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As the long-awaited sunshine finally arrives, Rozél Rosé Vodka, one of the UK’s first premium…

PepsiCo, one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies, has today announced a £13…

Welcome to The Heretics, a new English wine brand founded in 2022 by Gareth Maxwell aka…

BEST Breakfasts has expanded its range to include a new limited-edition flavour, Ice Cream Crunch….

Raise & Replenish, the brand known for its vegan, caffeine-free superfood latte blends, has secured…

U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane accepted the prison term that was jointly recommended by the prosecutor and Vanwormer’s defense lawyer. NJ.com for Canva

While on supervision and wearing an ankle monitor in Deschutes County, Roger Clint Lee Vanwormer communicated online with a purported 14-year-old girl, asked her to share a sexually explicit image and arranged to meet her in Bend.

When he showed up with a bottle of Vodka, a condom and a male enhancement product, Bend police arrested him on July 26, 2021, according to court records.

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From the limbo of publication week for her new book, Jennifer Lucy Allan returns to Rum Music with a selection of chaotic harmonica incursions, frantic recorder flourishes, raw and serrated hurdy gurdy, and much much more

A little late on this edition of Rum Music because it is publication week for the book I’ve been working on the last couple of years: Clay: A Human History. Publication week is a strange time – lots of nebulous tasks that don’t add up to a proper list of things to do, the feeling of being on call, for something that is by now old to you, but brand new to everyone else. The book leaves your brain officially and escapes into the world and the excitement of writing it is made fresh again. Eno read this one, and apparently immediately went out and bought some clay, so please do let me know if the same thing happens to you, as people buying bags of clay would be an unintended yet dreamy outcome from this book.

I had leftovers from that project that connected this life (writing on music) with that life (writing on clay) and so I decided to make a zine while the book was at the printers. I say zine, but I got ahead of myself and it turned out to be five zines interviewing five artists and musicians about clay and ceramics in their work, along with nine images and eight fragments, all hand bound and boxed in a screenprinted archive-grade folder, put together with the help of collage wizard Mark Edwards (one half of DR.ME) up at the Islington Mill. We spent about a week printing, folding and stapling. It was a very grounding experience, coupled with mild RSI.

I also wrote a new essay for the sleevenotes of Blume’s reissue of this essential compilation of New Music For Electronic And Recorded Media, which had a subtitle added for its second pressing – Women In Electronic Music. It features a clutch of the greats – Laurie Anderson, Annea Lockwood and Pauline Oliveros, among others, and I wrote quite a personal essay about these women being part of my listening history, and about what it means for me to be able to write about them, and with them now.

Not much I come across has a Still House Plants feel, but this collaboration between singer and musician Theodora Laird recording with bass player Caius Williams tickled that memory, possessed of something like SHP’s intentional looseness and space, buttressed by playing from within a lineage of free improvisation. The bass playing is just terrific, particularly on opener ‘Dummy’, where it is gnarly, growling and keening as it is bowed and slapped. It is the rough that plays off the smoothness of Laird’s vocals (which also appeared on Loraine James’ For You And I) which have a plainness that suits the songs’ in-the-room silences and pauses. They are songs, I guess, sparse and elegant, and not tidied up too much. I am glad they are not cleaned up to studio slickness, with the room still audible, they are possessed of an entrancing immediacy and intimacy.  

More on Theodora Laird, Caius Williams

This release out of The Netherlands had me at the track title ‘Who Doesn’t Love A Potato?’, and held me with the chaotic harmonica incursion on ‘Strings Attached’ – you’ll think you’ve got two tabs playing at once. Goldblum are a duo of Marijn Verbiesen (aka Red Brut, and in Sweat Tongue and JSCA) and Michiel Klein from the four piece Lewsberg. The way in which the collaged loops of sound clunk around one another is as if trapped between transitions: they stick then chug, or bend as if deformed by being by a window in hot sun. ‘Fake Ears’ gives me the same feeling as one of my favourite albums of this type, American artist Joseph Hammer’s I Love You Please Love Me Too, in which a loop of the sung phrase “…the water stops…” snags and repeats. It’s nearly annoying, the next phrase never arrives, but in its repetition breaks some structural expectations and transcends irritation to become psychedelic music for thresholds between one state and another. Goldblum does the same, in nonsensical, fairly inexplicably appealing music which I’ve been drawn back to again and again this month. 

