Do you know what people drank during the pandemic? A lot of hard seltzer, as sales topped $4 billion in 2020. I’ll be drinking more of the stuff, as I recently accepted offers to review PRESS Premium Alcohol Seltzer and The Hard Seltzer Cocktail Book.
PRESS Premium Alcohol Seltzer
Last year, I hosted a blind taste test of various hard seltzers, and White Claw garnered the highest ratings. However, I’m certain that had we tried PRESS, it would have earned the highest marks.
I’m not alone in my praise for PRESS. At the recently held Seltzerland in Madison, PRESS was voted the best. The key is that PRESS, unlike other hard seltzers, doesn’t take like LaCroix or other sparkling waters that are weak in flavor.
- The Pear Chamomile may be my favorite flavor of all hard seltzers. It has a wonderful pear flavor and is very refreshing. We should have more beverages with pear flavor.
- The Lingonberry Elderflower also is excellent. It’s not tart, has the right amount of sweetness and has a touch of floral aroma.
- The Apple Cinnamon is like drinking a carbonated apple cider–yum! Love the cinnamon, too.
- The Pineapple Basil is a tropical delight. It’s about 99% pineapple flavor, with the subtle note of basil.
Other flavors include Pomegranate Ginger and Blackberry Hibiscus. Each 12-oz. can has 110 calories, 7 g. of carbs, 5 g. of sugar and 4% ABV.
In Madison, you can buy PRESS at Target, Hy-Vee and Total Wine & More, among other places.
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The Hard Seltzer Cocktail Book
I’ve always thought about mixing hard seltzer with alcohol, and now there’s a recipe book for it called The Hard Seltzer Cocktail Book ($19.95, Simon & Schuster), written by Casie Vogel. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that you can make basically any typical cocktail with hard seltzer.
Of the whopping 55 recipes, I started off by making the One-Minute Margarita, which uses the standard ingredients along with lime hard seltzer. It tastes the same as a regular margarita, except for a slight fizz that makes the drink more refreshing.
That’s also how I felt about the Aperol Spritz-o-Clock. You combine the namesake with prosecco and orange hard seltzer, which helped tone down the bitterness of the Aperol. Nice for a summer day.
Another fun drink is the Adult Orange Julius (remember that store in the mall?). Here, you once again use orange hard seltzer along with orange juice, vodka, milk, simple syrup and vanilla extract. I swear, you would not know there’s alcohol in this delicious beverage.
My favorite brunch beverage is the greyhound. The Lazy Gal’s Greyhound adds grapefruit hard seltzer to vodka and grapefruit juice, which I felt watered down the drink a bit but it was still enjoyable.
I highly recommend The Hard Seltzer Cocktail Book, which I found witty and easy to read. I look forward to tackling more recipes, including the No Sleep ’til Mango Slushy and the Adios Mother Fizzer.
Tags: hard seltzer
