Coca-Cola moves into alcohol market with premium mixers

Coca-Cola’s Signature Mixers range marks the first time the brand has expanded into the alcohol space and taps into the growing premium mixer market.


By.Molly Flemming

is launching its first premium mixers under the Coke brand as it looks to expand into growing premium mixer market.

Coca-Cola Signature Mixers features four flavours designed to be mixed with dark spirits, which will launch in the UK from June alongside a fully integrated marketing campaign.

“Coca-Cola has always been part of cocktail culture and history, from the Cuba Libre of the 1900s to some of the world’s best cocktails today,” explains Ana Amura, senior brand manager at Coca-Cola Great Britain.

“Coca-Cola Signature Mixers marks an exciting time for the brand and expansion into dark spirit mixology.”

The move comes as drinkers increasingly opt for more expensive mixers. According to figures from research company CGA, premium mixers are growing at 32.9% compared to the 7% decline seen for mainstream mixers, a trend which is set to continue.

Inspired by the brand’s heritage, Coca-Cola Signature Mixers are served in a contemporary Hutchinson glass bottle, first used by Coca-Cola in 1894 when the product was bottled rather than served at a soda fountain.

READ MORE: Coca-Cola: We must keep creating brands or online retailers will win

The new range, which is available in Smoky, Spicy, Herbal and Woody, was created in collaboration with mixologists and marks the first time Coke has invited outsiders to help develop its own brand.

Coca-Cola asked mixologists to attend a London workshop in March 2018 who were briefed to experiment with ingredients and create mixers to enhance dark spirits.

Consumers were then invited to taste the new recipes, with the four most popular going into production, with each bottle stamped with the signature of its co-creator.

This quick 16-month timeline is a marker of how Coke is trying to streamline its innovation pipelines in order to keep up with consumers’ changing tastes.Continue Reading

The Secret to Serving Beer is Surprisingly Simple, Says an Industry Expert

Curious about the best way to store, serve, and sip that craft IPA? We tapped an expert to answer all your burning beer questions. 

FLUBYDUST/GETTY IMAGES

If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that bad beer is to be avoided at all costs. But it isn’t just about the price point, origin, or brand of beer that determines its quality—how you serve beer has a seriously significant effect on the flavors, aromas, and overall experience you’ll have when sipping it. 

Just in time for summertime barbecues, baseball season, and Father’s Day, we tapped Ryan Daley, the Sr. Educator and Master Cicerone for Anheuser-Busch for all the info you’ll need to give your beer—whether it’s a lager, porter, stout, IPA, pilsner, or some crafty combination of the above—the top-tasting treatment it deserves.

How to serve beer

According to Daley, the top tip for serving beer is simple: pour it into a glass. This offers several benefits to the drinking experience. The first is being able to appreciate the beer’s appearance. Beer has an amazing array of colors, from bright golden sunshine to dark mahogany. If you don’t pour it out you’ll never even get the chance to appreciate the look of the beer. Next, by pouring the beer into a glass it helps to release the carbon dioxide. This benefit is twofold: on one hand it helps to release more aroma, and ultimately more flavor, in the beer. On the other, it makes the beer feel and taste less filling.

There are dozens of different styles of glasses for beer. Some may have a historical connection to a certain style of beer; others may be better suited for one style versus another based on the size and shape of the glass. According to Daley, when all is said and done, you should simply select a glass you like. “A good beer glass is a combination of form and function. By pouring the beer into a glass you are already gaining some positive functionality. In terms of form, it should look good to your eye and feel good in your hand,” he explains. Long story short, it’s just as important to choose a glass that’s right for you as it is to choose a glass that’s right for the beer.Continue Reading

Nicaragua Craft Beer Co. Releases Panga Drops Keller Pils in North America

SAN JUAN DEL SUR, Nicaragua – Nicaragua Craft Beer Co., the first craft brewery in the country, is expanding distribution of one of its flagship beers, Panga Drops Keller Pils, to 12 U.S. states this month. The brewery was started by Americans Matt Greenberg and Brendan DeBlois and is nestled within the beach town of San Juan del Sur.

Named after the world-famous surfing destination in Nicaragua, Panga Drops registers at 6.2% ABV and is a highly drinkable and interesting take on the Kellerbier style. “We wanted to appeal to informed craft drinkers, but also people who might not be so into hoppier or darker styles,” said president and co-founder Matt Greenberg.

