Optimist Drinks, a Los Angeles-based non-alcoholic beverage company, just launched the first of its first ready-to-drink offering: the Cali Spritz. After over two years of research and development, mixing cocktails with some of the best bars and restaurants across the US, the result is a collection of riffs on the brand’s favorite “cocktails.”
The first of this collection, the Cali Spritz, launched on January 1. The canned beverages are free from alcohol and sugar, certified organic and made in Los Angeles from botanical ingredients, the company states.
“These are all riffs on the most popular cocktails that mixologists have been making using our original N/A spirits over the past 2.5 years,” said co-founders Tom Johnstone and Lisa Farr Johnstone in a news release. “People ask at every sampling and event if they could buy the cocktails we were serving ready-to-drink, so we were inspired to develop these greatest hits.”
Unapologetically LA
After its inaugural launch in 2021, Optimist’s four original spirits profiles draw inspiration from the varied landscapes of Los Angeles and its environs – salt-sprayed coastlines, verdant canyons and arid deserts – and the diverse cultures that make the city unique, according to the company website. The flavors are unapologetically “LA” and crafted using a complex blend of meticulously sourced and distilled ingredients.
The Cali Spritz with a Cali Twist
The company’s first RTD beverage, the Cali Spritz, takes their award-winning Cali Amaro spirit, a citrussy, herbal, woody blend that is reminiscent of a bitter, old-school Amaro but with a contemporary Cali twist, according to the company, and mixes it into a bittersweet, effervescent, non-alcoholic-spritz-cocktail.
Inspired by sunshine, citrus trees and the bitterness of LA traffic, the Cali Spritz is made with organic botanicals, including orange, pink grapefruit, mandarin, bay laurel and wormwood, and is best served over ice with a slice of orange, the company states. When developing the recipes for these RTD non-alcoholic cocktails, Optimist added extra botanicals recognized for their so-called adaptogenic properties, including ashwagandha and schisandra, both to enhance flavor and amplify the potential for these cocktails.
The new offering will soon be followed by other twists on the most popular drinks from Optimist’s repertoire using the remaining three blends: Smokey, Fresh and Bright for an Optimist cocktail to satisfy every palette, the company states.
The Cali Spritz will be available online and through select retailers in packs of 4 for $24.
