Our experience with Drink Labs
We hired Drink Labs in September 2025 and paid $9,652.50 for professional beverage development services for our small Washington business. What followed was approximately ten months of development, repeated follow-ups from us, formulation problems, missing sample information, and ultimately a project that we did not believe had delivered the commercially actionable product and services we had contracted for.
Communication and project management were among our biggest frustrations. Throughout the project, we repeatedly had to contact Drink Labs ourselves to ask for updates, determine whether samples had shipped, find out what had changed between formulation rounds, get preparation instructions, or simply understand what the next step was. We often felt responsible for keeping the project moving rather than being guided through the professional development process we had paid for.
We also encountered significant concerns regarding ingredient selection and commercial feasibility. At one point, we independently contacted an ingredient supplier and discovered that an ingredient being used in the formulation had lead times and minimum-order requirements that were not realistically workable for a small business like ours. We were surprised that we had to uncover those limitations ourselves after the ingredient had already become part of the development process.
We also had a serious caffeine-related concern. We had clearly communicated our desired caffeine range and maximum level. According to information we later received, one formulation round came back at roughly four times our stated target. The sample was sent without written dilution or caffeine instructions. We considered that a serious safety and quality-control concern, particularly with a concentrated caffeinated product.
This was not the only time samples arrived without adequate information. On multiple occasions, we had to contact Drink Labs after receiving samples simply to determine the intended preparation method, what had changed from the prior round, or what we were actually supposed to be evaluating.
By June 2026, we formally told Drink Labs that after investing substantial time and money, we still did not have a product we could commercially use and asked them for a realistic assessment of whether they could deliver what we had originally discussed.
To be fair, the final sample we received in July was a significant improvement over the previous rounds, and we told Drink Labs that directly. We then asked for the information necessary to understand how the product could move from development into commercial production. Again, we had to follow up before receiving basic information.
At that point, after approximately ten months, we decided we could no longer continue the project as it had been managed.
We gave Drink Labs two clear paths to resolve the situation: refund the $9,652.50 we had paid, or use the contractual cure period to provide the outstanding services and deliverables and complete the project as promised.
On August 3, 2026, we sent a detailed formal notice by email, including to the company's CEO, and also sent the same notice by USPS Certified Mail. Drink Labs signed for the certified letter on August 6.
Their contract provided a 30-day opportunity to cure after receiving written notice. That period expired without a refund, without completion of the outstanding work, and without any response to our formal notice. We subsequently sent written confirmation terminating the agreement. As of the date of this review, we still have not received a response to our formal default notice, refund request, or termination notice. read more
