Photo courtesy of PRESS
As the old proverb goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and so it was for Amy Walberg, founder of PRESS premium low-alcohol seltzer. “I had trouble finding a premium product that really spoke to flavor profiles and delivered an elevated experience,” she says. “I wanted something low in calories, low carb and low sugar, but that first and foremost tasted good.”
Photo courtesy of PRESS
Amy Walberg, founder of PRESS premium low-alcohol seltzer
Being a single mom with two small children, Walberg notes she often has to “jump back into mom mode at any minute,” so she also wanted something lower in alcohol by volume (ABV); PRESS has just 4% ABV per 12-ounce serving. She started working on the product in 2015, turning her Fox Point kitchen into a mixology lab. She muddled different flavors and experimented with a SodaStream, a gadget that turns tap water into fresh sparkling water. “I used to travel abroad quite a bit, and I experimented with flavors influenced by those travels.” As a foodie, she also wanted a beverage that didn’t dictate meal pairings and could be enjoyed with a variety of entrées.
Her first flavor was Pomegranate Ginger, one of the four flagship flavors. The others are Blackberry Hibiscus, Lime Lemongrass and Grapefruit Cardamom. Rotating seasonal varieties include Pear Chamomile, which was released in spring, and Apple Cinnamon for the fall and winter seasons. An additional winter flavor, which couldn’t yet be divulged at press time, will be announced later this month.
The name PRESS is derived from a beverage Walberg drank during her college years—the vodka press, which balances alcohol with seltzer and a hint of sweetness. All four flagship varieties pack very pronounced, refreshing pops of flavor into just 110 calories. “I taste every batch going out and make sure the flavors are spot on. When you’re dealing with only 110 calories, there’s not a lot of room to hide,” she says.
Enjoying a Spiked Seltzer Boom
Walberg just happened to catch an alcohol seltzer wave. This fairly new beverage category picked up as the hard soda craze began to fizzle. Walberg notes there’s still some misconceptions about low-alcohol hard seltzer, such as people equating it to sweeter hard sodas or confusing PRESS with other low-alcohol seltzers made by large beverage companies that have lines of beer or beverages in other categories.
The low-alcohol seltzer category is exploding because it is so fluid, Walberg observes, and it attracts people who also enjoy beer, wine and spirits, as well as people who generally don’t drink because they don’t like the taste of alcohol. “People are also drinking differently now. Before, people would save up for a Friday night after a long work week, but now, people are drinking in a different way—drinking at soccer games or while making dinner, or on the patio with the kids when friends are over,” she says. PRESS can be enjoyed alone or used in cocktail recipes.
Despite being a small, woman-owned company, or the “David” in what Walberg refers to as the “David and Goliath” beverage market, PRESS has enjoyed much word-of-mouth success. It’s now available in 41 states and has received accolades in food and beverage publications like Chowhound and Martha Stewart Living. It’s available in 12-count variety packs, six-count single flavor packs and 16-ounce individual cans at area retailers including Outpost Natural Foods, Glorioso’s, Ray’s Discount Liquor, Meijer’s and Woodman’s.
For more information, visit enjoypress.com.
