Listen, here’s the deal: I love coffee. I drink it throughout the day and will continue to do so even as the summer months practically beg for me to do otherwise. “Please don’t!” the 100+ heat pleas. “Shut it!” I respond, the hot coffee going from my mouth to my pores and turning into steamy sweat. I drink hot coffee, consequences be damned! But even as I run headlong into the dog days, three Chemexes to the wind, I can’t help but crave a cold, refreshing counterbalance. Luckily, the folks at Rishi Tea & Botanicals have released their brand new line of ready-to-drink Sparkling Botanicals, just in time for me to sneak into a public pool and use as a mixer.
Debuted officially today, Monday, March 3rd, Sparkling Botanicals is Rishi’s first foray into the ready-to-drink market. Per the press release, the new RTD line has been in the works for three years, “formulated for flavor and function.” That function presumably being quaffing and quenching. There are “no powders, no extracts, no added sugar, no new wave hype. Just real plants with real virtue.”
Per Joshua Kaiser, president and founder of Rishi, the new RTD lineup comes, in part, as a response to how folks are choosing to consume their tea these days, and it bears a striking resemblance to that of coffee:
People love our teas but have less and less time to brew them. Tea drinkers are moving to bottled and canned teas to save their time but have few options that offer premium botanicals and high-end teas brewed without added sugar, sweeteners or acidic preservatives. Our new line of Sparkling Botanicals elevates RTD with craft brewing and meets this demand for real plants with real virtue.
Sparkling Botanicals currently comes in a whopping six flavors: two caffeinated—Black Lemon and Dandelion Ginger—and four non-caffeinated—Grapefruit Quince, Patagonia Maqui, Schisandra Berry, and Turmeric Saffron. Hibiscus, yuzu, and quince? Wild foraged maqui and red wine grape skins?! Forest grown Schisandra berry!?! What even are these and why don’t have I them all right now?
The answer, Self from a paragraph ago, is that you can! Sparkling Botanicals has signed on to be in retailers in Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Austin, Denver, and Milwaukee. For the rest of the thirst-addled world, Sparkling Botanicals will be available for purchase this spring from their official website. And if you are indecisive, Rishi is also putting out a sampler 12 pack, which will also be available via their website.
I have to say, these new Sparkling Botanicals are a godsend. After the loss of the gone-too-soon Sparkling Cold Brews from Stumptown, I wasn’t sure how my summers would ever get on. But now I know. It’s Sparkling Botanicals. And gin, in my Sparkling Botanicals. Let’s do this, summer!
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
Top image via Rishi Tea & Botanicals
Disclosure: Rishi is an advertising partner with the Sprudge Media Network
