Remember back when hard seltzer was a new and novel concept? Thanks to White Claw and Truly, the idea of combining carbonated water with alcohol has spread like wildfire, to the point that all of the options start to blur together.
So how do you stand out from the crowd when every seltzer company and beer brand is busy pumping out their own iteration of hard seltzer? You add pickles.
Yes, it's true: despite its origins as a 2020 April Fools' joke, hard seltzer brand Crook & Marker joined forces with BrüMate to bring the Afternoon Dillight Hard Pickle Seltzer to life. It's a real thing you can actually buy and drink. Summer 2021 is looking up.
Offering a "one-of-a-brine pickiliscious experience," Afternoon Dillight "packs a crunch (and a buzz)" in the form of boozy pickles, with each can weighing in at an even, drinkable five percent ABV. Each can also weighs in at 100 calories and zero sugar, because who the heck wants to drink a sugary pickle anyway.
This is hardly the only time pickles and booze have partnered up. Anyone who's spent a little time in the right kind of (dive) bar probably has experienced the glory of a pickleback shot, which involves chasing whiskey with a briny blast of pickle juice. In effect, Afternoon Dillight simply streamlines that process by combining the alcohol and pickle juice into one sippable concoction.
While the world might be a better place if we had universal access to pickle-flavored hard seltzer, it seems like Crook & Marker and BrüMate (aka Crook'dBru) only intend to sell 10,000 12 packs, set to drop sometime this summer. If pickly booze sounds like something that'd tickle your fancy, you can sign up to get more info.
So after a year to forget, re-enter society with a pickle-flavored hard seltzer in hand. At the very least, it'll be more fun than your thousandth White Claw.