We Try It is a regular series where we try the latest off-beat food and beverage offerings.
A new entry to the ever-growing garden of Chinese libations is LINGYA, the Middle Kingdom’s first hard seltzer, crafted in Shanghai. Made with a simple blend of soda water, 3.8% gluten-free alcohol and a hint of fruit essence, one can is just 70 calories and zero grams of sugar and fat.
If you’re like us, and the ‘Quarantine 15’ excuse is no longer in play, then it can be nice to know that you aren’t tripling your daily calories when you have a few bevies with the squad. LINGYA comes in six flavors: cucumber, grapefruit, blackberry, passion fruit, white peach and strawberry.
LINGYA also boasts no artificial colors and, most importantly, the fruity taste is robust enough to handle a splash of baijiu to get that ABV up above 3.8%, a common theme in the comments from our hard-drinking editors. So, without further ado, here they are. And remember: it’s after 5pm somewhere...
Phoebe Kut
“A nice alternative to cider or sour beer and for those looking to slim the waistlines, and great that there aren’t any artificial colorings in the drinks. Passion fruit and grapefruit are the best flavors for me; crisp and not too sweet. Cucumber is refreshing. I found blackberry and strawberry too artificial.”
Rating: 4/5
Ned Kelly
“Passionfruit for the win. And grapefruit. Cucumber as a mixer with Hendrick’s is spot on. Come to mention it, they’re all prime for being used as ‘turbo mixers,’ are they not? The guys in my football club were also very pleased with the lack of a hangover the next day. Good clean fun: the drinking sportsman’s choice.”
Rating: 4.5/5
Ryan Gandolfo
“Each Lingya flavor deserves its own rating, so I’ll just focus on one: grapefruit. A nice and refreshing drink with a bit of tang you’d expect from the citrusy fruit. Given the low alcohol percentage, I’d recommend an added shot for good measure.”
Rating: 4/5
Sophie Steiner
“Cucumber is mellow and really drinkable. Bonus: it works well as a mixer when you’re having one of those days when mixing booze with more booze is the only option. Passion fruit comes in second. It’s more sour, and I like sour.
Rating: 3.5/5
Joshua Cawthorpe
“The flavors are bodacious without the skull crushing headache that comes with a four hour shift drinking blue hawaiians at a swim up bar. If I'm not trying to impress my Chinese boss then I would totally carry a fanny pack with a four-pack of these on an afternoon tandem bike ride. Passionfruit is nice, while cucumber smells remarkably of its namesake, and would probably be well suited to a gin drop shot. If you’re toying with the idea of weight loss (with minimal effort), then this could also be a good jumping-off point.”
Rating: 4/5
The final verdict: 4/5
All That's readers can enjoy an exclusive 10% off of any purchases made through the below QR code. Check out more about LINGYA and order a can today!
[All images courtesy of LINGYA]
0 User Comments