Weekly Pickups: A better canned cocktail and the perfect pairings for cabbage
+ we're going to Austin in T-10 days!
Happy Friday friends!
Express Checkout is heading to Austin in T-10 days! We’re throwing a big ol’ CPG party (as we do) on April 28th. If you’re a brand in Austin, we’d love to have you there! And if you’re a company interested in partnering on the event, please reply to this email.
With that, let’s get into this week’s pickups →
Nate’s Pickup:
Goldilocks Canned Cocktails
Last week I had the pleasure of demo-ing Goldilocks with founder Erin Barrett at one of the liquor stores she sells at….and I had a FREAKING BLAST. I actually helped Erin sell over 3 cases of her better-for-you canned cocktails! Getting to see the power of sampling firsthand was truly eye-opening. Watching people put down a very well-known brand to spend nearly 2x on something new—something they just tried—was what I can only describe as magical. Now I see why sampling is a business in and of itself. Erin was there for 3 hours putting herself out there, and that’s no easy feat. Add on more locations, spread nationwide, and that’s some genuinely hard work.
It was very fun to berate strangers into trying something tasty 🤷
Quick Facts: A NYC-based canned cocktail brand crafting drinks for mindful consumption, featuring 5% ABV, only 84 calories, and less than 3g of sugar per can. They round out the formula with functional ingredients like magnesium, sodium, inulin, and prickly pear for a smoother, more balanced sip. Currently available in two flavors: Blackberry Spritz and Coffee Tini.
Reasons to love:
Not sugar bombs. One of the biggest issues with popular canned cocktails is that they’re loaded with added sugar, and way more than they need. And thanks to current regulations, they don’t have to disclose it on the can. Here’s what blew my mind that Erin told me: 10 cans of Goldilocks’ Coffee Tini have less sugar than a single can of Cutwater’s espresso martini (one of the leading canned cocktails in America). For the Spritz, compared to Aperol—roughly 6 cans of Goldilocks contain less sugar than one Aperol Spritz. And Aperol doesn’t even currently report their sugar or ingredients. Most brands bury their nutrition facts deep on their websites because they don’t have to show them.
Flavor forward. Both of these cans nail their respective flavors. The Blackberry Spritz blends juicy blackberries, lemon, and a hint of basil and tastes like a premium cocktail you’d order on a rooftop bar or by the beach. It’s light, refreshing, and definitely the fan favorite from the people I sampled to. But my personal pick? The Coffee Tini. I’m a coffee guy—coffee ice cream (the Trader Joe’s one in particular) is my favorite flavor of ice cream, and I always gravitate toward a coffee-forward product in general. This one really delivers. It’s like a boozy cold brew with a kick of cinnamon to finish it off. And the other thing is these do NOT taste boozy. A big issue I have with a lot of canned cocktails is they taste like liquor, bottom-shelf liquor at that. Thank god it’s not the case here.
Cocktails, upgraded. Something Goldilocks does differently is what they add beyond the base cocktail to round out the experience. Sodium and magnesium ease up the mouthfeel, making each sip feel balanced and smooth. Inulin (naturally found in chicory root) adds a touch of creaminess and subtle sweetness without piling on more sugar. And prickly pear (a yummy cactus) contributes a little extra sweetness while rounding out the flavor profile. I haven’t seen many boozy drinks be this thoughtful in their formulation.
Also if you want the best prickly pear based drink (non-alc), try Pricklee!!
Where to buy: Available Online (ships to 45 states) and at select liquor stores in NYC
Jenna’s Pickup:
Things I like to pair with cabbage. (Dumpling Daughter Spicy Sweet Soy + Soom Tahini)
Sometimes, I go to write my Weekly Pickups and feel like a fraud. While I always love the items I end up picking, I often find myself wanting to pour my heart out over something boring and extremely unbranded, like frozen broccoli or purple sweet potatoes or, as of late, cabbage.
Like every Instagram user with a feed full of seasonal cooking content, I have been on something of a cabbage bender lately. My boyfriend and I have been cooking cabbage incessantly, experimenting with cabbage “steaks,” the shredded + slow-cooked variety, and something a vegan creator brilliantly named “Cabbagio e Pepe”—a recipe that consisted of an abundance of nutritional yeast and, in fact, no pepper (don’t fear: we added the pepper for authenticity’s sake).
But this is a CPG newsletter, and cabbage is not a packaged good (this is a good thing. please protect cabbage’s peace). So instead, today I will be sharing two of my favorite products to have with cabbage, which also just happen to be two of my favorite condiments, period.
Dumpling Daughter Spicy Sweet Soy
Quick Facts: Per the name, a sweet + spicy soy sauce made for pairing with dumplings, but a truly versatile sauce for all cooking.
Reasons to love:
Hits every flavor note. Sweet, spicy, and umami. Made with just brown sugar, ground red pepper, soy sauce, vegetable oil (yes, a seed oil—how scandalous!), and spices, this simple sauce delights with its underrated flavor complexity.
The packaging! Like another oil company we all know and love, this sauce comes in an easy-to-use squeeze bottle. It makes this product a no-brainer to reach for when cooking cabbage steaks—once the steaks are seared on one side, I drizzle this easily over the exposed side before flipping.
Sugar = caramelization. This sauce has a special superpower: caramelization. Because it contains brown sugar, it beautifully caramelizes whatever you put it on. And trust me, you want your cabbage caramelized.
Where to buy: Online or in a store near you.
Soom Tahini
Quick Facts: Really, really good tahini (roasted sesame seeds ground into a luxe, drippy paste).
Reasons to love:
Truly premium. I’ve had a lot of tahini in my days, and I must tell you: not all tahini is created equally. Some tahini is a bit bitter (almost burnt tasting?) and some tahini is cakey and dry. Soom is consistent—the flavor is always smooth, the texture is always creamy and drizzly, and it blends/whisks/mixes perfectly into anything.
My go-to ingredient for at-home sauces and dressings. When I’m out of tahini, I am genuinely distraught. I use this tahini in nearly every sauce and dressing I make, especially when it comes to cabbage. There’s something about the creamy, deeply rich nuttiness of tahini paired with the fresh, vegetal bite of cabbage—a real dream team.
My favorite combo at the moment is tahini, rice vinegar, soy sauce, and gochujang (measure with your heart), drizzled atop a gorgeous roasted cabbage steak.
Where to buy: In most stores and soomfoods.com
This week, we're sharing the second episode of our interview series, Brand’s Biggest Fan—featuring Evan Burns, CEO and Co-founder of The Finnish Long Drink—and Long Drink's biggest fan, DJ!
This week, Long Drink was acquired by the Mark Anthony Group of Companies, the company behind category-defining beverages including White Claw and Mike's Hard Lemonade. So, we decided it was time to share some of the behind-the-scenes of who built this company... and who's been evangelizing it. Check it out here →
Thanks for reading! Anything you think we should try for an upcoming edition of Express Checkout? Email us at hello@expresscheckout.co