HARD SELTZER SUMMER
#HardSeltzerSummer is here, an empirical ‘White Claw’ shaped tidal wave is rolling across the Atlantic; we’ve got a toe in the water, so here’s a little pocket guide to your new go to RTD.
WHAT IS A HARD SELTZER?
In American drinking parlance, seltzer water is soda - carbonated water. So, logically a Hard Seltzer is essentially a canned Vodka Soda of sorts: low calorie, lower ABV, naturally flavoured quaffable fizz in a can (or bottle). Over here, the word ‘seltzer’ instantly pulls us towards the ubiquitous AlkaSeltzer: a manufactured alkaline, electrolyte heavy, hangover fix. When it comes to categorising a Hard Seltzer beyond being low cal, carbonated and naturally flavoured - there are no hard and fast rules!
A lot of UK brands are working round the SELTZER terminology by billing their drinks as ‘Alcoholic Sparkling Water’. Our play was to work on the electrolyte angle and develop our own fizzy seltzer water then build over a classic cocktail base using the best ingredients we could muster. We use the legends VIVIR tequila, BARSOL pisco and DRUM + BLACK rum as our individual base spirits. Most Hard Seltzers have a barley liquor base (or grain vodka type) add fruit, then fizz. So far, so yum.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE?
Hard Seltzers have been the go to drink for frat boys and sorority girls over in the US for a couple of years now. At first this sort of trend is scorned by the drinks literati. But you can’t ignore the numbers for long. More American bars and serious producers are starting to pay attention with Punch Drink offering suggestions for to class up your White Claw and some big players entering the market. Throw in the the twin threat of a global pandemic rendering most bars (and therefore consumption of strong, classical cocktails) somewhat redundant and Hard Seltzers provide the perfect alternative to your usual home, park and socialising selections of wine, beer and sugary canned G&Ts.
Seltzers range from about 4-12% ABV (we’ve come in at the higher end of the spectrum, obviously!) After 4+ months of lockdown and no real end in sight, a Hard Seltzer should at least serve to exponentially increase your off license choices without knocking you out in the park. Critically, the calorie count is a lot lower than wine and beer too, so it’s a perfect summer solution!
OUR SPIN
Ok so here’s the plug, in a game with few parameters we wanted to push the boat out on what we do best and provide something that refreshes, hits the healthy criteria and doesn’t compromise on taste. First up, we’ve come in at a higher ABV, this is mainly to do service to the excellent distillers we’ve partnered up with on this venture. VIVIR, BARSOL and DRUM + BLACK are some of the best in the business, good friends and are served here because they fit our forever motto for vetting products:
All ingredients selected or produced in house to exclude artificial additives, colours and flavours, high fructose, corn-syrup and unnecessary sugar as standard.
With these three as a base, we wanted to be able to taste the goodness in the drink. Hence the higher ABV. Inevitably, this jumps up the calories (ours are 120 - 180 per bottle across the range, so still comfortably below a beer or large glass of plonk!)
We looked across the history of our beloved basement bar, what have been the most popular serves we make riffs on and worked up from there. Our notorious rum swizzle with our house CBD syrup was a must and is, we think, the first CBD infused RTD on the market. Our juicy pisco/coffee negroni didn’t take well to C02 bubbles so we nitrogenated it instead to give a mad Guinness like velvet texture. And, last but not least - who doesn’t love a spicy, pink margarita?
As of now you can order our range here through our site but keep an eye out for more stockists in the not too distant future.
Here’s to summer & beyond!