CULTURAL AFFINITY

Will other brewers join in? Should they? It’s likely many who were quick to join the hard seltzer trend — of which there were many — may be feeling a little burned. The products did not culturally land here in the UK, where the fast track of launches left consumers confused and unengaged and the perceived lack of flavour left little for drinkers to remember or set them apart from competitors.

Do hop waters stand a chance then? That very much depends on how brewers choose to market them. We are entering the era of the hard water, where brands are looking to piggyback on the purity of water and its health-halo with boozed-up products that straddle the line between naughty and nice (look out for a raft of hard still waters coming from the US). Hop waters are not that. And brands need to be careful to distance themselves from them. The key strength of hop waters

The key strength of hop waters lies in their ability to tap into a number of trends and patterns of consumer behaviour. Their full flavour, water base and lack of any alcohol whatsoever, puts them in a unique position to pitch themselves as suitable for a number of occasions that even alcohol-alternatives have never been comfortably able to do, from post gym to afternoon in the office.

Making Them A First Choice

Quality perceptions are key too. Whereas hard seltzers felt like a compromised choice, consumers educated by the craft beer movement understand hops. These building blocks of flavour have become a key way for them to navigate the plethora of new brews over the years. And their use here, in a way that arguably more fully displays their flavour versus a beer, is both intriguing and comfortingly familiar.

The key to their future UK success will be in brewers that do adopt them presenting them as the first choice in a consumer’s daily repertoire and leading on refreshment and flavour, rather than a compromise for when consumers are not drinking. Non-alc beers already answer that need quite neatly and very successfully.

No, instead — and perhaps counter intuitively — brands will have to present hop water as something distanced from, and quite unique from beer, if consumers are to understand the need for them, the moment to consume them and why they might be a choice above and beyond a non-alcoholic beer.

FRIVOLOUS FLAVOURS, SERIOUS PACKAGING

Does fun really mean low quality? Not anymore. A move away from botanicals and an increase in more playful flavours is currently dominating NPD across categories from tequila, to rum. But brand owners are keen to distance themselves from the low quality, high sugar connotations such explorations into fun flavours have previously gained a reputation for. And one way to signal that, is through their packaging.

Product trends, like cocktail trends, come in cycles. Rewind ten or so years ago and we were entering the period of molecular mixology. It was a time when no self-respecting bartender would be caught dead without a smoking cloche, a few bottles for fat washing on the back bar and a blow torch. Which to be fair, does sound like the ingredients of an interesting Saturday night cocktail bar. To be respected, it generally had to take this serious, sophisticated approach to its menu.

Products too have undergone a long period where sophistication and nuance ruled. From the addition of carefully thought through botanicals, to all-natural ingredients that have led on terroir, unusual combinations of flavour, or unique spins such as a focus on indigenous ingredients, teas, and complex aging processes, complexity has been the hallmark of a qualitydriven, considered approach.

A Period Of Playfulness

But just as bartenders are now knocking up drinks with foam bananas as garnishes, times have changed. We’re now entering a period of playfulness. Because when life gets too serious, the things we do for fun really have to deliver... well, fun. And in drinks, fun usually means flavour. From tequila to bourbon, categories that have thus far escaped a storm of me-too wacky flavour fads, are now joining in.

For fun flavours though, this isn’t the first go on the merry-go-round. Remember the dessert flavour fad in vodka? True it was more Stateside, but from birthday cake to whipped cream flavour, anything and everything sweet became a drink. On the other side of the spectrum, the pink gin trend has also been prolific over recent years, even if attempts to start a craze for other pastel hues such as violet, failed. We’re looking at you J J Whitley.

Though many of these products have enjoyed mainstream sales success, they’ve usually suffered from somewhat of an image problem when it comes to quality. From perceptions of being overly sweet, to frivolous packaging with cartoon fonts, dominant images of doughnuts, raspberries or whatever else, these products have generally been entirely devoid of the cues that consumers usually associate with carefully crafted, premium booze.