Alcohol-infused whipped cream is among the more vile recent booze inventions, but that hasn’t stopped hard partiers from hitting the can, and it's just one example of how alcohol marketers
continue to reinvent their elixirs in new formats and flavors. Even if they don't seem all that appetizing to those with distinguished palates,
Jersey Shore wannabes are apt to give these latest innovations a fist-pump and a try.
Beer Concentrate: Beer, that nectar of frat boys, may come cheap, but its water weight and space-hogging volume make it less relevant to today's mobile lifestyle.
Pat’s Backcountry Beverages, a small Alaskan outfit overseen by namesake outdoor enthusiast Patrick Tatera, seeks to resolve that portability conundrum with its beer concentrate. Unlike most concentrate beverages, this unique craft brew is not formulated by making the beer then “removing” the water. Rather, its conservation-minded
Hybrid Brewing Technology uses almost no water, while also reducing fossil fuel consumption, pollution, and cost. To drink, one simply adds water and carbonates with Pat’s
proprietary thermos.
Vapor Cocktails: The
vaporizer has emerged as a must-have stoner appliance in the wake of
medical marijuana legalization, but a new take on the device positions it as part of the bartender’s toolkit as well.
Le Whaf is a new twist on the cocktail shaker that was developed by scientist David Edwards, who founded the Parisian incubator
Le Laboratoire. The modernist molecular gastronomy carafe, a spinoff of breathable chocolate product
Le Whif, converts cocktails into vapor. The flavor and alcohol content remain intact while the calories disappear into thin air. An ostensibly better option for dieters than even a
Skinny Girl Margarita, Le Whaf's first run is sold out.
Flavorless Alcohol: No matter how “clean” a vodka brand proclaims to be, its taste will never have the clarity of pure H20. New brand
Air offers those who like the buzz of a cocktail but not the taste an easy way to make the proverbial medicine go down, minus the usual saccharine mixers. The clear malt beverage is not just the boozy equivalent of
Crystal Pepsi, however. It’s produced through a patented process in which fermented malt is made colorless, odorless and flavorless. The resultant
“water-flavored” carbonated beverage has just 95 calories but with a 4% ABV, imbibers will need to remind themselves that it still packs a punch.
