Food & Drink

Review: Hardwood Spiked Seltzer Bitter Citrus

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Hardwood Spiked has primarily created a cocktail that inverts the function of components the place the bitters are featured entrance and heart and the spirit and fruit are mere accoutrements. These 100 calorie seltzers use a corn whiskey base that “extracts 8 natural botanicals previous to oak barrel growing older… balanced with natural maple syrup, although dry not candy. All pure and no chemical substances or preservatives.” The bottom whiskey is undeniably the herbal-flavored whiskey The Original Brodsky which was launched in 2016 and reviewed right here at Drinkhacker.

Per the corporate’s web site, the inspiration behind Hardwood is outwardly as a consequence of most laborious seltzers not being “laborious” sufficient, i.e. they aren’t bitter sufficient versus not having sufficient of a buzzy punch: An attention-grabbing conundrum to have recognized as an underserved market within the ready-to-drink cocktail sector. An alternate genesis story is one launched by Marc Brodsky himself, the physician who formulated the drink and one of many 4 founders, leaning extra closely in the direction of tapping into the well being advantages of the assorted botanicals. Particularly, the supposed purposes of the concoction is to deal with signs of purposeful gastrointestinal problems (FGIDs; sure, it’s a factor) by selling digestive secretions, soothing digestive discomfort and selling “gastric motility.” (Did I point out this was formulated by a health care provider?) The important thing botanicals embrace bitter orange, dandelion, yarrow, cinnamon, ginger, fennel, and angelica.

Let’s see how all this unfolds.

The coloring is barely barely muddied by the whiskey. The nostril is much like jalapeño — each the scent and the acidic hit to the nostrils. The palate is certainly bitter, however it presents far more complexity than simply citrus rind (which is current). Earlier than confirming the components, I catch rosemary, turmeric, ginger, lemongrass, and basil. It’s general slightly woodsy and grassy, however not disagreeable. As a fan of bitterness, I slightly loved this drink and suppose it will make a pleasant digestif after over-indulging on vacation meals. It may also be an efficient palate cleanser. The trace of maple syrup right here does certainly come off as extra dry than candy, and appears to be used much less as a sweetener and extra to melt the bitterness of the botanicals and herbs.

This can be a bit a lot for some drinkers, although I can see it rising on you over time. For some it might be too “laborious,” however that appears to be what they have been after. Based mostly on our preliminary expertise with The Authentic Brodsky, that is in all probability the very best thought going in the case of ingesting the whiskey.

4.5% abv.

A- / $10 per 4-pack of 12 oz cans / hardwoodspiked.com

Hardwood Spiked Seltzer Bitter Citrus Taste

$10

Score


9.0/10

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