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The opening minutes of this release sound like a lost Wuppertal support set in the 1970s, but this album is actually made by two arts students from China much more recently. The duo consists of Jun-Y Ciao and Tao Yi, who were studying together in Germany at the time. The initial sonic onslaught is caustic and eventful, leading into some happily frantic recorder flourishes that begin from about halfway through track one, the instrument squealing under the blasts of breathy energy coming from Ciao.

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I first heard of TOMO early last year, when I saw him playing in a hurdy gurdy duo with Keiji Haino in a tiny venue called Fourth Floor in Tokyo. That was amazing, but this solo album, on the wonderful Knotwilg, is a beast. There are some comparisons to be made with Yann Gourdon, the way both lean into the raw and serrated density of sound it’s possible to generate with a hurdy gurdy, drawing in then distorting traditional forms as on ‘Awkward Bourrée’, (a Bourrée being a traditional French dance). ‘Wheel of Life’ is more lyrical and sparse, sounding in passing moments like Henry Flynt’s ‘You Are My Everlovin”. Don’t sleep on this, it’s gone straight to the top of my (surprisingly large) experimental hurdy gurdy pile. 

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Killer out-folk medievalism from morc tapes here, it brings together lots of sound I love, and gives me that feeling of being music from a past on a different timeline. It contains lots of types of playing that I love – there’s a wide-open type of guitar work that reminds me of Jon Collin (but which I think is actually the sound of his home-made dulcimer), and sharp sometimes discordant pipe sounds that I presumed were Wojciech Rusin’s 3D printed pipes but are actually Vandewolken’s own hand-made flutes, based on traditional Dutch instruments. Linus Vandewolken is not his real name, but the moniker of an artist named McCloud Zicmuse, who has also released on Shelter Press.

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I interviewed Tomoko for my book on clay and kept her in the fanzine bundle as well. Her work uses a lot of feedback and hydrophones submerged in ceramic bowls filled with water. It’s an instrument inspired by the Carnatic jal tarang – a series of small bowls filled with water to give them different pitches. In this release for GRM, she focuses on a related technique she calls fortune biscuits. Biscuit refers to the still-porous bisque or biscuit fired clay, the fortune refers to the chance operations of this material placed in water, and the sound you hear is from bubbles emanating from the clay in the water. It doesn’t sound like an earthly material though, or even particularly watery (especially in comparison to some of her other work), and instead is crackling and fizzing, like white noise or micro-percussions on metal. Its opening burrs operate at frequencies I find have quite impressively disorienting psycho-acoustic effects, making my skull tingle behind the eyes. It is engrossing in headphones, although was originally intended for the GRM’s Acousmonium, and I would love to hear the many channels of this soundscape for the hadal zone rendered spatially in the concert hall.

More on Tomoko Sauvage

AOB

I managed to write a whole entry on just the first track from this forthcoming release before I could even get hold of the rest of it as an advance promo, after becoming instantly ensconced in the first moments of Allan Gilbert Balon’s ‘Stella Maris’ from The Magnesia Suite. It is a recording of organ and voice made inside a church, its architecture responding to the singer with a sweet surrounding cumulus of resonance and delay. These acoustics are such that the church becomes a third instrument, or an outboard, lifting some louder, or higher pitched intonations into the heavens, an effect exaggerated by the recording, which is made at a distance. The voice when it soars to meet the rafters is just exquisite. The rest of the album is out in September, including a deluxe edition which comes with a handmade score, a sculpture, and a short film, but I couldn’t hold off writing about this till then. 

