The Weekly Sip is Food Dive’s column focused on breaking news in the fast-changing and growing beverage sector. From first product lines to big investments and controversial topics, this column aims to quench your thirst for developments in the category.
Diageo fuses Mexican and Irish flavours into churro-inspired Baileys.
The drinks brand known for its Irish Cream-flavored liqueur is using cinnamon pastry in its latest product.
Baileys Cinnamon Churros Irish Cream Liqueur, Debuted this weekAccording to the company, it is a new variation of the classic alcoholic drink, flavored with Irish cream, whiskey, cinnamon and vanilla.
The brand also shared cocktail recipes that consumers can create using the spirit, including a churro-flavored Irish Cactus that combines the liqueur with tequila, and a chocolate variety that adds Baileys chocolate liqueur.
This product is available in a limited-time 750ml bottle.
Baileys, first introduced in Ireland in 1974, was acquired by Diageo, the parent company of Guinness, Ireland’s largest alcohol exporter, in 2007. Since then, the company has expanded its core range to include a range of flavours including Original Irish Cream, Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Vanilla Cinnamon, Espresso Cream, Strawberries & Cream and Almond. Baileys flavours have also appeared in non-alcoholic products. coffee and Baking mix.
Originally from Spain and Portugal, churros are a popular baked good made with cinnamon and sugar. Restaurant menu appearances increased by 42%. According to data from J&J Snack Foods, between 2012 and 2022.
— Chris Casey
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Courtesy of Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy
Leinenkugel stretches like taffy.
Leinenkugel's love of sweets led him to enter the snack market.
The beer, owned by beverage giant Molson Coors, noted that saltwater taffy has long been a beach staple, and teamed up with Taffy Kitchen to reimagine the chewy treat to capture the feel of a day at the lake.
The pair created a tapioca made from a mixture of Leinenkugel's Summer Sandy and purified Great Lakes water.
“At Leinenkugel’s, we love to be creative and innovative, and Lakewater Taffy gave us the opportunity to literally expand our Summer Shandy into a new space,” Tony Bugher, president of Leinenkugel’s, said in a statement. “We had a lot of fun working with Taffy Kitchen to reimagine what a perfect day on the lake might taste like, and we think we’ve done just that with Lakewater Taffy.”
Leinekugel's Lakewater Taffy is made with beer, but the taffy contains no alcohol at all. The alcohol boils out of the taffy due to the high-temperature cooking process.
This snack isn't the first time Leinenkugel's has brought its popular beer line into another food category. Earlier this year, Leinenkugel's teamed up with Johnsonville to launch the Summer Shandy Beer Brat.
“These launches help breathe excitement and fresh energy into our iconic beers and introduce them to new beer lovers. “We’re very excited about this,” Leinenkugel told Food Dive in an email.
Summer Shandy is Leinenkugel's best-selling beer, and the Wisconsin brewery recently announced that it will be selling the previously limited-time beer year-round.
— Christopher Dohring
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Provided by Blaze Life Holdings
Blaze Mota Turns Beer into Cannabis at Michelada
The marijuana and ready-to-drink cocktail spaces are booming at the same time, with hundreds of new entrants flooding the market. One Los Angeles-based brand believes a new take on the classic Mexican cocktail could help satisfy both desires.
Blaze Mota has introduced a cannabis-infused version of their Mota'lada canned cocktail, which is a non-alcoholic version of the michelada. The drink contains 10 milligrams of THC and 2 milligrams of CBD, along with non-alcoholic Mexican lager, tomato, lime, and spice.
The launch follows the brand’s cannabis-based canned Michelada, which debuted in California dispensaries last year. The company did not specify whether the cannabis-based variety would be available nationwide.
Shreyas Balakrishnan, CEO of the brand's parent company, Blaze Life Holdings, said the goal of creating the product was to compete with alcohol-based micheladas.
“It took almost two years of development, as we worked to find the right non-alcoholic beer supplier and ensure the stability and compatibility of the emulsion in beverages with high particulate matter content,” Balakrishnan said. “Michelada is defined by consciousness, diversity and celebration, and we want to expand on those celebrations with a THC-infused product that tastes just as good as any other Michelada on the shelf.”
A Michelada is a dynamic drink that combines a variety of delicious ingredients, from beer, lime juice, chili powder, clam juice, and Worcestershire sauce.
— Chris Casey
