New Drinks for the Club Crowd

Nowadays you can't seem to go to the bar just to get a good old fashioned drink. Alcohol is now being cut with huge doses of caffeine, or oxygen is being injected to add a little zip to this otherwise delicious depressant. Even beer isn't safe, as smaller 'cooler' versions are now available, touting everything from low-carbs to caffeine and berry flavor additives. So to guide you through all the skinny aluminum cans and funky 'single-serving' red wine bottles, we compiled a list of the some of the newer products on the market. And if you still like your beer from a brown bottle, don't worry. Sales may be down, but the traditional drinks are definitely here to stay.

What's with all the new products?
It seems that Zima hit the marketplace only a few short years ago, but since then the alcohol market has seen everything from wine-coolers to caffeine injected beer. Even the traditional glass beer bottle is under attack, with everything from Sapporo's sleek aluminum can, and smaller, more refined 'drink' sized bottles. They even have aluminum bottles now, which are supposed to keep your beer colder longer. But the main reason these drinks are changing, is because the customer is changing. Beer and alcohol sales have been sluggish in certain parts of the world, so marketing firms are trying to tap into the reasons why. Rather than creating new products, old favorites like beer and wine are getting makeovers, so that a new generation of drinkers will become interested and hopefully enjoy them.

Beer
Beer has been suffering from a few hangovers lately: the low-carb diet craze; and the increase in penalties for driving while impaired. The low-carb fad hit beer hard. Beer has always been associated with 'beer guts' and weight gain. The average light beer contains a whopping 100 calories, and a regular beer is usually in the 140-150 range. Carb counts are around 5 grams for light, and double that for regular. To put that in perspective, 30 minutes on a stepping machine will burn off about 200 calories.

Driving while impaired has become a serious issue in many North American cities, with the legal limit of alcohol consumption working out to about one drink per hour. This has had an impact on alcohol consumption in general, and beer in particular. Rather than going to a bar and swilling multiple drinks, patrons are being more selective and want something more "highbrow" for their one drink per hour ration. This means that beer has had to fight to compete with martinis and other up & comers. Here are a few things that have been done to beer to make it more appealing:

Packaging
- New aluminum containers have been devised. The aluminum bottle is supposed to keep beer cooler longer, and is produced by Iron City Beer (Pittsburgh Brewing Co.).

- Sleek new cans. Check out Sapporo's cool can, or the new mini-can by Labatt. The new size only holds about 10 ounces or 250 mls.

- Cool tricks - Guinness promises draft quality in every can, thanks to a little 'widget' that releases beer and nitrogen when the can is opened.

Additives
- The latest craze is to inject the beer with caffeine. Anheuser-Busch offers a version: B-to-the-E (BE). It contains caffeine, guarana and ginseng, and comes in berry flavors. Labatts also has their version of an infused beer "SHOK", which is also made with guarana, which is a natural source of caffeine; the beer actually has a fruity taste to it. Wine Wine drinking is on the rise, and movies like "Sideways" are only helping to increase sales. And let's not forget about the widely publicized studies that state that drinking a glass of wine every day is good for your heart, thanks to all those antioxidants and such. But most people don't want to order a whole bottle of wine when they go out to the bar, and not every pub has a good selection of wines by the glass. Enter the small wine bottle market - remember Henkel Troken?

Packaging
- For those who want 'wine in hand', the new bottles are equivalent to a glass of wine, roughly 187 ml in size.

- Don't let the fact that these wines are screw tops turn you off. A lot of premiere wines are about to start selling with twist off caps, due to the perfect seal you can obtain with a screw cap. The same goes for the small bottles, which would be difficult to open with a corkscrew anyway.

- There is wine available by the can. Check out Niebaum-Coppola's Sofia Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine, which is available in a single serving 187 ml size. If you have ever had a good bottle of white wine go bad or flat, then you might appreciate being able to get the same taste without opening a big bottle.

- Some wines even offer mini plastic bottles, which are lighter and less likely to break or be used as a weapon. Check out Arbor Mist's fruit-flavored 375 ml size bottle.

Gimmicks, Tricks & Additives
- Some companies are staring to capitalize on the single serving size for the wedding market. Rather than put large bottles on the table, 'private label' single serving bottles are placed at each seat, so the guests can drink them or take them home as a memento.

- Some sparkling wines even come with a straw attached. (seriously!)

- Mini bottles are a great way to sample more expensive wines, giving you a chance to check out a pricier wine without getting stuck with a large bottle of wine you dislike.

In Closing...
Even if you are not a 'drinker', chances are you have already ingested something that contains additives. Oxygenated water has been around for a few years now, and power drinks like Gatorade and PowerAde have been popular among athletes for a long time. So it may seem like a crazy idea to mix and match your favorite cocktail, but high octane drinks seem to be here to stay - thanks to companies like Red Bull. So drink up! Getting your caffeine and alcohol fix at the same time might save you the trouble of needing a cup of coffee before you head home for the night!