Cheers to S for alerting me to the reissue of CHBB, a Liaisons Dangereuses side project that previously existed across some unobtainable cassettes by Beate Bartel (also of Matador, Neubauten) and her LD bandmate Chris Haas (DAF). Here they are brought together onto a single LP. It’s meaty.   

On that note, there’s also more Sprung Aus Den Wolken out:

Jenifer Lucy Allan’s new book Clay: A Human History is published tomorrow (25 July) via White Rabbit, and available here.

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BARDSTOWN, Ky. (July 24, 2024) – Award-winning 15 STARS announces today its newest limited release – Three Kings Fine-Aged Whiskey. This whiskey is a unique blend of premium wheat, rye, and bourbon whiskeys aged 11 and 15 years. 15 STARS is also releasing an updated version of their debut Timeless Reserve expression, now the 13 Year Old Timeless Reserve Fine-Aged Bourbon, a blend of 13 and 15-year-old bourbons. Beginning today, both releases are available for purchase in select retailers across the country as well as online via 15STARS.com.

“We believe with the release of Three Kings that this is the first time someone has ever crafted a blend like this—balancing these three whiskeys, wheat, rye, and bourbon together,” shared Ricky Johnson, co-founder of 15 STARS. “The Three Kings expression truly exemplifies what we strive to accomplish as a brand—always innovating and thinking out of the box to create the very best tasting whiskey we can for enthusiasts across the country.”

Bottled at 107 Proof, aged 11 and 15 years, Three Kings unites the three styles of whiskeys to create an expression that is beautifully balanced and brings forth the best qualities in each component. With notes of baking spice and ripe fruit from the bourbon and wheat, the rye portion is revealed with a hint of ground pepper. On the palate, the expression opens with a dessert sweetness of persimmon pudding and candied fruit, yet remains balanced with an added depth of vanilla and nutmeg gradually emerging to toasted oak, and finishing with dark fruit and honey, giving way to deeper notes of cocoa bean and seasoned oak that remain long after the sip. Winners of the John Barleycorn Awards Blender of the Year in 2023, Ricky and his father, co-founder Rick Johnson, demonstrate their expertise as master blenders with Three Kings.

Three Kings Fine-Aged Whiskey – Aged 15 and 11 Years ($179 MSRP / 107 Proof)

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In addition to the Three Kings release, the 13 Year Old Timeless Reserve Fine Aged Bourbon, bottled at 103 Proof, is also available today for purchase. Longtime fans of 15 STARS may recognize the Timeless Reserve series from when the brand first launched in 2022. Now updated with an age statement of 13 years, from the blend of 13 and 15-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskeys, the Timeless Reserve evokes memories of fresh dessert with a nose of caramel, vanilla bean, and cherry but with an added herbal depth of roasted peanuts, dried tobacco leaves, sassafras, and old wood. The palate is that of creamy sweetness with vanilla extra and molasses, complemented by fruity notes of orange, apple, and dried banana and held up with a strong, earthy backbone of oak and leather. The mature and sophisticated pour finishes with notes of caramel, leather, dark chocolate, and seasoned oak. The previous iteration of the Timeless Reserve was met with much acclaim as a Best in Class finalist at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2022 and featured in Fred Minnick’s Top 100 Whiskeys of 2022 list. The refreshed celebration of the inaugural debut release is sure to see similar fanfare.

“Timeless Reserve was our debut expression when 15 STARS was first available on shelves,” adds Johnson. “It has remained a favorite of ours over the last couple of years and we are so excited for this opportunity to revisit the expression with this updated age statement.”

