10 Interesting Summer 2020 Drink-Related News Items
The 2020 summer season sadly now closer to its end than its start, but there has been no shortage of interesting news items related to the alcohol industry as of late. In turn, below are 10 fun, creative and/or intriguing news items I have recently discovered as a result of research and recent reading.
BON V!V x Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Originally known as SpikedSeltzer, BON V!V was the first-to-market hard seltzer brand, creating that very category in 2012. Ultimately, BON V!V is a premium hard seltzer that tastes great with 0 grams of sugar and only 90 calories, while also naturally gluten-free. For this writer personally, this combination is the perfect balance of natural flavors and refreshment and a sessionable 4.5 percent ABV.
Last month, it was announced by BON V!V that actor, producer and philanthropist Priyanka Chopra Jonas would be the brand’s new Creative Advisor. The partnership between Priyanka Chopra Jonas and BON V!V kicked-off earlier this year with #TogetherWomenRise, a program recognizing 20 women overcoming the challenges presented by the global health crisis. The program celebrated these women and donated funds towards their efforts.
F!VE DRINKS CO.’s Cocktail Pack
F!VE DRINKS CO. makes a line of mixologist-developed, ready-to-drink canned cocktails, as crafted with high-quality ingredients. Created by five industry veterans with a combined 100 years of beverage industry experience and soft launched in Miami in 2019, F!VE DRINKS CO. has created a limited-edition Quarantine Pack to help everyday folks deal with the pain of flying home and being forced into a 14-day quarantine. Each pack comes with 14 canned cocktails, 1e to make each day a celebration.
Travelers can purchase the F!VE DRINKS CO. Limited Edition Quarantine Pack via www.buyfivedrinks.co/shop/14daypack for $14 while supplies last. However, this offer is open only to residents of the U.S. or Washingtono D.C., aged 21 and over who are traveling from any U.S. State or D.C. to any airport located in New York State (NYS).
The S’more Boulevardier By Coopers’ Craft Mixologist Fitz Bailey
Coopers’ Craft is the maker of one of my favorite bourbons on the market, per prior coverage via The Hype. Simply put, Coopers’ Craft Bourbon is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey which uses a unique beech and birch charcoal-filter finishing process for a smooth and flavorful bourbon. Taste and quality aside, as the only major distiller to make its own barrels, Coopers’ Craft stands out from the pack.
Coopers’ Craft Mixologist Fitz Bailey has helmed a great cocktail known as “The S’more Boulevardier,” as posted below:
Ingredients:
– 0.5 oz. Coopers’ Craft Barrel Reserve Bourbon (100 Proof)
– 1 oz. Campari
– 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth
– 0.5 oz. Creme de Cacao
– 3 Dashes of Chocolate Bitters
– Pinch of Sea Salt
– Garnish: Rim side of glass with melted chocolate (before it hardens, roll glass in powdered graham cracker), Speared smoked marshmallow.
– Glass: Rocks glass.
Method:
– Stir all ingredients with ice.
– Light a marshmallow on fire.
– Cover with rocks glass to extinguish and capture smoke.
– Strain cocktail into glass, garnish and serve immediately.
CraftStirs makes premium powdered all-natural cocktail mixers, as designed to deliver great tasting cocktails in seconds. In turn, CraftStirs providing convenience to both at-home and on-the-go craft cocktails via these low-calorie powdered mixers that help you make a delicious cocktail in 3 easy steps and ingredients. Just mix together water, your favorite spirit and CraftStirs Cocktail Mix. Each sachet is only 50 calories, as currently made in 3 delicious flavors: Tropical Margarita, Melon Cooler and Pomegranate Mojito. A little too easy, eh?
NEFT Vodka is an ultra-premium vodka with a taste as memorable as its container — a portable, unbreakable barrel — that keeps NEFT cold for up to 6 hours. Perfect for holiday gifting, this will be an unexpected and unique gift sure to please any recipient, from the party host to the mixologist of the family. NEFT has received multiple accolades and awards, including a 98-point rating from The Tasting Panel magazine and being named one of the “Best 20 Vodka Brands of 2020” by VinePair.. Product quality aside, NEFT is planet-friendly as the Austrian-based distillery is moving towards 100 percent renewable energy. Its black and white barrel designs are currently available in 3 different sizing options: 1L, 750ML and the “double-shot” 100ML.
Miller Lite’s recent International Beer Day promotion
In honor of International Beer Day on August 7th, Miller Lite gave away free beer to legal age drinkers that live in the 80+ U.S. cities (across 31 states) named after international countries. Fans in the 118 international(ish) zip codes claimed their beer rebate by visiting www.millerlite.com/internationalbeerday and uploading a receipt from their purchase of a 6-pack on August 7th. In addition to offering free beer in “countries” like Norway, IA, Belgium, IL and Trinidad, CA, Miller Lite also made its way by semi-truck to Scotland, South Dakota to hand-deliver Miller Lite to legal-age fans looking to enjoy some Miller Time on this prestigious holiday.
