Welcome to Happy Hour, our quick-scroll guide to the news and views of the bev/alc sector. Subscribe below for the next one.
Liminal beers, hoppy hops, green monsters
We’ve written about this before, but are drinks getting to be a bit much? There’s something joyful about the simplicity of just having a beer, or just having a soda.
Iin contrast to this, we’re noticing a lot of early stage bev brands bundling their liquids with extras. For example: ARMRA, a new colostrum soda.
Of course it’s not just the newbies. Legacy brands are also pushing outside of their lane, with Heineken launching Outdoor Brewing – an alc-free beer with electrolytes and Vitamin C. Its tag line is ‘crafted for after’, which feels quite pleasing. However it still seems to float in a strange, liminal space. Are they replacing energy drinks? Sports drinks? Are they for the pub? The bar? The hike? Your front room?
It’s a question we’ve asked time and again: what occasion do these drinks belong to? Do we want to mix our supplements and our drinks? Are we blurring enjoyment and wellness? Is this a good thing? And do these brands have the ability to truly go long-term, once we’re past the horizon of the buzzy trend moment?
Speaking of trends… we know and love hops for their alchemical role in beer, but what about elsewhere? There’s signs that hoppy non-beer drinks are on the move, with HPWTR being acquired by Constellation Brands and Fabric launching their zero non-alc hop water. Of course there’s also Tamworth Garden White Mountain Gin - made with three kinds of hops.
Finally, a message for brands: find your own theme. If you see another, distinctive brand that’s doing very well, it’s natural to feel the stirrings of envy.
You, as a founder or marketer or CEO wouldn’t be human if you didn’t look at another business and think: yes, they’re onto something, why didn’t I think of that? But the reason that brand is doing well is because it’s doing its own thing. The world already has one BuzzBallz and it doesn’t need any more (we’re looking at you, Global Brands, for buying Quadz and you, Boston Beer Co with your Lytt electric coolers).
WE BRING YOU BEER NEWS
-Molson Coors is bringing back value beer brand Keystone Ice - which was discontinued in 2021. Reports suggest it’s a move to broaden its offering.
-Alc-free beer brand Days has been acquired by Sunrise Beverages – a house of fellow beer brands including Efes and Gipsy Hill. Days founder Mike Gammell says they’d always planned to find a partner to help the business scale, and that this collab should bring the brand to “more consumers, more occasions and more places than ever before”.
-ABInbev CEO Michel Doukeris is all smiles on CNBC, talking about rising beer sales and lightly hinting that they might be considering making a protein beer.
-In the NA beer space, Crazy Mountain co-founder Rande Gerber thinks he’s cracked the secret to building a zero-beer company: great distribution, great liquid, and a willingness to tap into people’s rituals without lecturing them.
Speaking of celebrity-founded beer brands…. Bero’s VP of Marketing says that celebrity doesn’t guarantee success, in an interview going into some of her thought’s behind Bero’s brand-building.
OPINIONS PLEASE
-Why is the spirits industry so obsessed with the short term? Why aren’t more marketers thinking about building their brand over the next 30 years, rather than the next three? Zak Oganian, CEO of Origen X, shares thoughts with The Spirits Business.
A HAND FOR THE LEGACY BRANDS
-Absolut’s Tabasco edition really got people excited. The global Vice President of Marketing for Absolut, Malibu and Kahlua (what a job) says they’re pinning their hopes on tabasco vodka for the next three years, and adds that most vodka brands aren’t exciting enough (we paraphrase).
Our take: coming up on The New Rules, we speak with a true legacy vodka brand who also believes the category runs the risk of fading into nothingness.
-The world’s best tequila? Herradura Reposado, according to the 2026 London Spirits Competition. Forbes has more on the story, but it’s worth pointing out that this tequila was launched back in the 70s and was the world’s first commercially available reposado.
-Sazerac continues to snap up brands. The latest? Canned cocktail brand SIPMARGS.
-Say goodbye and goodnight to Schlitz. Its last batch was just brewed.
EVER-SHRINKING BOOZE
-Go into any hip liquor store or bottle shop and you’ll spot them: tiny little tins of cocktails that are pocket-sized but rocket-fuelled. So it makes sense that Diageo is getting in on it, with their own mini RTDs. Can’t help but wish they’d made the packaging a little more exciting.
-Diageo hs also released an RTD version of its Ritual Zero Proof.
Our take: Nice, but why does the packaging look so… pharmaceutical?
-Some brands do tins. ARKAY is doing Tetrapaks.
ALCOHOL FREE, BUT HAPPY
-Margarita-lovers rejoice: Giffard NA triple sec is coming to the UK. Note the part where they talk about how this is made using a traditional shrub technique. There’s growing new appreciation for trad methods of working with bitter flavors and fermentation.
BRANDS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN
-Heineken has invented ‘The Clinker’ - a band that goes around your beer can, and lets fellow drinkers know whether you have shared interests.
Our take: One the one hand, this feels fun and novel. On the other, weirdly complicated?
-Who wouldn’t want a gigantic bottle of tequila. Sazerac’s ‘Extra Grande’ edition of Tromba is fun and novel AND, allegedly, greener.
-Angostura now does sugar syrups, and they sound DELICIOUS.
-Brewdog founder James Watt is back, and hes…. launching another beer brand? It’s called Second Best.
STORIES FROM THE REAL WORLD
-Forget the marketing and the branding. What are people actually drinking? Substacker Kate Daykin asked 61 people what their go-to drink is at a fancy bar, and at a dive bar - and the answers are interesting.
-Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Name a trend and it shall manifest. It happened for Quiet Quitting. The Great Resignation. Girl Dinner. Now it seems to be happening for the ‘Boy Martini’.
-Did you know, the first nude poster printed in Japan, in 1922, was actually a Suntory advert for its Akadama Port Wine? Town & Country has a nice piece about the storied history of the brand.
-If you enjoyed reading about Suntory, how about making a coffee and reading about another successful bev brand, but one at a very different stage? Vinepair has the story behind St Agrestis, which sold its Phony Negroni to The Wine Group earlier this year.
The New Rules is a labor of love by nihilo.agency
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