13 Year Old Timeless Reserve Fine-Aged Bourbon – Aged 15 and 13 Years ($279 MSRP / 103 Proof)

About 15 STARS

15 STARS Fine Aged Bourbon crafts award-winning whiskey with a singular focus on creating luxury blends from their highly aged whiskey stocks. Founded by father and son artisan blenders, Rick and Ricky Johnson, the brand has received over 100 of the world’s most coveted whiskey awards since its debut in 2022, including several “best in class” awards. 15 STARS distills over a dozen different whiskey mash bills in Bardstown, KY, some of which include unique specialty heirloom corn (black, red, white, and blue) that the family grows for its gourmet specialty popcorn business, Black Jewell Popcorn. The 15 STARS portfolio of limited-release fine-aged bourbon is available at select retail locations east of the Rocky Mountains, as well as online at 15STARS.com. The name 15 STARS pays homage to Kentucky as the 15th state with Kentucky’s recognition on the second US flag with 15 stars and 15 stripes which was authorized by President George Washington in 1795. For more information visit 15STARS.com or follow on social at @15STARSbourbon.

Clemenger Group’s Traffik has unveiled a five-meter-long music installation with 61 speakers and 7500 watts of power to launch the new Vodka Cruiser flavours range.

Dubbed The MixMachine, the unique installation came to life with the help of production powerhouse Made and was centre stage at the flavours launch.

The MixMachine mixes Vodka Cruiser flavours with soda water using vibrations from the music via the built-in speakers.

Traffik creative director Mark Held said: “Everyone knows and loves Vodka Cruiser as a pre-mixed drink. We needed to highlight the new format.”

“And 12-inch sub woofers did the job just perfectly.”

Made This head of creative technology Marie-Celine Merret Wirstrom said: “To materialise the concept, we used cymatics – the study of wave phenomena for sound and their visual representation.

“To get the effect we wanted, we took a lot of time in research and development with all the subject matter experts collaborating very closely. When you blend science, technology, and creativity, a lot of interesting things happen, and this mixing machine was truly one of a kind and a dream project to work on.”

The night was complete with guests being treated to DJ sets by Ayebatonye, Benson, and Winston Surfshirt.

Vodka Cruiser marketing manager Monique Di Gregorio said the creation of the MixMachine installation helped demonstrate just how versatile the new Vodka Cruiser flavours range is.

“Remixed by Music was the perfect way to celebrate the new range of Flavours with our fans, elevating drinks with fun, flavour, and colour,” she said.

Credits:

Client: Vodka Cruiser

Creative and production lead: Traffik

Specialist production and Content: Made This

Influencer + PR: Mango

Cymatics/sound design: Electric Sheep Music

Specialist fabrication: Yipee-Ki-Yay

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Rosie Drew is the senior reporter at Mumbrella. She joined in May 2024.

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Celebrity collaborations in the spirits world are often met with skepticism, but a consensus seems to exist among whiskey enthusiasts and spirits writers that Nick Offerman’s association with Islay’s Lagavulin is a notable exception. The beloved Parks and Recreation actor has been a dedicated Lagavulin enthusiast for decades, long before he entered into any formal partnership with the brand. Offerman’s genuine passion for this particular whiskey is endearing–and lucrative, considering Diageo’s marketing resources. Bringing him onboard officially was an obvious choice when the distillery launched its Lagavulin Offerman Edition series.

So far, there have been three previous Offerman Editions, each focusing on an 11-year-old Lagavulin single malt, positioning it perfectly between the brand’s 8-year and 16-year main offerings. The first edition was a standard Lagavulin single malt, while the second edition underwent secondary maturation in Guinness Stout casks. The third edition ventured into the wine realm with STR casks–wine casks that are “shaved, toasted, recharred.” Now, the fourth Lagavulin Offerman Edition explores the Caribbean with a Rum Cask Finish, inspired by Nick’s time in Puerto Rico while filming Peacock’s underrated psychedelic mystery series The Resort.