Stone Brewing’s Stone Michelada Mix
Shortly after brewing Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager, award-winning Stone Brewing noticed fans and Team Stone alike using the beer as a base for homemade micheladas. So the brewing company figured that it only made sense to create its own michelada mix and share the glory of this beer cocktail with the masses. This mix contains just the right amount of tomato juice, hot sauce, peppers and a few other special spices to help you craft a fine michelada right at home. You could technically mix it with any beer you would like, but if it is anything but Stone Brewing’s Buenaveza, it may not come out as perfect as you had hoped.
With National Honey Bee Day taking place over weekend on August 15th, I read about an exciting Gardening Giveback Project that ABERFELDY Single Malt Scotch Whisky launched in collaboration with the Bee Informed Partnership (BIP), a national, non-profit organization that works with beekeepers across the US to improve honey colony health. ABERFEDLDY has connected beekeepers and bartenders in major cities across the U.S. to help spread awareness about the challenges that honey bees face; in the last decade, 1 in 3 managed honey bee colonies have been lost annually as a result of stressors like pests, pathogens, pesticides and poor nutrition. In various regions, bartenders are working alongside beekeepers to better understand the role that bees play in our ecosystem while simultaneously planting flowers and herbs that can be used in dual purpose: for bees to pollinate in urban areas, and for bartenders to use in cocktails that will be served at their local accounts.
In honor of the cause, ABERFELDY has created a brand new cocktail, celebratory cocktail dubbed the “Herbed Honey Smash,” which can be enjoyed from a safe, social distance at select accounts in participating cities. The program debuted on the aforementioned National Honey Bee Day and will run throughout National Honey Month in September. For consumers who want to support the cause but are not located in one of the cities where the Herbed Honey Smash is available, ABERFELDY is offering a limited-edition, farmer’s market-style cocktail crate comprised of the ingredients needed to plant your own forage and create the Herbed Honey Smash at home, currently priced at $45 via ReserveBar. To further support this critical work, ABERFELDY will also be making a $10,000 donation to BIP in conjunction with their Gardening Giveback Project, which will be used to provide local beekeepers with the most up-to-date research and resources required to best protect the honey bee population.
Elysian Brewing x Rolling Stone
Three-time “Large Brewpub Of The Year” at the Great American Beer Festival, the Elysian Brewing Company operates 3 locations and a production brewery in Seattle, Washington. Known both for classic styles and for flexibility and innovation, Elysian has brewed over 500 different recipes since opening in 1996. While Elysian’s brewers use a variety of unusual ingredients, they are seasonally-notorious for their pumpkin beers. I had the pleasure of trying out its new Salute The Sun. A seasonal beer that is perfect for summer, the Salute The Sun pale ale is conditioned on sun-dried black limes and vibrates with a ridiculous amount of Citra hops. It is slightly-tart, highly-citrusy, and — for lack of a better term — “super-chill.”
As a long-time reader of magazine Rolling Stone, I was delighted to learn about Elysian’s Rolling Stone Lager, as co-created with the legendary publication. Crisp and balanced with hints of caramel and orange marmalade, the Rolling Stone Lager is absolutely easy to drink and ideal for long nights of listening to your favorite music. This is indeed for the first official beer coallboration of Rolling Stone, per Gus Wenner, Rolling Stone’s president and COO.
Per a recent press release, Bud Light needs some fresh thinking these days, so the brand is on the lookout for some of the best memers out there to join the brand’s official marketing team for the next three months to help curate epic Bud Light Seltzer memes. From August 18th through September 18th, fans 21+ and older can apply to become the “Bud Light Seltzer Chief Meme Officer” at BudLightSeltzerNeedsMemes.com as well as download meme templates to begin experimenting. The winning applicant who is granted the title of Bud Light Seltzer’s (first-ever) Chief Meme Officer, will be compensated $5,000 per month for three (3) months. To sweeten the deal, all applicants will also be entered to win a 3-month supply of Bud Light Seltzer.
The new position’s responsibilities and requirements include:
– Enjoying Bud Light Seltzer
– Creating ten (10) viral memes
– Sharing final memes via social media
Santa Teresa 1796 Crafted Together Limited Edition Bottle
The acclaimed Venezuelan rum brand is providing opportunity to more than 25 bartenders around the globe by compensating them to design the label of this special bottle. Each participant created a portion of the label, using oil paint, charcoal and photography that reflected how he or she persevered during lockdown. Providing additional support to the bartending community, the brand made a $10,000 donation to the USBG Bartender Emergency Assistance Program.
Global Brand Ambassador of Santa Teresa 1796, Geoff Robinson, kicked off the program by nominating a bartender colleague to participate. Giving bartenders the opportunity to unite and support one another, the first bartender designed a portion of the label, before suggesting the next participant, and so on over 25 times until the label was complete. More information about this heart-warming yet artistic venture is online via www.santateresarum.com.
TweetAbout the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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