresh your memory, the 'worryingly blue' beverage tasted like cereal milk. Not bad at all, but I didn't go back for a second bottle. Which, given its price — absolutely free if you gave Chevy your email address — was a mistake in retrospect.
The Rivian tie-up is a different animal. First, Electric Adventure is a juice, not a smoothie. And second, it sure ain't free. Want a pint? It's going to set you back $14. That's expensive by any metric. A pint of beer is $5 these days, and a pint of good beer is $7 to $8. To be clear, Electric Adventure contains no alcohol. Just juice. Have you met Erewhon?
To wit, I spent a good amount of time in the Chevy story talking smack about Erewhon. Everything I said remains true, and with the addition of the $19 'luxury fruit: strawberry" to its offerings, even more so. The gist of my ire being that if you were a comedy writer looking to parody Los Angeles, you couldn't do better than accurately describing an Erewhon.
Even the relatively mild (by Erewhon standards) Pasadena location I visited for this taste test is 30 minutes of laughs. True, Pasadena is more old money conspicuous consumption, less Paltrow-inspired woo-woo probiotic nonsense. But there's still plenty of the latter. Like bottles of sea moss gel, available in four flavors ranging from Mother Earth to Venus Vibes, can be yours for $39. Each.
Have you seen it? Rivian launches desert-themed R1S and R1T California Dune editions
So, yes, if you were to rock up to the cashier with a bottle of sea moss gel and a strawberry (albeit a rather fancy strawberry), you're talking $58. I believe the best steak I ever ate in my life was $56.
Why is Rivian partnering with Erewhon? We don't really know. Electric Adventure juice isn't on Rivian's website or on Erewhon's. I pinged Rivian PR and they said I should have received an email, (I didn't) but that PR isn't really involved. I actually only found out about the tie-up from Rivian's Instagram account, and there's not even much info there. The post: 'Electric Adventure just dropped at Erewhon. This isn't your average juice — it's a citrus-charged, sea-moss-powered, ginger-turmeric turbo boost for wherever your adventure takes you. Available while supplies last at Erewhon locations.' That's it. Please note: No mention that it costs $14 for 16 ounces.
Rivian did have a lovely Storm Blue R1S Tri (you know it's a tri-motor because it's Storm Blue, a color only available on the Tri and the Quad, but the gen 2 Quad isn't out yet) in the parking lot for potential customers to test drive. Seeing as I brought my own R1T, I politely declined.
Obviously, and like Chevrolet, Rivian feels there's a synergy between Erewhon's cold-pressed, organic customers and its own. Birds of a feather flocking and all that good stuff. Plus, Rivians aren't exactly cheap (at least not yet) and so you want to court people who buy $19 strawberries. Right? Right.
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One thing you probably don't know about me is that I'm a BJCP Certified beer judge. Yes, Certified is supposed to be capitalized as that's the level I achieved; the next level up is National, and I missed that by two points, scoring 78 but needing 80. I'm still mad. My point is that I'm pretty decent at tasting liquids, so not only did I snag a $14 bottle of the Rivian Electric Adventure, but I also left Erewhon with a $12 bottle of Pineapple Dream and an $11 bottle of Just Greens & Apple.
I screwed up that last one, though, as I thought I was grabbing a $21 bottle of Heavy Metal Detox. As it turns out, all green drinks look the same. Besides, for a green drink, Just Greens & Apple was pretty much okay. Anyhow, here's a review of all three preposterously priced juices.
Rivian Electric Adventure, $14
Appearance: Looks like fresh squeezed orange juice. Quite vivid.
Nose: Tangerine, blood orange, lemon zest, turmeric, all-spice.
Taste: Big hit of spicy ginger. I feel like I'm at a sushi bar between bites, cleansing my palette. Some orange, some lemon, but the fresh ginger dominates.
Finish: A sweet drink that coats the back of your tongue with sugar. Some scratchiness that I'll assume is from the pineapple. Quite refreshing, albeit spicy.
Rating: 3.25 trust funds out of 4. A surprisingly different orange juice experience. Different to the point that $14 just might be worth it, especially if you mixed it with vodka/Champagne.
Pineapple Dream, $12
Appearance: Looks like the grapefruit juice at the breakfast spread in a German hotel. Not a natural color.
Nose: Faint pineapple, fainter raspberry. Not much at all.
Taste: Tastes like orange juice blended with pineapple juice. A slight touch of strawberry, but just barely.
Finish: Sweet, but with a little pineapple sharpness on the tongue.
Rating: 1.5 Lululemon yoga outfits out of 4. Just comes across as watered down pineapple juice. Needs more sea moss gel, Camu Camu, Ashwagandha, etc. As is, disappointing and expensive.
Just Greens & Apple, $11
Appearance: Chunky slime. However, if Porsche turned this into a PTS (paint to sample) color called Grünkohl, a.k.a. Kale Green, it would sell like $30 hotcakes.
Nose: Lawn clippings, green apples.
Taste: Celery and kale mixed with apple juice. Celery dominates. The important part is you can't taste the kale. Kale tastes gross, so major props for hiding the flavor.
Finish: Bright and mildly sweet. Pleasant aftertaste.
Rating: 2.5 tiny fedoras out of 4.
There you have it. The winner of this absolutely absurd Erewhon juice-off is the Rivian Electric Adventure juice. So says me. Not bad at all. In fact, I still have half a bottle in the fridge — in fact, I think I'll sneak another sip right now. Hey, for $14 a pop I'm making it last.
Photos by MotorTrend
