Strongbow Hard Ciders, a brand of White Plains, N.Y.-based Heineken USA, announced its newest flavor, Rosé Apple, a semi-dry hard cider with a touch of red fleshed apples. With a light, refreshing and fruity taste and 5 percent alcohol by volume, this newest addition to Strongbow’s line is reminiscent of a Rosé wine but with only 10 grams of sugars in an 11.2-ounce bottle, the company says. 

Newcastle Brown Ale, a brand of White Plains, N.Y.-based Heineken USA, is going back to basics to drive consideration and trial through non-traditional and grassroots platforms. 

2017 saw its fair share of exciting new product releases for the beverage market. The readers of Beverage Industry helped determine our monthly winner with the Readers’ Choice: New Product of the Month poll. 

Absolut, a brand of Paris-based Pernod Ricard, launched a new film titled “The Vodka with Nothing to Hide” to prove how transparent things are in Åhus, Sweden, and features employees totally in the nude. 

Los Angeles-based Rosa Foods Inc., the makers of Soylent, announced the brand’s retail expansion in New York with a long-term strategic distribution agreement with Maspeth, N.Y.-based Big Geyser Inc. 

Johnnie Walker, a brand of Norwalk, Conn.-based Diageo North America, announced the release of the Johnnie Walker Blue Label Year of the Dog limited-edition bottle in celebration of the Lunar New Year. As part of the brand's Pioneering Spirit Series, Johnnie Walker continues to pay homage to the traditions of Asian culture and the lasting heritage of the Chinese Zodiac, the company says.

Toronto-based Province Brands, a Canadian R&D company and an emerging brewer of alcohol-free beers recently announced the filing of a provisional patent around technology to create "world's first beers brewed from the cannabis plant."  The provisional patent's filing date of July 11, 2017, capped months of development on company's novel technology to replace grains with cannabis during the brewing process and laid groundwork for the recent surge of industry partnerships and investment into the company.

Seattle-based Starbucks Corp., in partnership with St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, has begun shipping all Teavana Craft Iced Teas to grocery and convenience retailers nationwide. 

Every year as January comes to a close, sports fans, brands and consumers across America prepare for one of the biggest sporting events of the year: the Super Bowl. 

Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., Plano, Texas, and Keurig Green Mountain Inc., Burlington, Mass., announced that the companies have entered into a definitive merger agreement to create Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP), a new beverage company of scale with a portfolio of iconic consumer brands and unrivaled distribution capability to reach virtually every point-of-sale in North America, the companies say.