A new beverage category is being developed in Jacksonville Beach.
It has just two ingredients and provides hydration with a kick, said Will Blum, 24, the inventor and owner of Bluebird Hardwater.
The canned beverage is 96% still water – no carbonation – and 4% alcohol.
Consumers have a choice of whiskey, tequila or vodka combined with the water.
Blum came up with the idea because he says he’s not much of a drinker. He enjoys bourbon, but is prone to hangovers. He said hard seltzers, a growing beverage category, leave him bloated much like beer.
Combining still water with alcohol hydrates while providing a hint of alcohol, he said.
Bluebird Hardwater has a similar alcohol content to light beer.
“A lot of the new drinks are bubbly, They’re sugary. You don’t know what is in them. It’s mystery ingredients. We do a drink with two ingredients.”
Making Bluebird Hardwater
Manufacturing the product is more complicated than just pouring water and spirits into a can. Because there are no stabilizing ingredients, the alkaline water has to be pasteurized to provide shelf life.
Bluebird is made at a factory in the Midwest that specializes in purifying water. Blum would not disclose the name or location.
He said it is fortunate that the factory is near a premium water source. He also said the central location will eventually make nationwide distribution more affordable.
Blum estimated startup costs of $500,000 and $1 million of family money, but did not disclose the total. He is looking for investors.
Bluebird’s website says the alcohol is premium spirits. The whiskey is a 2-year-old rye made by the company that first developed the recipe for Bulleit Rye whiskey, Blum said.
The vodka is distilled 10 times and the tequila is Mexican agave.
The taste varies. The whiskey is present but watered-down. The tequila flavor is present on the back end.
The vodka isn’t discernible. It tastes like water.
Origin of the name
Blum is from Wyoming. The company name comes from a saying back home that refers to a bright, sunny day as a “bluebird” day.
He graduated in 2021 from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where he met his now fiancé, Eve Gay. She is from Jacksonville Beach and Blum decided to move to Northeast Florida to be with her.
Blum launched Bluebird Hardwater this year in stores in New York state. Florida is the second market.
It debuted in January in Tallahassee Circle K stores.
Circle K will be the primary point-of-purchase for now. Blum hopes to soon be in grocery stores and major liquor stores.
Because of the low alcohol content, Bluebird is sold as a beer. However, it contains no malt liquor.
Blum said he has a distribution deal with Anheuser-Busch, which allows Bluebird to be sold in the beer aisle.
“Anheuser-Busch guys are going to be in the stores every day where liquor (distributors) are in the stores once every two weeks. For us that means they are in the stores every day stocking the shelves,” Blum said,
The suggested price is $11 for a four-pack of 12-ounce cans. It is available online in 23 states.
Shipping to Florida is $19, but that price remains the same if ordering a single four-pack or several cases.
The market
The hard seltzer market was reported to be $8.95 billion in 2021, according to Grand View Research. Consumers cited the lower alcohol content (between 1% and 4.9%) and a preference for its average 100 calories per can.
Bluebird has 78 calories and no carbohydrates or added sugars.
When developing the drink, it came in at 5% alcohol. That was too high for Blum’s designed demographic.
“My generation likes nonalcoholic beer. This is light enough for the ‘sober-curious’ to enjoy,” he said.
“It’s for someone who is with his friends and may want a drink in their hand to feel a part of it and still have a bit of a social lubricant.”