New Zealand-based alternative alcohol company, The Slight Twist Brewing Co., is launching its first international export collaboration in partnership with US independent brewery, Harland Brewing Co., to launch a range of cocktail-inspired seltzers brewed with Slight Twist’s botanical flavourings.
Founded by the makers of Beach Booch Hard Kombucha, Slight Twist is earning a reputation for clean-label innovation – creating naturally brewed, low-sugar, low-carb beverages and a suite of proprietary botanical flavourings now being explored by breweries, distillers, and functional beverage producers across New Zealand and overseas.
Slight Twist co-founder, Alistair Kirk, said this collaboration wasn’t just a product launch, it represents the company’s first export win, and part of a global shift in how flavour is created in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.
“We’re proving there’s a better way to deliver complex, authentic flavour – cleaner methods, fewer additives, and real ingredients. Harland saw that potential instantly,” said Kirk.
Based in San Diego, Harland Brewing is recognised for its award-winning beers, seltzers, and bold approach to flavour innovation. This marks the first time a US brewery has used Slight Twist’s proprietary alcohol-free botanical flavourings, developed in New Zealand to deliver the complexity of spirits like gin, rum, and tequila – without the ethanol, sugar, or synthetic additives.
Harland Brewing VP, Cody Morris, said the company has experimented with botanical flavouring before, but nothing quite like this collaboration.
“Slight Twist Botanicals delivered intensity, nuance, and ease of use in one clean package. The results speak for themselves,” said Morris.
The first release, Matador Seltzer, is rolling out this month across Southern California. The launch marks the start of a planned series of cocktail-inspired drinks set to roll out over the coming months – each designed to showcase the bold, clean flavor of Slight Twist's botanicals in innovative, ready-to-drink formats.
Slight Twist is now exploring further opportunities with like-minded brewers, blenders, and beverage makers in Australia who are ready to bring bold, clean flavour to the next generation of drinks – with or without alcohol.
