Beckett’s Juniper Sky Gin & Tonic is a sweetened RTD that features “distilled botanicals” and is “terpene infused.”
However, the terpenes are somewhat interesting. Terpenes are present in a number of plants. Juniper is one example, cannabis is another.
Beckett’s leverages the latter. It includes “Non-cannabis-derived terpenes from Pineapple Jack,” a sativa strain of cannabis. (by the way, Leafly has a beautifully designed flavor diagram).
Beckett’s also makes a line of non-alcoholic drinks designed to mimic spirits.
Ingredients: Water, cane sugar, citric acid, juniper extract with other natural flavors, sodium citrate, sodium benzonate, stevia and terpenes.
Calories: 25 / 12 fl oz.
Tasting Notes
Aroma: Gentle pine and juniper terpenes on the nose.
Flavor: Early pine and rather pleasant, juniper flavor. Citrus with hints of grapefruit mid-palate. The finish has a very muted, but long-lasting bitterness with very subtle floral and green facets. However, the bitterness is more the finish of Stevia than it is the flavor of quinine.
Overall, Beckett’s Juniper Sky Gin & Tonic
Overall, Juniper Sky manages to achieve a fairly good gin approximation in terms of the flavor; however, the lack of a strong quinine note kind of makes it feel not a ton like a gin and tonic.
Further, the Stevia unfortunately adds a cloying, artificial quality that the drink didn’t need in my opinion. Unfortunately until the market for low/no alcoholic RTD replacements expands, we’re likely to see drinks that try to appeal to several niches at once (non-alcoholic ✕ low-cal collabs).
Availability
An eight-pack fo Beckett’s Juniper Sky is available from Amazon in the United States for about $20.