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Welcome to our new series, One Good Thing to Do Today. It’s a guide to little things you can actually do in lockdown London that will provide bits of light in these dark times.
If you smashed your Dry January KPIs, you might fancy cheersing yourself at home. But after a month of sobriety, maybe you quite like some of the noticeable plus sides from cutting down on the drink (hello, good sleep!). Here’s a halfway house for you, then: hard seltzer. The ‘spiked’ sparkling water is totally on trend – and it’s low in alcohol, too.
Hard seltzer is sold in jazzy-looking cans, often features a fruity flavour and boasts low-calorie status as well as that low abv (we're talking typically as little as 4%). If you’ve never come across the alcoholic fizzy water, the chances are you will soon. It’s been huge in the US (maybe you've spotted all the hype around White Claw?!) and now a load of companies here are producing it too – and that includes in the capital. Here’s a handful of London cans to order in for February.
1. East London Liquor Company
The distillery on the edge of Viccy Park is also producing two vodka seltzers at just 88 calories per colourful can. There’s a zesty lime version, but for us it’s all about ELLC’s invigorating pomegranate seltzer made from natural fruit extracts and essences. £24 for pack of 12.
2. 58 Gin
A fellow east London distillery getting in on the hard seltzer action, Hackney’s 58 Gin has two tinnies to choose from in raspberry and pink grapefruit flavours. If you hadn’t guessed, these ones are gin-based. You can also order some of their nifty hand sanitiser while you’re at it. £29.95 for pack of 12.
3. Good One
Ooh, this can is going to look so good in your hand! But it’s also a feelgood purchase – for every order you make a tree is planted. Distilled in east London using water from a spring in Northumberland, flavours include lime and cucumber and a delectable cloudy grapefruit and thyme. £33 for pack of 12.
4. Dalston’s
We already loved Dalston’s intensely fruity sodas. Now they’ve merged their seltzers with triple-distilled spirit to join the ‘hard’ movement. Pick up a can of rhubarb or grapefruit for under 40 calories. £23.99 for pack of 12.
Read more from our One Good Thing to Do Today series.