Refreshing in both flavor and packaging, this unfiltered and crisp golden-colored beer comes in an 8 oz. squat can inspired by local soft drinks. “When you’re drinking a beer in the Nicaraguan heat,” said Greenberg, “the last four ounces tend to get warm. So, we moved those ounces to the next can to keep them cold. The 8 oz. squat cans chill faster to help keep you cool and refreshed.”

The 8 oz. squat can also stands out on shelves. Designed with a laid-back beachy vibe that matches the liquid within, it emulates its unique placement as Nicaragua’s only exported craft beer, and there is no other craft brew quite like it available in the United States.

Panga Drops has been available with limited distribution in Los Angeles and New York, but its official U.S. launch this month is the first time the unique brew will be available to the masses, with distribution now totaling 12 states including Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina.

About Nicaragua Craft Beer Co.

Nicaragua’s first craft brewery was established in 2013 by Americans Matt Greenberg and Brendan DeBlois in the town of San Juan del Sur. The country’s premier beach town is also a world-renowned surfing destination. The brewery offers a range of styles on draft and in cans, many of which feature local ingredients unique to the “land of lakes and volcanoes.” Learn more at www.nicacraftbeer.com.

CBD Liquor: Exploring CBD Rum And CBD Gin With Wee Hemp Spirits

One Aberdeen-based firm specialises in CBD liquor: rum and gin infused with hemp and CBD.

So, you’ve tried the UK’s best CBD beer, but now you’re keen to try something with a little more kick? Wee Hemp Spirits have exactly what you’re looking for. It’s not only a first for the UK but possibly the world at large.

THIS SCOTTISH COMPANY COMBINES CBD AND LIQUOR

The people behind the first CBD liquor are husband and wife team Calum and Rebecca Napier. They also run The Wee Hemp Company, a CBD-based firm which won Scotland’s Micro Business of the Year in 2019’s FSB Awards. We spoke to Calum about the origins, development and future plans of their journey in CBD spirits.

The Wee Hemp Company was launched in May 2018, largely thanks to Rebecca’s inspiring experiences with CBD.

“Rebecca has suffered with Crohn’s disease since she was five years old, and in 2016 she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic illness that causes pain all over the body,” said Calum. “I did some research and found that in America many people were using CBD to help with fibromyalgia so we took a weekend trip to Amsterdam and purchased some.”

The changes were remarkable. “Over the next few months Rebecca regained her life back,” said Calum. “She changed her diet, did intolerance tests and had great success using CBD. We then trialled many different CBD products before jetting off to a lab in Europe to create our own product line and start our own company.”

In these early days the duo looked into growing four acres of hemp in Aberdeen, but the UK government made it near-impossible to gain the appropriate licenses. Then they had the idea of experimenting with hemp as a botanical in distilling spirits.Continue Reading

Happy Mother's Day!!Sparkling Wines for Mom Best Served with Breakfast in Bed

Treat Mom with these 4 Mother's Day cocktails

Are you hosting a Mother’s Day event for that special lady in your life? It can be difficult to find the perfect drinks to prepare for your mom and guests while you're also worried about putting together a homemade brunch.

However, here are a few drinks that can be made in the comfort of your own home that are not only easy to prepare, but are also easy to drink. 

Rose-All-Day Spritzer

This play of a standard spritzer will leave the family in shock at the amount of depth and complexity this simple drink punches.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces rose wine (A brand on the cheaper side is fine)
• ½ ounce St. Germaine
• Club soda or your favorite sparkling water (I like using Fresca to make this drink pop)
• Ice
• Orange twist or edible flower (optional)
• 1 ounce of Aperol or Campari (optional)

Instructions

• Fill a large wine glass with ice. 
• Add the rose and St. Germaine and top with sparkling water.  
• Garnish with any edible flower or an orange twist.  
• If you want to be adventurous, you can also add 1 ounce of Aperol or Campari to make a play on an Aperol Spritzer.

A waternelon mule. (Photo: ~Courtesy of Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Watermelon Mule

This Watermelon Mule is an easy-to-prepare and easy-to-make play on the on the Moscow Mule. With fresh watermelon slices and ginger beer, this cocktail will not only appease your mother, but the whole family. 

Continue Reading

How to Take Inventory and Calculate Pour Cost

By. Jeffrey Morgenthaler

Ever since I wrote on How To Price a Cocktail Menu like a million years ago, I’ve gotten requests from bartenders, bar managers, and bar owners for some guidance on how to perform inventory and calculate pour cost. Which is, like, super surprising to me since there are few tasks more reviled in our business than the dreaded monthly inventory. Regardless, I figured it was high time I shared.