Similar to other editions, this whiskey was aged 11 years in a combination of ex-bourbon and sherry oak before an additional 8 months of secondary maturation in Caribbean rum casks of undisclosed origin. It was bottled at a slightly higher strength of 46% ABV (92 proof), which is a bit above average, and has an MSRP of $90. How does the classic, smoke, and peat-heavy Islay single malt scotch profile blend with the rum cask influence? Let’s taste and see.

On the nose, this expression offers a bouquet of rich, sweet smoke, aromatic wood, and vibrant fruitiness. The fruity notes encompass roasted pineapple, lemon, and baked apple, enhanced by hints of cardamom buns and vanilla buttercream. There’s also a maritime character with seaweed-like brine, balanced by seasoned firewood and sweet smoke. The overall intensity of the peat/smoke presence is actually more subdued on the nose than one might expect, especially compared to other Lagavulin products, and it all feels nicely mellowed by the rum cask influence. Overall, it’s a very inviting nose.

On the palate, though, things take a bit more of an aggressive turn. Some of the fruitiness remains, but in more of a poached pear/apple sense, met by more green, briny and spicy character. The smoke that was more mellow on the nose strides to the forefront and is significantly more aggressive, even a little bit harsh at times. I’m getting aromatic wood and lots of toasted spice–especially singed cinnamon stick and black pepper–along with more seaweed like brine. Sweetness up front is moderate, but it’s counteracted by a lingering, prickly, somewhat bitter dimension to the smoke on the palate, which also favors a hot-and-spicy characteristic. In general, I like aspects of this profile–the classic Lagavulin peatiness is certainly present–but I wish that it reflected the more gentle and fruity nature of the nose a bit more. It feels like the nose promises a more exotically transformed Lagavulin experience, but then the palate doesn’t quite take you to where you think you’re going.

All in all, though, lovers of heavily peated Islay single malt scotch whisky will likely still find plenty to love here. It’s not the scotch I would choose as someone’s introduction to peated single malts, but devotees of the style will likely relish the smoky intensity of the palate in particular.

Distillery: Lagavulin (Diageo)

Region: Islay, Scotland

Style: Single malt scotch whisky

ABV: 46% (92 proof)

Availability: Limited, 750 ml bottles, $90 MSRP

Jim Vorel is a Paste staff writer and resident beer and liquor geek. You can follow him on Twitter for more drink writing.

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A SPIRITED SYLVAN ADVENTURE: The World-Famous Skunk Train, or “Skunkie” if you prefer to be more familiar when addressing the legendary locomotive, is known for whisking adventuresome riders deep into the beautiful forest as it wends its scenic way from Willits or Fort Bragg. Call the celebrated Skunkster one of the best ways to connect with the seasons while in Mendocino County; you’ll enjoy the outdoors while also savoring, quite frequently, a special seasonal theme. And while the holidays always inspire the Skunk Train team to create seasonally inspired trips on the choo-choo, there are, on occasion, popular pop-ups created just for grown-up guests. Raise a dram, for one of those special events is just ahead: It’s the Whiskey Train.

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WILLITS… is where your experience will begin, an outing that will involve a trip to the line’s summit as well as beautiful Noyo River Canyon. Along the way, a whiskey expert will lead the tasting of four whiskeys from Tamar Distillery/Mendocino Spirits. And the tasting glasses? You got it: They’re keepers, and they’re customized, too. The price for the two-hour tasting is $124.14 and you’ll want to book your spot soon. But perhaps you are eager to know more about special trains on the Skunkie, which can “track” its history back to the 1880s? Check out the calendar here, which includes information about the attraction’s popular railbikes.

These days, there are subscription services/boxes for just about everything. You can even build a day around them, starting with coffee in the morning, some cheese for an afternoon snack, then some spirits for a delightful nightcap. There are also subscriptions that focus on one specific spirit — whiskey. Despite all falling under the broad category of whiskey (or whisky), there is actually a large range in whiskies (such as Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, Japanese whisky, bourbon, and rye, among others). In the same vein, there are many different whiskey subscriptions. So how exactly do they work and should you try one?

