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    shaking it up

    2 buzzy Houston breweries shake up seltzer market with crisp new options

    Eric Sandler
    Jan 4, 2021 | 1:05 pm
    Buffalo Bayou Brewing seltzer 6 pack
    Hibiscus gives Buff Brew's seltzer a pink hue.
    Courtesy of Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company

    Two Houston-based breweries have joined the growing seltzer market. Both Buffalo Bayou Company and Karbach Brewing Co. have new offerings that have recently hit store shelves.

    Buff Brew’s Summer Street Hibiscus Lime Hard Seltzer takes its inspiration from a jamaica agua fresca. Using hibiscus gives the beverage a neon pink color, while puréed lime gives it a citrus pop. At just 5-percent alcohol-by-volume, it’s easy to knock down a couple without suffering the same repercussions as a Scotch Ale or other, heavier brew.

    Karbach, the locally founded brewery acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2016, sought inspiration from the popular Ranch Water cocktail for its seltzer. Made with blue agave and lime, the Ranch Water seltzer mimics the drink’s flavors without the use of tequila or other spirits.

    “Something that took a long time for us to get just right was creating a super clean finish devoid of any aftertaste,” Karbach marketing manager David Graham said in a statement. “Our Ranch Water lets the agave and lime really shine without any artificial flavors. It is incredibly refreshing and we know folks are going to really enjoy kicking back on a hot afternoon with a Ranch Water or two.”

    The easy-drinking seltzer contains 90 calories per can and comes in at a low 4.5-percent ABV.

    Both the Buff Brew and Karbach drinks enter a crowded but growing market. Led by White Claw and Truly, the market grew more than 200 percent in 2019, according to data compiled by the IWSR, which tracks global sales of beer, wine, and spirits.

    Consumers like the seltzers because they're easy to drink. Each can typically has less than 5-percent ABV, is gluten-free, and only contains around 100 calories.

    That success has triggered a flood of bubbly competitors. Coca-Cola announced that Topo Chico would bring its own hard seltzer to America in 2021. Texas favorite Shiner introduced its Straight Shooter seltzer last summer.

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    a martini experience

    Posh Houston seafood spot stirs up 2 over-the-top $100 caviar martinis

    Eric Sandler
    May 20, 2026 | 3:20 pm
    Truluck's martinis
    Courtesy of Truluck's
    Diners have the choice of either a gin or vodka martini.

    A Houston seafood restaurant has added some extra luxury to its martini offerings. Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood & Crab, the Galleria-area restaurant known for its steak and crustaceans, recently added two different $100 martinis to its menu, as well as a significantly less expensive way to zhuzh up its cocktails with caviar-stuffed olives.

    Dave Mattern, Truluck’s partner and beverage director, tells CultureMap that he wanted to build an experience around the trend of martinis garnished with caviar-stuffed olives that he’d seen on social media. He began tinkering with two cocktails, a vodka martini made with Belvedere 10 and a gin martini made with Nolet’s Reserve, which retails for around $700 a bottle.

    “When someone orders a martini, we hand-stuff four olives with caviar, and then we put them in a cute, little porcelain bathtub. Then we wheel the cart to the table and stir a vodka martini. We have a bottle of Belvedere 10 that lights up. It makes for a really nice experience,” Mattern says.

    Similarly, the gin martini is presented with blackberry, a lemon twist, and other garnishes that highlight the different botanicals used in distilling the spirit.

    Truluck's martinis Each martini is served with four caviar-stuffed olives.Courtesy of Truluck's

    Truluck’s goes all out for its hand-stuffed caviar olives, too. The restaurant uses extra-large Spanish olives that, in Mattern’s words, “soak up a lot of caviar.” So much that Truluck’s uses a full ounce of caviar for every six olives.

    “You get a burst of caviar when you bite into the olive,” he says.

    Each of the $100 martinis comes with four caviar-stuffed olives. Diners can add an olive or two at an à la carte price of $10 for one olive. “It’s almost a little appetizer when you think about it,” Mattern says about the four olives that come with each martini.

    Currently, the offering is only available at Truluck’s location on Westheimer. Since Mattern is the company’s beverage director, he’s hearing from colleagues at other locations who want to add it to their menus.

    “I’m trying to figure out how to take it to every location so we do it right and use the freshest of caviar,” he says. “When you waste caviar, an angel cries in heaven. We have to make sure we’re using it all.”

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