Welcome back to FTW’s Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.
Last year, Simply made the move from bowling pin-shaped plastic bottles of juice and lemonades to cigarette-jean aluminum cans of hard seltzer and made waves in an ever-expanding ocean. That set the stage for an encore.
Market trends in 2023 dictated it would be one of three things: tequila-based, hard tea or peach flavored. That middle option would have been a natural fit — look out, 2024 — but instead we got a sea of peach mixed with some Simply standbys.
That doesn’t mean the new lineup is just peach lemonade. In fact, this extension leaves its roots behind and there’s nary a drop of lemon in the entire lineup. Instead, we’re getting fizzy Georgia fruit with strawberry, mango and kiwi to fill out the sampler.
The company that forced its way into a crowded marketplace is at it again. Can the sequel live up to a well received debut?