THE EDIT

Our Pick Of The 5 Most Interesting Brands This Quarter

It is nearly impossible to keep abreast of every launch and every product in the market across categories, but we try our best. Here are the 5 stand out brands that we are watching with interest.

Spacegoods

Having tried several different mushroom-based drinks in the past we can safely say that Rainbow Dust is one of the better ones. It doesn't taste ‘earthy’ at all and is nice hot or cold. Blend it with milk and ice to have cold, or add hot water and a splash of milk for a tasty, not too sweet, hot drink in the morning.

Delgados

Delgados is the latest canned RTD chasing the tequila gold rush and doing it with a suitably retro inspired 70’s travel essence. If you’re interested in experiencing a dreamy laid-back feeling that captures the ultimate Mexican get away, then Delgados is for you.

Alt

Launched with the bold claim of enhancing human potential, ALT is designed as a self-improvement THC liquid supplement to help you feel better. The liquid promises to be a highly adaptable, zero calorie, zero sugar, flavour neutral enhancement that can be added to any beverage.

Plink

Surely one of the most Zillennial drinks on the market. Tapping into so many consumer trends it feels like Plink might just eat itself. For those of us on the constant look-out for the next big thing, Plink demonstrates the ongoing interest in non-liquid drinks and is clearly another option for those looking for more sustainable drinks option.

Mirchi

Mirchi (spice in Urdu) is a natural blend of African and Caribbean spiced rums, created by two friends of Ghanaian and Pakistani heritage. With its citrusy scent, fruity, smooth and earthy flavours, Mirchi is a fresh approach in the rum category.

ARE WE AT THE CUSP OF A VODKA BOOM?

‘Great’ vodka has long been defined as a drink prized for its total neutrality. Yet in recent years, brands have been making a push towards characterful liquids, offering botanicals or an authentic taste of their raw ingredients. Now, as locality, the sourcing of ingredients and the details of the raw materials matter to consumers more than ever before, a wave of brands are focused on offering products marketed on their terroir. But for vodka, is that really a thing?

Well, this is an about turn. If you’ve followed the lifecycle – the great highs and the deep lows – of the vodka category you’ll know how at its peak in the 1990s, it wasn’t the craft, the origins nor the taste that excited consumers and marketeers alike. No, it was the total lack of it.

Vodka was prized and praised for tasting of nothing at all. Until it wasn’t. Following a flavour boom where among the raspberry, peach and vanillas, we saw everything from olive to birthday cake flavours launch, and the category had exhausted itself, starting a long period of sales decline.

But now, something interesting is afoot. Over the past five or so years, many makers have been trying to boost the category and reverse its fortunes, by taking the opposite approach, taking it from something designed for mixing to something to sip.

Character Is King

For a raft of makers, vodka has become all about character, while explaining its raw ingredients has become a key part of marketing. From those distilled from milk whey, to those crafted from sweet potatoes or quinoa, the sourcing has become just as important as the ingredients themselves. Just look at brands such as Black Cow (distilled from the milk by-products of cheese production), to Fair’s Quinoa (made from organic, fair trade quinoa), and Hangar One Fog Point Vodka (made from captured San Francisco fog), which all use their raw ingredients –and the character they impart – as their core identity.

But now, as the category is rebounding, a number of brands are taking things a step further. For them it’s no longer about the ingredients themselves, but where they come from. And its interesting that some of those pushing terroir are vodkas coming from new producing regions.

Unique Ingredients

Step forward New Zealand. The island nation has seen two vodkas recently launch, that are focused on how the topography and natural resources of the islands have shaped the liquid. Broken Shed whisky has worked with a branding design agency to create a brand world entirely based on its use of pure New Zealand mountain mineral water, spring water, distilled whey sourced from naturally grass-fed cows in New Zealand, and nothing else.

Speaking on the brand to Spirited Zine, Broken Shed master blender Mark Simmonds reflected that due to its remote location, and small domestic market, standing out for its high quality and unique taste is vital to stand out on a world stage. As quoted in Spirited:

“It’s all about balancing the mineral content we get from the South Island mineral water. We have a unique ingredient mix using an unusually high mineral water source, and then 'balancing' that by using a softer spring water. Broken Shed is all about the taste.”

The other New Zealand brand making a push to be recognised for its terroir-driven taste is Cardrona, made in the country’s Southern Alps. It markets itself on the use of water sourced from Mount Cardrona and barley sourced from the Canterbury plains.

Years Of Rebranding

It has to be said, these brands are not the first to focus on terroir to remind consumers of the craft that’s gone into their products. Perhaps the most high-profile brand to have done so is Belvedere, which launched its Single Estate Rye Series in 2017. The series features two distinct vodkasSmogóry Forest and Lake Bartężek, each named after the village of the rye's origin and crafted to capture the definitive essence of their respective terroirs. In fact, it was with this launch that the brand hoped to introduce the vodka industry to the notion of terroirs, which are usually reserved for wines nd champagnes.

Whether terroirs are discernible in the taste of a vodka or not, comes down to personal taste. But as vodkas are made up of so few ingredients, and brands are increasingly filtering products less in order to retain the character, it’s inarguable that brands are now cultivating distinct taste profiles designed to stand out. And more and more brands from markets across the world ware shouting about character, and working to have liquids that taste of something as well as somewhere.