Alcoholic drink manufacturers are looking at beverage innovation to continue appealing to fickle consumers.
In order to stay relevant, traditional beverage categories must expand. Companies like Three Spirit and Seedlip are on a mission to change the way the world drinks.
From crossovers, cask experimentation, distillation techniques to botanical. We look at how suppliers are pushing for a point of difference in a crowded marketplace.
What To Drink, When You’re Not Drinking
With Seedlip’s Garden 108 and Spice 94 products, they look like alcohol and smell like alcohol with those same light-headed aromatics pouring out of the bottle. Everything seems to match up to how a spirit would look and smell.
However, there’s no fermentation step, which means no alcohol, and the end result is also sugar and sweetener free. In short, zero calories. A bonus for those seeking the healthier side of imbibing.
Another Alcohol Free option comes from Ish Spirits, They are setting out to redefine Rum and Gin with their new “gin-ish” and “rum-ish” products.
Like real gin, “gin-ish” is flavored with juniper berry and coriander seeds to give it that signature gin flavor. Because grain alcohol is missing, it’s also missing that “bite” so to compensate, they use capsicum, which they extract from the shells of chili seeds. That is how they achieve that burn in the back of the throat that you feel from sipping a spirit neat.
Both Seedlip and Ish Spirits are distilled products. But the end goal of their process differs from the traditional distillation role in conventional alcohols. Usually distillation is how they achieve a higher proof. But for alcohol-free products, they use it for extraction to concentrate the flavors.
These are great alternative product options in mixology for those who want the social aspect of drinking without the alcohol. Products like these are quickly filling gaps in the guest experience with mixology magic.
Photography by @seedlipdrinks, @threespirtdrinks, and @ishspirits