The Commercial Appeal - Go Memphis
Michigan brewery invents hard seltzer smoothie, and it’s delicious
It looks thick. It pours thick. It’s bold in color, but bolder in flavor.
These are not accurate descriptors when you’re talking about hard seltzers. Hard seltzer smoothies, on the other hand?
“It’s so full-flavored,” said Tommy Kennedy, owner of Ann Arbor-based HOMES Brewery. “A ton of fruit helps give it that body, and it tastes more full than I could have expected.”
Specifically, Kennedy is referring to Smooj, a line of hard seltzer smoothies unleashed by HOMES Brewery’s sister company, Troobado, making their way across beer stores and shelves throughout southern Michigan in recent weeks. It comes in the same slim 12-oz. can as White Claw, but packed with fruit.
Much more fruit. Instead of using artificial flavoring in the seltzer brewing process, which is what White Claw and a myriad of other companies churning out hard seltzers do, Troobado stuffs each batch with legit fruit, creating a bold, creamy drink that barely has any hints of alcohol in it, yet it’s 5% alcohol by volume.
“Heavily fruited beer styles are all the rage, seltzers are all the rage, the two together just seemed like a match,” Kennedy said.
HOMES, which specializes in heavily fruited beers, began discussions on hard seltzers in 2019, Kennedy said, but wanted to differentiate itself from the dozens of other brands trying to capitalize on the seltzer boom that started began that summer. It began experimentation on Smooj in March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and rolled out its first cans of Smooj — passion fruit — from the brew pub in June. Since then, it’s been a hit, selling out by the can in just hours at a time.
And it’s easy to see why. Smooj is delicious and unlike any other hard drink on the market, let alone seltzer. It’s noticeably creamier than most craft beers, bursting with fruit aroma and flavor, tarty but not too sour, and they go down smooth. You won’t be able to crush a Smooj like you will a White Claw, but you’ll savor it much more while still getting a buzz.
The Untappd community agrees, too; the popular beer rating app has Troobado at an average score of 4.56 out of 5 among nearly 5,000 ratings, which is sky-high for craft beer, let alone hard seltzer. By comparison, White Claw Seltzer Works has a 3.22 average score.
So what’s the catch? Maybe the calorie count, which is part of the appeal of hard seltzers. While White Claws, Trulys and other hard seltzer brands hover around the 100-calorie range per 12-oz. can, Smooj hovers between 240 calories in a can of strawberry banana to 297 in a can of piña colada, comparable to the fruit smoothies you find on grocery store shelves. That said, Smooj is gluten-free and lactose-free.
Here’s another quirk: Troobado suggests right on the can that you store Smooj “cold and upside down.” That’s because, with the heavy fruit content in the seltzer, it’s important to ensure the contents are mixed upon opening. And because the drink is carbonated, you can’t just shake the can (unless you’re looking to be covered in Smooj).
“We are just going out of our way to make sure it’s as mixed as possible,” Kennedy said.
Smooj sells for around $17.99 per 4pack. Folks in the metro Detroit area
should be able to find Smooj in Kroger stores by the end of the year but, otherwise, can find Smooj in select beer stores in southern Michigan. Though there are just two flavors in stores right now — strawberry banana and piña colada — Kennedy said more flavors are on the way.
Spirits of Detroit writer Brian Manzullo covers craft alcohol for the Free Press. Contact him: bmanzullo@freepress.com and on Untappd, bmanzullo and Twitter, @Brianmanzullo and @Spiritsofdet.