Snapple Elements Are Back—But They Are Not the Same

Back in 1999, the popular tea and juice brand Snapple introduced a new line of flavors that would become immortalized in Millennials’ memories forever—Snapple Elements. This line of beverages came in uniquely shaped glass bottles and featured over a dozen flavors, all with names like Fire, Meteor, and Voltage. One of the most popular flavors was Rain, a mix of agave, prickly pear, and white grape. Rain was my favorite—I can still remember it, an ambrosial taste with no equal. When Snapple retired the Elements line, many people, myself included, mourned their loss. This year, however, over two decades since Elements was first released, Snapple has brought them back. But are they the same?

Snapple Elements were beloved for many reasons. The flavors were delicious, new, and original at the time—with dragon fruit, starfruit, and persimmon, among many others—but one of the most iconic aspects of Snapple Elements was their glass bottle. At the time, Snapple used glass bottles for all their juices and teas, but Elements had a completely different look from the rest of Snapple’s offerings. The bottle was large, containing 20 fluid ounces, and featured a curvy middle and tapered neck. The glass may have looked delicate but felt sturdy—I remember walking home late from the convenience store one day and thinking that if anyone attacked me, I could fend them off with the bottle.

Each label had artwork related to the element it was named after—raindrops for Rain, a shining sun for Sun, an erupting volcano for Volcano. The beverage itself tended to be colorful—bright yellow to match the sun, a chemically electric pink for Atomic—and among the mix of unusual fruit flavors the drinks contained herbal extracts like ginseng or ginkgo biloba. Herbal drinks were popular for your health at the time, but I don’t remember Elements ever being seen as particularly healthy, and while the bottles mentioned that the herbal extracts could give you a boost of energy, they weren’t necessarily promoted as energy drinks either (at least not initially). As I recall, they were just really tasty and fun.

But as interest in Elements dwindled, Snapple rebranded the beverage line in 2003. They focused more on the energy aspect, to compete with the rise in popularity of drinks like Monster and Red Bull, and they even added caffeine to previously caffeine-free flavors like my beloved Rain. They cut the number of flavors significantly and changed their iconic glass bottle to a sporty metal container that looked more like a water bottle one might use while biking.

Unfortunately, not even this rebranding could save them, and eventually Snapple Elements were discontinued.

For years, fans of the beverage line rallied, trying to get Snapple to bring Elements back. Petitions were started, Facebook fan pages cropped up. But even as recently as 2020, Snapple insisted that there were no plans to bring Elements back.

Somehow, in the past two years, that all changed. Now, Snapple has released a retooled version of the Elements. So far, there are only three flavors—Rain, Fire, and Air—and Snapple says that while these flavors are inspired by the original Elements that bore those names, the formula is not the same. For those of us hoping to taste our long-lost favorite beverages, that news is disappointing, but could the new versions of these iconic flavors still taste like we remember? I bought a bottle of the new version of Rain to find out.

Just looking at the bottle, you can tell that this is not the same as the original Elements. The new version looks busier than the original, with the artwork wrapping all around the bottle. The original has a simpler look to it, but one that is much more distinct. I put the new bottle next to one of the originals that I happen to have, and despite the pretty look of the new version, it seemed boring in comparison. If I passed by it in the store, it wouldn't draw my eye quite the same way as the original did. It’s not ugly, but when comparing it to the original, it pales in comparison because it doesn't stand out from everything else on the market right now. Rather than those uniquely shaped glass bottles, the new bottle is plastic and has just the slightest hint of an hourglass curve in the middle. The artwork is nice, but different—rather than depicting the element it’s named for as in the classic version, the new artwork shows an agave cactus instead. The new bottle is also smaller, clocking in at 15.9 fluid ounces, rather than 20.

While this new look feels like a bit of a downgrade, the most important question is, does it taste the same?

I, of course, don’t have an original version of Rain to compare the new version to (and if anyone out there happens to have an unopened bottle of the original, you should definitely not drink it). All I can do is compare this version to my memory, which is unfair to this new version, as memory is faulty, and those things you loved in your youth become distorted with a rosy hue. Even if I were to taste the original version of Rain today, it probably could never live up to my golden memories from childhood. So when I took a sip of this new Rain, I tried to set my expectations low.

I was still disappointed.

The new version of Rain doesn’t taste bad, but it definitely doesn’t taste anything like the original. I can taste something similar, which is the agave that both versions of the formula share, but there is something major missing. Comparing the ingredients, you can see the problem.

According to the old bottle of Rain I have, the original ingredients were: Water, high fructose corn syrup, white grape juice from concentrate, citric acid, natural prickly pear cactus flavor with other natural flavors, agave nectar, extracts of ginseng and astragalus, prickly pear cactus puree. The new version contains: Filtered water, sugar, pear juice concentrate, agave nectar, citric acid, natural flavors.

The switch from corn syrup to sugar may be seen as an upgrade, although it does change the mouthfeel to a thinner, more watery drink, and the lack of ginseng and other herbal extracts isn’t a big loss to me. But the glaring omission of white grape juice and prickly pear explains the lackluster flavor of this new formula. As I said before, the original Rain flavor was a combination of agave, white grape, and prickly pear. This new version just has pear juice and agave. Pear is not the same as prickly pear (prickly pear is a cactus that produces a fruit that tastes like a combination of watermelon and bubble gum). Prickly pear is so important to the flavor of original Rain that it’s mentioned in the ingredients twice—as one of the natural flavors and as a puree (the lack of which may also contribute to the watery aspect of the new version). Other than the inclusion of agave nectar, the new version of Rain is a completely different drink.

Comparing the new Rain to the original, Snapple’s latest offering falls far short. But is it still a good drink? I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Unlike with the original Rain that I still have cravings for, I can’t see myself going out and buying more of this new one. I haven’t had a chance to try the other two flavors yet, so maybe they will taste better, but they too have completely different formulas from the originals, so they can’t possibly live up to how I remember them.

I don’t understand why Snapple didn’t bring back the original formulas. Bringing Elements back after years of demand feels like an obvious attempt at making a buck off 90s/early 00s nostalgia, but changing the flavors so significantly makes no sense. Sure, there will be plenty of people like me who will give these new versions a try, but the disappointment I felt after just the first sip of the new Rain has discouraged me from wanting more. Can these new Elements bring in a fresh batch of fans who will love these flavors for what they are? Maybe, although if Snapple wanted to bring in new customers, using the names of the Elements for their new beverage line feels unnecessary. But will fans of the original flavors be satisfied? I can’t speak for all my fellow Elements lovers, but I know I won’t be buying it again.