It shouldn’t have taken this long. Looking through the prism of Mike’s Hard Lemonade or Sam Adam’s Twisted T success it should have been an automatic that brewers everywhere would start aggressively introducing beer/beverage combinations. They have been a hit for some time in Canada (and Canadians take their beer very seriously). And in the past few weeks I’ve seen at least five web ads for Smirnoff’s Southern Comfort Fiery Pepper, a similar if not smaller idea.
So Coors Iced T seems natural, almost inevitable, and perhaps even obvious. In a declining category, you wonder why it’s just happening now. But it’s coming soon to the U.S., and sooner to Canada.
No caffeine, which is an FDA issue.
Why we like this innovation: This is a vivid illustration of the simple but all-encompassing principle that all innovations are merely new combinations of old things. It’s just a matter of finding out what combinations people want. And given how big the beer market is, there are a lot of sizable niches that have yet to be explored. It’s a category that has been crying for meaningful product innovation since light beer in the 70′s. Look for a lot more of this kind of thing in the future.
