Summer is coming, it’s time to break out our favorite boozy treats.
The SLIQ Spirited Ice’s Whiskey Frozen Cocktails are a great way to stay cool with three unique flavors—apple, ginger, and cola. Crafted with barrel-stored bourbon, these hard pops are gluten-free, vegan and kosher and have less than 100 calories and 8% ABV per pop!
We asked Gavin Wegner, Senior Brand Manager to tell us more about the latest flavor launch for SLIQ Spirited Ice.
Tell us about SLIQ’s Whiskey- the latest launch.
SLIQ’s Whiskey Frozen Cocktails are the first Whiskey-based pops to market—joining the core product lineup alongside our Rum, Agave, and Vodka-based offerings. Infused with premium barrel-aged bourbon, each naturally flavored pop delivers 8% ABV at only 90 calories. Putting a new-fashioned twist on a classic spirit, the variety pack contains an assortment of three popular highball flavors – Apple, Ginger, and Cola – ensuring there’s a frozen cocktail choice for all taste buds out there. Launching into select retailers nationwide, including Walmart, and available online beginning in April, SLIQ Whiskey will be promoted heavily through digital media/creators and major partners like Barstool Sports.
What is the inspiration for whiskey SLIQ’s?
When we launched with Rum, Agave, and Vodka packs in 2021, we always knew a Whiskey offering would be our next innovation. With this spirit booming in the market, it made all the more sense to capitalize on the consumer demand with an alternative consumption format. There also hasn’t been anything like this released within the RTF category, so we wanted to be the first mover here. As noted already, this new pack fully rounds out our portfolio of options for consumers to choose their preferred pack based on their respective spirit tastes and interests.
What about the different flavors?
Instead of going down the path of developing more ‘high end’ whiskey cocktails like an Old-Fashioned or Manhattan in a frozen format, our intent was to keep things simple yet refreshing. No whiskey cocktail fits that mold better than a highball. So we chose three of the most popular highball cocktails – a Whiskey Cola, Whiskey Apple, and Whiskey Ginger – to include in this new pack.
What should bartenders know about the brand?
SLIQ is not here to replace the wonderful work bartenders do by any means! SLIQ serves as an alternative way to imbibe, primarily in an at-home setting when taking out a blender and gathering all the ingredients to DIY an icy drink feels too laborious. Our intention from the start has always been to offer high-end frozen cocktails infused with top-shelf spirits and flavors that are delicious and conveniently prepared. Our full portfolio of trending options backs this up: Vodka-infused Lemonade, Cranberry & Grapefruit, and Blue Raspberry; Agave-infused Classic Margarita, Strawberry Margarita, and Mango Margarita; Rum-infused Strawberry Daiquiri, Coconut & Lime Daiquiri, Pineapple Daiquiri; Whiskey-infused Apple, Cola, and Ginger.
How can bartenders use SLIQ’s behind the bar?
Although establishing an on-premise presence for SLIQ has been limited to date, we have been amazed by the ways that bartenders have embraced SLIQ and gotten creative with their inclusion of the pops in existing and new drinks. This has ranged from using a pop as a floater in a small or large format beverage or even taking different flavors and leveraging them as the base ingredient to make unique daiquiri or margarita fusions. We have also seen places have great success selling the pops individually or in buckets à la seltzers and beers. The opportunities to include SLIQ on menus are truly endless, and we can’t wait to see what bartenders will whip up next with SLIQ!
Talk a bit about the background of the brand.
As the category leader of frozen novelties for over 60 years, our parent company, Jel Sert, has always ideated around different extensions of the format, including infusing alcohol into them for the enjoyment by a 21+ consumer. As we began to see nostalgic products become more popular and modern, ready-to-drink cocktails and seltzers surge, we believed it was time to turn the idea into a reality by putting an icy twist on these trends. After multiple years of branding, packaging, and formula development work, our own ‘baby’, SLIQ Spirited Ice, was born last year.
Just a year old, SLIQ is now the fastest-growing premium frozen cocktail brand that delivers unmatched variety, taste, and innovation within the exploding RTF category. We quickly established a national retail footprint in year 1 with distribution at chains such as Walmart and Albertsons, making the products available to shoppers from coast-to-coast. SLIQ’s variety of pop options were developed using only premium spirits – 7x distilled vodka, 100% blue agave spirit, Caribbean white rum and barrel-aged bourbon – to deliver a premium taste. Most importantly, consumers appreciate SLIQ being able to replicate a professionally-made frozen margarita, daiquiri, vodka or whiskey cocktail in a shelf-stable, enjoy-at-your-leisure pop format – no blender required! The variety of spirits we offer also permits enthusiasts of all backgrounds to pick and choose their preferred pack, catering to different taste buds. Each naturally flavored frozen cocktail comes perfectly portioned with the right amount of sweetness, 8% ABV, 100 calories or less, and a vegan friendly, kosher, & gluten-free ingredient list – all in a recyclable package via TerraCycle.
The post Summer Obsession: Whiskey Ice Pops appeared first on Chilled Magazine.
Source: Mixology News
