Alcohol’s best qualities without the headache
With its line of inventive concentrated quick spritz mixes, Citizen Spritz, a disruptive newcomer to the market, is redefining adult beverages and making moderation appealing and simple on a daily basis. With their complex and sophisticated flavors, these expertly made, yet easily served, beverages make a delightful aperitif that may be offered on-trade or savored at home. They pair well with sparkling or soda water.
As ardent foodies with a zest for life, we love a good cool beer or glass of wine, but we haven’t discovered many truly excellent, refreshing, alcohol-free options. We wanted to create a new beverage category because we have extensive experience developing food and drink brands for other businesses. Our goal was to balance intense flavors and vibrant natural ingredients with the elusive warm tingle found in the best alcoholic libations while using zero alcohol, low calories, and low sugar.
We needed something for the occasions when it’s too early to start drinking or for when we just wanted to abstain, not so much that we were looking to give up alcohol. Considering that we couldn’t be the only ones seeking a fulfilling “in-between” beverage thatwasn’t a compromise; instead, Mark and I worked to create our own using our extensive knowledge of food and flavor.
The taste and sensation of drinking Citizen Spritz has always taken precedence over its nutritional composition. In addition to delivering powerful, complex flavor bursts, we also wanted to take into account the growing trend of healthier living. Our purposeful use of plant extracts and chemicals allowed us to produce a drink that is naturally lower in calories and sugar than mocktails and cocktails.
Distinctive creativity and taste technology
The nearly forty natural ingredients that go into making Citizen Spritz are expertly blended and layered to give it the depth, complexity, and flavor profiles that are typically reserved for alcoholic beverages. We started off with four quick spritz recipes that offer a flavorful, sophisticated, yet approachable sipping experience. To serve, simply mix 175ml of soda or sparkling water, ice, and a 25ml measure of Citizen Spritz.
Our quick spritz mixes have a unique format that is enhanced by adding soda or sparkling water. Several variables went into creating this format. When it comes to storage and drink mixing capability, they are easy to use and useful for customers and retail establishments. A truly flavorful non-alcoholic cocktail can be made without using a variety of items, but there is still a theatrical element for the customer when they follow a straightforward procedure that results in a product’s color changing from the bottle to the finished drink.
From an environmental standpoint, Citizen Spritz is not only made using a unique and energy-efficient manufacturing process that includes efficient transportation, but it is also made from the ground up using a natural blend of plant compounds and extracts, which gives it an authentic taste, unlike many other non-alcoholic spirits that remove the alcohol through high-energy distillation.
Taste perception
To produce a flavor system that was nearly identical to real prosecco, the team spent more than two years investigating, creating concepts, and perfecting formulations. This invention served as the foundation for all Citizen Spritz recipes.
Some of the best proseccos available were dissected, and their primary flavor notes were determined. After several months of research and analysis of the effects of alcohol and fermentation on flavor depth and complexity, we created a novel product that, when added to soda water in teaspoon-sized doses, might transform it into prosecco!
Our understanding of the flavors that consumers would be drawn to served as the foundation for the team’s work on flavor trends. Bitter Orange, which has evolved into the brand’s hallmark spritz, was the first to take shape. Other flavors and formats are also in the works. Cool Lime, Pink Grapefruit, and Passion Fruit were the next to take shape.
What comes next?
Regarding the direction the brand is taking, we’ve seen that many believe that the selection of non-alcoholic drinks is a little monotonous and that there aren’t many opportunities to make adult non-alcoholic drinks with friends or when you come home from work. We are enthusiastic about the constantly expanding group of people who are reducing their alcohol consumption, thus we want to keep covering this market gap. Giving consumers additional options and making them feel good about enjoying a sophisticated drink that isn’t difficult to create or strive to be something it’s not are the main goals of Citizen Spritz.
We want everyone to have a fantastic time, whether or not they drink; we are not attempting to preach full abstinence. Instead, we will have a beer or glass of red wine when we feel like it. Everything in moderation, especially to appreciate the good moments and everything in moderation.
We’re concentrating on the retail and on-trade sectors right now because there is a lot of interest in these areas. We are also looking forward to introducing our line of RTD drinks later this year. We’ll keep changing as the no and low market expands and matures.
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Regarding the writer: Mike Bagshaw
Mike has always been interested in business, having started out selling Spitting Image toys on the playground as a young boy. He has 25 years of experience in both technical and marketing aspects of value-added components. In the present era, Mike is the pleased proprietor of I.T.S International Taste Solutions, a rapidly expanding flavor company in Europe. I.T.S., which he founded in 2009 at his dining room table, currently operates in 24 countries and employs 24 people in its Newbury, UK, headquarters. Additionally, Mike has made significant investments in SouqBox, a B2B digital marketplace that facilitates online trading between firms.
Co-founder of Citizen Spritz alongside his friend Mark and partners Lyns and Lou, Mike is enthused about the project.