The Magic Solution?

MODSUB#63

Wotcha!

I really enjoyed chating with Michelle O’Brien on The Upward Spiral podcast a few weeks back.

We covered getting prepped for dealing with the holiday season when alcohol is all round us, with tips and tricks on positioning ourselves to be in control.

Plus we swapped our non-alcoholic drink favorites and thankfully the tape ran out before I bored her to death with my never-ending list.

Michelle has created a relaxed yet highly informative show with a wide variety of truly interesting guests covering so many important topics around mindful drinking.

It’s super cool and really worth subscribing.

Okay on to this week’s drinks. Enjoy!

In this week’s edition:

NAN
New NA Drink News

FUNCTIONAL SODA
Magic Cactus - Spiced Peach

SPIRIT
Hilfens - HopHit

Read time: 6 minutes 53 seconds

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NAN
New NA Drink News

NORTH AMERICA

• BITTERS: From two of my favourite people in this industry, All The Bitter and Zero Proof Nation have teamed up to collaborate on ATB’s first new permanent addition to their product line in a couple of years. The Cherry Coffee Blast will be out sometime around December 16! (Link)

• WINE: Michigan’s Mawby Winery have released a non-alc version of their best-selling Brut Rosé, Sex, amusingly calling it Safe Sex. There’s a stocking stuffer joke in there somewhere but I’ll leave that for others. (Link)

• COCKTAILS: Staying in Michigan, Long Road Distillers have launched a tasty-looking line of canned AF cocktails under the name Uncharted Zero-Proof Cocktails. (Link)

• SPIRITS: For those who like their drinks “Extra Spicy”, Three Spirits have put out a limited release Livener XS. (Link)

• WINE: Premium canned wine company Just Enough have expanded their line to include two new non-alcoholic wines: Brut Bubbles and Pinot Noir. (Link)

• WINE: Napa’s Tomorrow Cellars has launched its first two non-alcoholic wines: a 2023 Sparkling Blanc de Rhône and a 2023 Rhône Blanc. (Link)

• FUNCTIONAL: One from a month ago, Modern Alchemist launched three CBD/THC-infused non-alcoholic cocktails: Margarita, Jungle Bird and Citrus Spritz. (Link)

• COCKTAILS: Here’s a couple of RTDs that will be very popular this holiday: The Free Spirits Company have released an Espresso Old Fashioned and a Negroni. (Link)

WORLDWIDE

• WINE: News from Chile; Casillero del Diablo have debuted their first non-alcoholic offering called Zero, which will be available in the UK. (Link)

• WINE ALT: Also over in the UK, The REAL Co. have followed up their collab with Berry Bros. & Rudd with the introduction of their Small Batch Collection. First two out of the traps are Brut and Noir. (Link)

• SPIRITS: Talking of collabs, Botivo have 300 limited-edition bottles with labels designed by the artist Philip Colbert. (Link)

FUNCTIONAL SODA

ModSub: If you keep your ear to the ground on the business side of the beverage industry, you’ll know there’s been a lot of buzz about hemp-based functional sodas. Experts far smarter than me have already deemed them the next wave of drinks poised to disrupt the marketplace. The ripple effects are already being felt. And if the alcohol industry is only just starting to notice the non-alcoholic beverage market, the savvy players are likely already feeling the anxiety of what’s to come.

For Jonny Locarni, starting Magic Cactus, was born from personal tragedy and a glimpse of what could have been. I won’t do his story justice in a few short paragraphs but he does here if you want to read further. What followed was a mission to bring his solution to a wider audience, sparking a long and winding path toward creating a soda infused with cannabinoids extracted from low-THC hemp.

Despite ever-shifting legislation from state to state, his dream has become a reality. In October 2023, he introduced Lavender Raspberry and Watermelon Hibiscus to the market, and they quickly sold through. By March of this year, Spiced Peach debuted and has become a personal favorite of mine.

Each drink features a base of sparkling prickly pear cactus juice, along with potassium, magnesium, L-theanine, and a carefully balanced blend of hemp-derived cannabinoids: CBD (6mg), CBG (4mg), and a microdose of Delta-9 THC (2mg).

For some, this may not be a direction they’re comfortable exploring, and that’s perfectly understandable. But in a world where the term “functional drinks” often feels at times overstated, Magic Cactus delivers on its promise.

