who needs white claw?

Houston's oldest craft brewery shakes up flavorful new line of hard seltzers

Saint Arnold Superfine hard seltzer variety pack

Find Superfine in stores beginning Monday, March 29.

Courtesy of Saint Arnold Brewing Company

Not even Houston's oldest craft brewer can resist the growing hard seltzer market. Saint Arnold Brewing Company will release Superfine, a lineup of four hard seltzer flavors, on Monday, March 29.

Despite the new category, the product is still made to Saint Arnold's typical standards. All four flavors use natural ingredients such as black currant, passion fruit, tangerine, lemon, and orange peels to provide drinkers with bright, fruit-forward flavors.

The product still meets drinkers' expectations for hard seltzer by having a low, 4.5-percent ABV, zero grams of sugar, two grams of carbs, and 95-calories per 12-ounce can. Variety packs will be available in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth beginning on Monday, with distribution to Austin, San Antonio, and Louisiana coming in May.

“We focused on achieving the highest quality and taste while maintaining low calorie and carb counts,” Brock Wagner, Saint Arnold's founder and head brewer, said in a statement. “It was challenging and there was a steep learning curve, especially since our process is different from other seltzers on the market. The end results make all the hard work worth it.”

The four flavors consist of: Mimosa Morning, made with passion fruit and orange peel; Berry Lounge, made with black currant, lime juice, lime peel, and tangerine; Sangria Sunset, made with black currant, passion fruit, and orange peel; and Lemon Drop, made with lemon juice, lemon peel, and tangerine.

“Since I’ve been with Saint Arnold, and even before me, we’ve been adamant about using real ingredients,” brewing innovation manager Aaron Inkrott added. “No extracts or ‘natural flavors.’ We feel using real fruit truly represents its character in the beverages we make.”

That Saint Arnold would want to enter the seltzer market shouldn't come as a surprise. As beverage writer Bryan Roth noted in a recent Twitter thread, the category has absolutely exploded. Americans have already bought more seltzer in the first three months of 2021 than they did in all of 2018 (h/t @beer_chris).

The trend shows no signs of slowing down. A Topo Chico-branded seltzer from Molson Coors will also debut on Monday. Locally, both Karbach Brewing and Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company have already released their own seltzers.

craft-beer drinks

when I dip, you dip

Heights restaurant's new lunch service will only offer 1 sandwich

Courtesy of La Lucha

La Lucha will begin serving French dips on Friday, June 12.

If a sandwich hall of fame existed, one of its plaques would surely be devoted to the French dip. Its combination of thinly-sliced beef, tangy horseradish sauce, and a savory au jus is a winning formula.

Beginning Friday, June 12, Heights restaurant La Lucha will be showcasing two takes on the venerable sandwich when it starts serving them for its new Friday-only lunch service, which will be held from 11 am-2 pm. To be clear, the two sandwiches (plus fries) will be the only menu items available at lunch — apologies to anyone hoping to ease into the weekend with La Lucha staples like fried chicken or the pharmacy burger.

The two sandwich choices are: a West Coast style French dip that’s just shaved meat and au jus or an East Coast style that adds provolone and caramelized onions. Both are served with horseradish aioli on bread from Houston’s Royal Bakery that “gets crispy and delicious,” according to executive chef Bobby Matos.

The meat is the same prime rib that newly opened steak joint Star Rover, La Lucha’s sister restaurant, serves as part of its viral, “I ate the 76’er” eating challenge. Priced at $26, the sandwich offers a healthy seven ounces of thinly-sliced beef.

“They’ve done this at Little Sparrow in Atlanta but for late night. It’s been a huge success and people are digging it,” Matos explains about the motivation to introduce the offering.

Limiting the menu to two variations of the same sandwich, fries, and beverages — both alcoholic and non-alcoholic — allows La Lucha to offer its Friday lunch service more easily than if Matos had to staff the kitchen to parepare its full menu.

“It’s just bringing more people to the Heights and giving them a chance to get to know our restaurants,” Matos adds. “There are still people who don’t know about La Lucha, and it’s been eight years.”

Although Matos moved to Texas from California, he says he prefers the East Coast French dip. “I want cheese and onions on mine. I like cheese on French dips,” he says.

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