The Boss and the Apéritif

Wotcha!

Not sure what happened with the email platform last week, but for some reason 75 readers didn’t receive last week’s issue.

If you were one of those who missed the interview with Amanda Chen, founder of Tomonotomo, you can check it out here.

Anyway, as always—enjoy some great drinks this week.

Myles

In this week’s edition:

NAN
New NA Drink News

COCKTAIL
Suze - Tonic 0%

CRAFT SODA
Brause - Date x Malt

Read time: 6 minutes 00 seconds

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WINE: Exclusive to the U.S., BOLLE launch Rosé, made entirely in the Golden State. (Link)

FUNCTIONAL: Vibes Beverages open their doors with three functional drinks next month. (Link)

BEER: Chicago’s Revolution Brewing releases Anti Zero NA IPA. (Link)

FUNCTIONAL SPIRIT: Also brand new, Twofold Spirits are launching six low-dose hemp-derived THC spirits for your cocktail-making pleasure. (Link)

COCKTAILS: The ever-industrious Little Saints have a new RTD: Classic Spritz. Mine arrived in the mail today! (Link)

BEER: Hot on the heels of last week’s new wines, ABV Beverage have Particle Theory, an oatmeal stout. (Link)

COCKTAIL

ModSub’s thoughts: It’s hard to put a number on just how many French aperitifs there are out there. Dozens for sure—at least 77 according to this guide—and likely many more than that in towns, villages and recipes swapped amongst friends and neighbours. One standout that has remained popular across France for well over a century is Suze.

I first found out about Suze when I worked for someone called Suze. I just happened to be at a car boot sale in the Loire Valley one summer and saw a quite lovely ashtray with “Suze” inscribed upon it. Tickled by what I had found, and completely in the dark about what the “Suze” on the ashtray referred to, I brought it home to my boss. She laughed, said thank you, and walked over to a cabinet, pulling out a brown bottle with a gorgeous, playful label. It was then I found out that Suze was not only my boss, but also a French aperitif company started all the way back in 1889.

Like many aperitifs at the time, Suze was initially marketed for its digestive and medicinal benefits. The drink’s distinctive bright yellow hue comes from its predominant ingredient—wild gentian root—and its bittersweet flavour quickly made it a hit in Parisian cafés. It even became the subject of a Glass and Bottle of Suze by Pablo Picasso in 1912. For decades, the aperitif had an enthusiastic following across the country. However, it wasn’t until a 1965 acquisition by Pernod Ricard, which gave Suze significantly greater distribution reach, that word of the bittersweet yellow aperitif spread to other countries on the continent. It finally made it to the U.S. around 2012 and enjoyed a surge in popularity by replacing Campari in White Negroni recipes.

But that’s the alcohol version. In January of last year, Suze announced they were launching an RTD non-alcoholic version: Suze Tonic 0%, one of the most popular ways the regular version of Suze is served beyond just a neat pour. The even better news was that it was coming over to the States.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about Suze Tonic 0%, having not seen it stocked in any of my usual haunts or on my travels. Last month, though, I found myself in a coffee shop attached to a hotel in Seattle, and there in the fridge was a bottle of the cocktail. I wasn’t able to contain my excitement at the find and, let’s just say, heads turned.

But boy, was it worth the wait. First off, they weren’t kidding about the yellow—you could light up a room with its brightness. The flavours are heavily herbaceous and earthy, with a citrus note that falls somewhere between orange and grapefruit, and a sweetness that points to honey.

But it’s the bitterness that will really blow you away. Not only does it not ebb away once you swallow—it actually intensifies, like a wash flowing through your mouth, introducing itself to every nook and cranny, coating your chops, and ensuring your taste buds don’t forget what you’re drinking between sips.

It’s definitely not going to be for everyone. If bitterness is not really your thing, then definitely steer clear. But if you’re like me, and a wallop of bitterness is your friend, you’ll find it in Suze Tonic 0%. As I say, prepare to be blown away in all the right ways.

How Suze describes Suze Tonic 0%: The refreshing and inimitable bittersweet taste of Suze Tonic, now without alcohol.

PURCHASE INFO: While Suze Tonic 0% is absolutely fabulous, the Suze website is pretty but pretty useless. It gives no information about which outlets stock the cocktails or to buy it directly. Your best bet is to do an online search and see if you can find somewhere local to buy it. There are options to ship from various wine merchants, or you may just have to stumble across it like I did. It’s worth hunting down, but they certainly haven’t made it easy!

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CRAFT SODA

ModSub’s thoughts: The Germans have been putting out their own versions of sodas for over a hundred years. Brands like Club-Mate, Spezi, and more recently Fritz-Kola, thrived by initially appealing to subcultures that valued lifestyle marketing and independence from mainstream colas before, of course, inevitably becoming mainstream themselves.

Last year, Utah’s Brause brought the concept of German craft sodas to the U.S., launching three SKUs—Sparkling Apple, Apple x Malt, and the one I’ve just cracked open, Date x Malt. Let me tell you, you probably haven’t had anything like this. I certainly hadn’t.

So what is it? Well, it’s a beer that wants to be a soda. Or perhaps it’s a soda that wants to be a beer. It pours like a stout with, frankly, quite an enviable head. It even tastes like a stout, with good mouthfeel, chocolate and coffee notes, and a pleasant breadiness from Bavarian wheat malts. But it also has date syrup in the mix, which sweetens it beyond your average stout and pushes it towards a cola, never straying too far from the beer idea, but enough to make you think, “Hold on a minute!”

What Date x Malt actually is, is Brause’s version of a Malzbier, traditionally brewed as a beer with added caramel sugar, swapped out in this case for date syrup. In Germany, Malzbiers have historically been a Kinderbier enjoyed by children, but Date x Malt feels like nothing but a drink for grown-ups. It’s a truly intriguing drink—a confident replacement for a non-alcoholic dark beer, albeit one with a sweet soda twist.

Sometimes you don’t need to feel the need to conform to being one thing or another, and with Date x Malt, why not just enjoy twice the fun?

How Brause describes Date x Malt: Brause Date x Malt is an award-winning premium non-alcoholic German craft beverage, 100% made in the USA. Rooted in century-long European tradition, it combines roasted coffee notes with caramel chocolate flavors for a bold, elevated taste reminiscent of a stout or porter. Made with purely natural sweetness and 5 clean, honest ingredients, Brause delivers a uniquely refined alternative to ordinary soft drinks with an ultra-premium feel and smooth, satisfying finish.

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