Of course, everyone experiences these effects differently, but for me, this soda stands out as one of the few that genuinely left me feeling relaxed. The founder’s goal was to replicate the effects of having a single drink, and I’d say he nailed it. It took the edge off without any of the negative side effects of drinking alcohol. Only once did I have a second can, and the most I felt was a slight spaciness that faded quickly.

All three flavors get the thumbs up, though it was the Spiced Peach that edged it for me. The fruit warmly emboldened by cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg—hold on a sec, is this a peach pie soda? 

Supermarket shelves are now filled with CBD drinks already, and there’s a wave of other low-dose hemp drinks entering the market with a consumer base that appears to be welcoming them with open arms. It’s no wonder then the beverage industry looks like it is one verge of significant change. 

How does Magic Cactus describe their Spiced Peach: The same infusion that you've come to expect from a single can of Magic Cactus: 2mg of THC to ease the tension, 4mg CBG to brighten your mood, and 6mg CBD to loosen the nerves.

These drinks are packed with real, functional ingredients. Magic Cactus possesses a base of real sparkling cactus water sourced from the highest quality prickly pear cactus in the Southwest United States and Mexico. Every can contains l-theanine, a natural adaptogen from green tea, to inspire tranquility for the modern mind, magnesium to regulate the brain & body, and potassium to replenish. 

All cannabinoids are derived from natural hemp with less than 0.3% THC. (For the full description click here.)

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SPIRIT

ModSub: One of the things I love most about following the non-alcoholic drink industry is that every week, there’s something unexpected hitting the market. That’s the beauty of an industry in its infancy—innovation is around every corner.

So when, out of nowhere, a new beverage company, Hilfen, announced they were debuting HopHit, more than a few people exclaimed, “Wait, what now?”

For Kyle Coogan, the journey to creating HopHit began with a life-changing diagnosis of a serious illness and the arrival of his first child. These events prompted him to reevaluate his relationship with alcohol. While exploring the many NA options available, it was the flavor of hops that he kept coming back to. Despite the variety of non-alcoholic IPAs and hop waters on the market, Kyle found they lacked the versatility of a spirit—the ability to craft the drink you truly want.

Thus, HopHit was born: a hop oil-heavy spirit designed to adapt to whatever your imagination can conjure up—a seltzer infusion or either the base or the mixer to all manner of different cocktails. There really are no rules with this spirit. You get to make them. 

A quick dive into Hilfen’s recipe collection showcases HopHit’s versatility. Adding it to plain seltzer reveals its core flavors: the unmistakable hoppiness, a subtle herbal flair, a faint hint of menthol, and a whisper of citrus.

The Cucumber Basil Fizz, was the only recipe of the three I tried, that pushed the hop flavor into the background. It didn’t disappear entirely but instead provided a complex backdrop for the gin, cucumber, lemon, and basil to shine. It was quite lovely.

The real star of the show, though, was the Hop, Spritz, and Jump. Despite recently picking up an Italian spritz during a New York trip, I wasn’t quite ready to open it. Instead, I opted for Pentire Coastal Spritz, which played the role of both the spirit and the seltzer in the recipe. The result was nothing short of extraordinary. While I don’t typically keep a top-five cocktail list, if I did, this would’ve just earned a spot. Here both drinks mix majestically retaining their individual profiles but warmly matching up to each other like love at first sight—hops wrapped around blood orange, rosemary and oakwood. Dang, it’s insanely good!

Experimentation is really what HopHit was designed for. It's what makes this new spirit, mixer, call it what you will, so exciting. Not only because fans of hops now have a way to create their own unique flavors but also because it reflects a larger picture of what is emerging in this industry. One of innovation, of creativity and endless possibilities. 

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. We’re at the beginning of some exciting times. 

How does Hilfen describe HopHit: Hilfens™ HopHit™a non-alcoholic botanical spirit and beverage infusion—is a more versatile alternative to hopped sparkling water, allowing you to infuse your own seltzer water with the perfect amount of delicious hop flavor.

Made with pure hop oil extract, every bottle of HopHit™ contains huge hop flavor in each of its 30+ servings of concentrated beverage infusion to refreshingly hop-infuse any carbonated beverage, or for enjoying as a unique addition to any cocktail or mocktail.

READS + WATCHES
Last Week’s Edition + Other Suggestions

Congratulations to RSRV (previously featured in the ModSub back in August) for making the menu at the recent The James Beard House “Beard By The Books” Dinners in NYC.

And finally a little fun from the Holderness family. I’m sure we can all relate.