If you enjoy whiskey and are interested in expanding your palate, knowledge, or collection, then the answer is yes, you should try a whiskey subscription. Most subscriptions will send either a full bottle or sample size bottles at a set interval (like monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly) throughout the subscription period (which could be a quarter, half-year, or year). These bottles are sometimes accompanied by tasting notes or cocktail recipes. Certain subscriptions also offer additional perks such as special discounts, access to limited releases, early or priority access to new releases, virtual tastings, exclusive events, and more.

Read more: The 27 Best Bourbon Brands, Ranked

First, it’s important to narrow down your taste preferences. Are you open to trying different types of whiskies or are you just interested in one type, say Scotch whisky (try the Scotch Malt Whisky Society), Irish whiskey (try Irishmalts), or artisan whiskies (try Craft Whisky Club)? Next, you should decide how frequently you want to receive bottles, and whether you would prefer full-sized bottles, samples, or both. Some subscriptions are month-to-month while others lock you in to a six- or 12-month period.

Price is also a consideration, and subscriptions can range from under $50 to more than $500. Another consideration is whether you want the bottles to be curated by someone else (which is usually the case) or customized for you (as in the case with Bounty Hunter). Some subscriptions (such as Pour More) offer different tiers for different levels of expertise while others (such as Spirited Gifts) are more beginner friendly. Also consider how important factors such as community (both virtual and in person) and access to certain releases (such as private barrel and limited editions) are to you. Finally, bear in mind that certain subscriptions only deliver to certain states, so be sure to check whether your state is included.

Also be sure to check out our round-up of the 10 Best Whiskey Subscriptions for more information and to help narrow your choice now.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.

LINDSBORG — Meaning small house or cottage in Swedish, the word “Stuga” is all about home.

Now the word has taken on a new meaning, as a brand of homegrown and crafted, corn-based Kansas vodka.

The idea for a corn-based vodka came from husband and wife Hilary and Erin Condren after finding themselves back “home” to the family farm in Lindsborg during the height of the COVID pandemic.

“The world’s falling apart, we’re in California … and we decided to go home to Lindsborg, Kansas, embrace our roots and figure out what in the world is happening before we make any next decisions,” Erin Condren said.

Condren is the fifth-generation owner of the farm after her family left Sweden in 1869 and found themselves staking claim in Lindsborg under the Homestead Act.

The Condrens decided that if they were going to take over and steward the family farm, they wanted to find a unique way to make use of the crops that helped her ancestors flourish.

At the same time, the Condrens also partnered with Dani Greene to take over the Öl Stuga bar in Lindsborg, and things started aligning to begin this new adventure into distilling.

“It all sort of came together where we took over the bar, took over the farm, took over the crops,” Condren said, “and we thought let’s do something cool.”

Lovers of vodka, the Condrens realized that Tito’s was really the only brand that was using 100% corn, and decided it could be something they could do to add to the market, using Kansas ingredients.

“We knew we wanted to be Kansas-made,” Condren said. “We knew that we had Kansas corn (to use) and even if our farm didn’t produce enough Kansas corn we wanted to align ourselves with others who had Kansas corn.”

They also wanted to make sure Stuga would be made in Kansas, so they looked around the state and eventually partnered with Boot Hill Distillery in Dodge City to house the operations.

“We felt immediately a connection to Hayes Kelman and his team at Boot Hill,” Condren said. “We walked through, legally, how we were going to create an alternating proprietorship.”

She said the two are distinct companies, but Boot Hill and Stuga share facilities and teams.

“We worked through renditions and formulas until we came up with what we wanted to put out into the world that Kansas could be proud of,” she said.

More: See ‘Kansas from Above’ with drone footage documentary at the Salina Art Cinema

After refining the product, she said they wanted to find a Kansas distributor to get their vodka on shelves and they found that with Lenexa-based Worldwide Beverage Group, and the product launched in May 2024.

