My brother sent me this, and I suspect he is just trying to mess with me. This isn't a seltzer, and it specifically says that it does not contain distilled spirits, so it's not a liquor or liqueur. This doesn't have vodka or wine or tequila. I don't know how to categorize this. I do see that it is not carbonated, and that would be good if this was a lemonade. Will it be good for whatever this is? I have no idea. I genuinely don't know what to expect, and maybe that's a good thing. There is no expectation level for it to disappoint.
As expected, there's no carbonation, but I do see some nucleation happening at the bottom of the glass. It's not much, but it's more than I expected. Regular water wouldn't do this. The color is a watered-down peach, but the aroma is very sweet strawberries. I'd like to say I'm looking forward to this, but I don't know what it's going to taste like, so I don't want to be that anticipatory.
First sip is not bad. It's pretty mild, and the strawberry infusion is working well. It is a tad sweet, and it seems to have a bend toward artificial sweetener. The can says that it is 130 calories per can, so I expected nothing but pure cane sugar to sweeten this. How can you use artificial sweetener and still manage to get 130 calories in this can? It's not even as if you're adding a whole bunch of alcohol, as the 4.4% ABV seems arbitrarily low. As I was looking at the can, I did, indeed, see that this uses stevia as well as sugar. I don't know why they need both. More importantly, they consider this a beer. I am looking at it, and this isn't beer. I have tasted it, and this isn't beer.
Tip-in has no carbonation, but that's not surprising, and the very sweet strawberry is almost sweet to the point of tartness, if there is such a thing. The middle finally shows me what this beverage exists for. The middle is incredibly refreshing with a sensual wateriness that mixes with the sweetness in a sublime and understated way that is particularly enjoyable. The finish has a little more strawberry with a little more sweetness and that stevia hanging on for the trail off.
Bottom Line: I had no expectations, and it met them.
2.75/5