I never would have admitted it at the time, but I feel pretty lucky for the rude awakening I had back in 2001. I’d just come off of working in the clubs, and was immediately thrown into managing a little cocktail program at a new restaurant. It was awesome until about two weeks in, when my bosses informed me that I would be taking inventory every two weeks, and that there would be a sit-down meeting once a month to discuss my numbers. My what, now? I didn’t know the first thing about numbers, other than getting girls’ phone numbers. But I did it, respectfully yet begrudgingly, because it was my job.

Usually performed late at night after the end of a busy service, or early in the morning before service begins, inventory is a necessary chore that allows us to understand how a bar is performing financially, once we calculate pour cost. That pour cost number paints a very real picture of the bar’s financial health and reveals things like theft, poorly-priced menu items, and pouring accuracy. Without it, you have absolutely no idea what is going on in your bar.

But first you’ve got to know a few things:

1. How much you spent during some time period
2. How much you sold during that time period
3. How much booze you started with at the beginning of the period
4. How much booze you’ve got on hand at the end of the period

Items 1 and 2 you should either know already, or be able to find easily. If not, stop reading now; there’s no point in doing this if you have no idea how much you bought or sold. Items 3 and 4, I will help you find.

First you’re going to need to put together a list of every single bottle you carry at your bar. I’ve given you a head start by providing you with a simple spreadsheet I created just for this purpose. We’ll pretend this is from an imaginary bar with the world’s worst liquor selection ever.

Download my inventory spreadsheet and pour cost calculator here.

Get every bottle you carry entered into that spreadsheet, along with each bottle’s price. Note that the size of the bottle isn’t needed here, just the name and the price. Do it now.

Okay. Now we’ve got to get a beginning inventory so that we have a place to start from. Inventory numbers are worthless without a beginning and ending inventory so you’re going to have to go through this shit twice, once at the beginning of the period, and once at the end. The bigger your back bar is, the more you’re going to hate it. Trust me on this one.

The simplest method that doesn’t involve weighing bottles or whatnot is to visually take note of how much liquid is in each bottle. Now, sure. This isn’t the most accurate system in the world, but it’s the quick-and-dirty method that’s used by bars all over the world that aren’t huge corporate establishments. If you want to weigh your bottles and do it that way, be my guest. You’re going to have absolute accuracy, and that’s pretty rad. The rest of you, come this way.

Take a look at your bottle and break it down into tenths in your mind. Decide where the liquid line falls and make an educated guess about the contents. Here’s a picture to illustrate what I’m talking about:

Continue Reading

The newest trend in athletic recovery? Drinking beer!

These ‘wellness beer’ makers believe a pint can improve your physical fitness.

Original article by. Esther Mobley

What if there were a beverage you could drink after a major workout — like a marathon or a mountain biking expedition — that could replenish electrolytes, reduce inflammation and leave you less likely to get sick? What if that product had fewer than 100 calories per serving and, unlike Gatorade, no sugar?

What if that beverage were called … beer?

Welcome to the age of wellness beer, in which craft brews can be tools for athletic recovery, self-care and all-around physical optimization. In the Bay Area and beyond, we’re witnessing a proliferation of beers geared toward a healthier lifestyle, with options that are friendly to the gluten-averse. The wellness beers advertise additions of electrolytes, chia seeds, potassium, even bee pollen. With little or no alcohol, many promise the hangover-free aftermath of an O’Doul’s and the low calorie count of a Michelob Ultra — but with the complexity of flavor you’ve come to expect from top-quality craft.

What if there were a beverage you could drink after a major workout — like a marathon or a mountain biking expedition — that could replenish electrolytes, reduce inflammation and leave you less likely to get sick? What if that product had fewer than 100 calories per serving and, unlike Gatorade, no sugar?

What if that beverage were called … beer?

Welcome to the age of wellness beer, in which craft brews can be tools for athletic recovery, self-care and all-around physical optimization. In the Bay Area and beyond, we’re witnessing a proliferation of beers geared toward a healthier lifestyle, with options that are friendly to the gluten-averse. The wellness beers advertise additions of electrolytes, chia seeds, potassium, even bee pollen. With little or no alcohol, many promise the hangover-free aftermath of an O’Doul’s and the low calorie count of a Michelob Ultra — but with the complexity of flavor you’ve come to expect from top-quality craft.Continue Reading