Though they have a distributor, Erin Condren mentioned that she and her husband still prioritize personal interactions, often calling and visiting stores to pitch their vodka in person. Their product is now available in 132 stores across the state.

“There has not been one store that has said no to the product,” she remarked.

Beyond their straight 80 proof, six-times distilled corn vodka, Stuga also offers canned vodka soda cocktails. These come in five variations: Rain, an unflavored vodka soda with sparkling water; Farm, which includes grapefruit juice; Harvest, featuring blood orange; Lake, with lime flavor; and Sun, which utilizes lemon juice.

“We’re releasing a sixth canned cocktail this fall called ‘Hunt’ with cranberry,” Erin added. “It will be available in October or November.”

For more information about the company, visit its website at www.stugaspirits.com. Stuga also regularly posts information and updates on its Facebook and Instagram pages.

This article originally appeared on Salina Journal: Stuga Vodka finds a ‘home’ in Kansas, making spirits with local corn

22-Jul-2024

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22-Jul-2024 at 08:42 GMT

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Rum Co. of Fiji is rejuvenating its presence in Australia with a rebrand of its RATU and BATI ranges (pictured above).

Now available on Australian shelves, the updated look transitions from tribal to tropical, encapsulating the spirit and heritage of Fiji.

Produced in Fiji, Rum Co. of Fiji honours its heritage through a distinctive Fijian style of rum-making. This process respects the tropical landscape, from hand-cutting sugar cane grown in volcanic soil to distilling it at the foot of the iconic Sleeping Giant Mountain.

The rebrand pays homage to the brand’s deep connection to Fiji: with the new design pack featuring cultural patterns, the iconic Sleeping Giant Mountain, and a bright tropical palette. A new logo, now featuring sugar cane and a cane knife, also incorporates the fitting slogan “Paradise Distilled” symbolizing the essence of the island and craftsmanship for the rum.

Both BATI and RATU ranges are now on Australian shelves at Dan Murphy’s, First Choice Liquor, and independent bottle shops.

Rum Co. of Fiji is owned by Paradise Beverages, part of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.

BODYARMOR Sports drink has teamed up with the sports and comedy group DUDE PERFECT to launch an exclusive new flavor and bottle, available for a limited time in US stores this summer.

Perfect Pop is a nostalgic, refreshing flavor inspired by the classic cherry and berry ice pops, maintaining BODYARMOR’s commitment to real ingredients, real flavor, and nothing artificial.

The Dudes were actively involved in the creation of this new launch – from testing flavors and designing labels to collaborating with the BODYARMOR team on developing a go-to-market strategy for Perfect Pop.

Perfect Pop is available now through the end of August (or until supplies last) and can be found online or at major retailers, including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Albertson’s, and more.

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BrewDog Distilling Co. has announced the addition of five new RTD cocktails to its Wonderland Cocktail line-up.

The new flavors – Cosmo, Whisky Sour, Strawberry Daiquiri, Watermelon Margarita and Long Island Iced Tea – are available to purchase online in the UK at £3.90 each or from BrewDog bars.

The drinks come in 125ml cans and have an ABV of 10% – 14%, depending on the flavor.

Steven Kearsley, Managing Director of BrewDog Distilling Co., shared: “We launched Wonderland Cocktail Co. in October 2023, and since then we’ve achieved over 3,000 new distribution points for our bar-quality canned cocktail range. A few months back, we ran a poll on Instagram giving people the chance to vote for the serves they want to join the range – and we’re responding by making them!”

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These new cocktails join the existing Wonderland Cocktails range: Mojito, Cantarito Paloma, Espresso Martini, Passionfruit Martini, and Margarita.

Food and beverage company Agus is launching Hello Day! Magico – a drink that combines natural fruit juice and crunchy coconut chunks (nata de coco) across Europe this month: starting in Netto, Kaufland and other retailers and distributors.

The new drink is currently available in three flavors: mango, lychee, and coconut.

