Blackberry Lemon Social Tonic 4ct - 48 fl oz

Hiyo was built on a single premise: the ritual of drinking something special in a social moment shouldn't require alcohol. The Blackberry Lemon Social Tonic is their answer — a carbonated, certified organic drink that layers real functional ingredients over a tart-sweet blackberry and lemon flavor profile, packaged in a format (12 fl oz cans, 4 to a pack) that fits a cooler, a dinner table, or a Friday night without apology.

What separates Hiyo from the crowded sparkling water and mocktail shelf isn't the flavor — it's the formulation. KSM-66 Ashwagandha is the gold-standard ashwagandha extract, standardized to 5% withanolides and backed by more than 20 randomized controlled trials on stress, mood, and cognitive function. Lion's mane mushroom extract has been studied for neurotropic support and focus. L-theanine — sourced here from non-caffeinated organic green tea — is well-documented for promoting calm alertness without sedation. Organic passionflower and lemon balm round out the calming botanical stack. These aren't label decorations; they're the functional core of the drink.

The sweetness is calibrated deliberately: organic erythritol carries most of the sweet load (low glycemic, minimal caloric impact), with organic cane sugar and organic blackberry juice concentrate adding just enough real-fruit depth to avoid the artificial aftertaste common in zero-sugar sparkling drinks. Color comes from organic fruit and vegetable juice — no synthetic dyes.

This tonic is alcohol-free, made entirely from certified organic ingredients, and designed for anyone navigating the sober-curious space, a dry month, or simply choosing not to drink on a given night without wanting to explain themselves over a sparkling water.

Store at room temperature. Best served cold over ice or straight from the can.

Ingredients: Carbonated Filtered Water, Organic Flavors, Organic Blackberry Juice Concentrate, Organic Erythritol, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Lemon Balm Extract, Organic Gum Acacia, Organic Fruit And Vegetable Juice (Color), Organic Ksm-66 Ashwagandha Extract, Organic Passion Flower Extract, Organic Green Tea Extract* (L-Theanine), Organic Ginger Extract, Organic Lemon Juice Concentrate, Organic Lion's Mane Mushroom Extract, Citric Acid, *Non-Caffeinated

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Common Questions

What exactly is KSM-66 Ashwagandha and how is it different from the ashwagandha in other drinks?
KSM-66 is a patented, root-only ashwagandha extract standardized to a minimum of 5% withanolides, which are the primary bioactive compounds responsible for ashwagandha's adaptogenic effects. Most generic ashwagandha on the market uses whole-plant or leaf-mixed extracts with inconsistent withanolide concentrations and no standardization guarantee. KSM-66 has been studied in over 20 published randomized controlled trials, with research showing statistically significant reductions in serum cortisol, self-reported stress scores, and improvements in cognitive function and sleep quality compared to placebo. It is also one of the few ashwagandha extracts with a Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) designation in the U.S. That level of clinical documentation is unusual for a functional beverage ingredient and is why it is considered the research-grade standard in the category.

How does L-theanine produce calm without making you drowsy, and why does the source matter here?
L-theanine is an amino acid found naturally in tea leaves that promotes alpha-wave brain activity — the same brain state associated with relaxed alertness, the kind you experience during meditation or focused creative work. It does not bind to GABA receptors the way sedatives do, which is why it calms without causing drowsiness or impairing reaction time. Research published in journals including Nutritional Neuroscience has shown meaningful alpha-wave increases at doses around 50-200mg within 30-40 minutes of consumption. The source matters here because Hiyo specifies the green tea extract is non-caffeinated, which means you get the L-theanine without the stimulant effect of caffeine — useful for evening social situations where you do not want a caffeine spike.

What does lion's mane mushroom actually do, and is there real science behind including it in a drink?
Lion's mane (Hericium erinaceus) contains two classes of compounds — hericenones and erinacines — that have been shown in cell and animal studies to stimulate Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) synthesis. NGF is a protein involved in the growth, maintenance, and survival of neurons, and researchers have been investigating lion's mane as a result for cognitive support and neurological health. Human trials are still limited in scale, but a double-blind placebo-controlled study published in Phytotherapy Research showed significant improvements in cognitive function scores in older adults over a 16-week period. The extract form used in beverages delivers these compounds in concentrated form, though exact dose per can is not disclosed on the label — which is a standard limitation across most functional drink products and worth noting when comparing to capsule-based lion's mane supplements where dosing is explicit.

What is the sugar and calorie situation in this drink, and how does erythritol factor in?
Hiyo uses a blended sweetening system: organic erythritol carries the primary sweet load, with smaller contributions from organic cane sugar and organic blackberry juice concentrate for flavor depth. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is absorbed in the small intestine and excreted largely unchanged, meaning it contributes negligible calories (approximately 0.2 calories per gram versus 4 calories per gram for cane sugar) and has a glycemic index of essentially zero. The small amount of cane sugar and juice concentrate adds some real sugar and a modest glycemic contribution, but the overall sugar content per can is low relative to conventional juice drinks or sodas. The practical result is a drink that tastes genuinely sweet without the artificial aftertaste common to stevia- or sucralose-based products, and without a blood sugar spike comparable to a full-sugar beverage.

Is this drink suitable for people avoiding alcohol entirely, and does it contain any trace alcohol from fermentation or flavoring?
Hiyo is formulated as a completely alcohol-free product and is positioned explicitly for alcohol-free occasions. The ingredients list contains no fermented components, and organic flavors used in beverages at this type of scale are typically solvent-extracted or distilled rather than alcohol-fermented. However, it is worth noting that the FDA permits natural flavors to contain incidental alcohol as a carrier at levels so low they are considered functionally irrelevant — typically under 0.5% and often far below that in diluted beverage applications. For most people avoiding alcohol for health, sobriety, pregnancy, or religious reasons, this drink would be considered alcohol-free. Those with strict requirements — such as recovery programs that specify zero tolerance for any incidental alcohol — should contact the manufacturer directly to request a certificate of analysis confirming alcohol levels if that level of verification is needed.

What does the Certified Organic designation mean in practical terms for this product?
USDA Certified Organic for a multi-ingredient beverage like this means that at least 95% of the agricultural ingredients by weight must be certified organic, and any remaining 5% must come from a USDA-approved list of non-organic substances — synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and GMOs are prohibited throughout. For Hiyo, this covers the functional extracts (ashwagandha, lion's mane, passionflower, lemon balm, green tea) as well as the sweeteners and juice concentrates. Organic certification is verified through third-party auditors accredited by the USDA National Organic Program, and brands must maintain chain-of-custody documentation through their supply chain. Practically, this means each functional ingredient — including the botanical extracts — was sourced from certified organic supply chains rather than conventionally grown sources, which matters for consumers concerned about pesticide residue in concentrated botanical extracts specifically.

How do passionflower and lemon balm contribute to the formulation, and what does the research say about them?
Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) has been studied for its anxiolytic properties, with research suggesting it modulates GABA-A receptors similarly to how some anti-anxiety compounds work, but with a much milder effect profile. A 2001 double-blind randomized trial published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics found passionflower extract comparable to low-dose oxazepam for generalized anxiety disorder, though without the same sedative side effects. Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) has demonstrated in clinical studies — including a 2014 paper in Nutrients — the ability to reduce self-reported anxiety and improve mood and cognitive performance, with mechanisms thought to involve inhibition of GABA transaminase, an enzyme that breaks down calming neurotransmitters. Together, these two botanicals complement the L-theanine and ashwagandha in the formulation by working through partially overlapping but distinct calming pathways, which is the logic behind combining them rather than relying on a single ingredient at a higher dose.