Warsaw-headquartered Agus – whose portfolio includes beverages, snacks, and dairy – says the new launch illustrates its strategy to grow, develop, and think outside the box: “Biting into and chewing springy coconut bits is at the heart of the beverage’s pleasure, providing unexpected experiences,” notes the company.

The drinks branding has been created by Italian agency Break Design: with ‘magico’ coming from the English words ‘magic’ and ‘coconut’ – or, quite simply, the word for magic in Italian.

The drink contains less than 5g/100ml of sugar, aligning it with health recommendations and minimizing exposure to sugar taxes (depending on market).

Lewis Hamilton’s alcohol-free spirit brand Almave has launched its second expression: tying in with his British Grand Prix win at Silverstone earlier this month.

The brand is the creation of the Formula 1 superstar and Mexican spirits group, Casa Lumbre, and is distributed in the UK by Mangrove Global.

New launch Almave Blanco complements its sippable predecessor as a liquid that’s designed to be mixed. It captures a naturally balanced sweetness against herbaceous flavors from the agave and a refreshing acidity. Where Almave Ambar reflects the same qualities as a reposado or Anejo tequila or mezcal, Blanco is designed as the ideal base to mix into alcohol-free cocktails.

Agave flavors are captured thanks to the uniqueness of Almave’s distillation: much like tequila, the liquid is distilled from real agave in the Jalisco region of Mexico and is created using an entirely new process that’s based on age-old Mexican traditions.

According to research carried out by the IWSR, the UK’s low and no-alcohol market is expected to see a volume growth of 10% between now and 2026.

Almave Blanco will RRP at £24 and is now available to the on and off-trade through Mangrove Global.

V Rum, a new premium, sustainable British rum brand, is launching in the UK with two expressions.

Founded by British husband-and-wife entrepreneurs, Nicole and Carl Churchill, the brand made its debut on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, championed by Ian Burrell, The Rum Ambassador.

The spirit is made from scratch using locally sourced, premium natural ingredients; and brought to life by Head Distiller, Mikey Melrose, at the brand’s sustainable distillery in Hampshire.

V Rum’s founders launch with the intention of becoming a mainstream British rum brand, while championing a focus on sustainable production. Entrepreneur Carl Churchill launched his first internet business aged 12 and was later tipped as ‘one to watch’ by the Sunday Times Rich List in 2003.

V Rum launches with a Premium White Rum (40% ABV) and an Overproof White Rum (60% ABV), designed for cocktail mixing or sipping neat.

The brand’s cosmic theme and unique recipes come from a 2009 discovery by astronomers and astrobiologists that ‘space smells like rum’.

V Rum’s distillery uses 100% renewable electricity, green gas provided by Ecotricity, an advanced heat recovery system to mitigate emissions, and uses molasses from UK sugar production to limit air miles. The emissions that V Rum cannot avoid are offset via Ecologi’s carbon avoidance initiative, which contributes to tree planting to support future mitigation. Future plans include solar panels and lighter packaging options.

UK coffee company Little’s is launching a new Chocolate Coffee Pod Variety pack, retailing at £4 per pack of 10 Nespresso compatible capsules.

The new pack contains two flavors for mocha lovers: with Mexican chocolate and rich mocha capsules.

Little’s mission is to ‘get you as close to a cup of specialty coffee as possible from the comfort of home’, for as little as 64p a cup: with a range of premium instant coffee, coffee capsules, and ground coffee. It hopes to appeal to Gen Z with the same agility, novelty, and sense of fun as coffee shops; but via the grocery aisle, which is still dominated by instant coffee.

In 2022, it moved its coffee capsule manufacturing from Europe to the UK to reduce transportation and is the only brand to manufacture capsules in the UK.

The brand uses fully traceable specialty grade Honduran coffee for all flavored ground and capsules and is en route to becoming carbon neutral.

Looking for more beverage inspiration?

Take a look at last week’s round-up of new beverage launches.

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