Cocktail Time? Join Us on April 10 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT

by Gabby Cullen

5 years ago

We’re in this together. We’re home. Why not make something good? Like cocktails for COVID-19 relief.

For every bottle of 21Seeds purchased in April through our online retail partner, we’ll be donating $1.21 to @River Fund, a nonprofit that for over 28 years has been helping families in crisis. You can read more about their mission, “to feed and empower those we serve to move beyond the lines of poverty”, the life-changing work they do, and their COVID-19 response here.

Read more about 21seeds, a mom-founded tequila company, below.

The Backstory

After founder Kat Hantas had her second child, for health reasons, she had to give up wine as her drink of choice. She wanted to find something she enjoyed just as much as wine, so Hantas started playing around with tequila, adding ingredients like orange, grapefruit, jalapeño and hibiscus—and created a clean and flavorful tequila. She began sharing with friends, and what came out of years of experimenting was 21 Seeds: Grapefruit Hibiscus, Valencia Orange and Cucumber Jalapeño tequila. Unlike other flavored tequilas on the market, the infused Blanco tequilas from 21 Seeds are not sugary or super sweet, they simply offer a clean beverage that's easy to drink.

According to Hantas, most people she speaks with at tastings are prepared to grimace, because, well, it's tequila. She explains to Forbes, “The minute they taste it, two things happen,” Hantas says. “The first is, they brace themselves like they’re going to experience harsh tequila, and then that grimace turns into this smile, and it’s almost like it’s a new category because they don’t know where to place this beverage in their heads.”

In true girl power fashion, 21 Seeds' tag line is #girlscalltheshots because once Hantas knew she had something special on her hands, she enlisted the help of her sister and her best friend to help make her passion project a marketable product. The trio traveled to the Mexican region of Jalisco and partnered with, get this, a mostly female-owned and run tequila factory. The rest is history.

The Product

We tried out the infused tequilas, and true to Hantas' word, each one is light and flavorful enough to simply drink on ice with a splash of soda water. In other words, there's no need to fuss around with making a cocktail after dealing with dinner and bedtime routines—perfect for busy parents! The Valencia Orange is definitely the sweetest of the trio but makes a perfect margarita (a recipe for a skinny margarita, among other simple combos, comes with each bottle), the Grapefruit Hibiscus is light and smooth and can be made into a light drink with a bubly grapefruit or any other sparkling water, and the Cucumber Jalapeño, has just enough kick to make it the perfect base for a spicy margarita.

The Reviews

Our tasting panel was curious to taste 21 Seeds— two of them had experience with flavored tequila, but not infused tequila. All three testers unanimously agreed that it wasn't what they had expected—much lighter in flavor and not overly sweet. One taster, who is on a low-carb diet plan, was excited to discover that while 21 Seeds offered more calories per serving, there were still fewer carbs. Another, who stays away from gluten, commented on the freshness of each tequila and how few ingredients were required to make a drink. The third tester wasn't convinced there would be anything that would make her willingly give up her glass of Sauvignon Blanc at the end of the day, and she was proven wrong. The end opinion? 21 Seeds is not your average tequila—it's better, and it's perfect for when you want to switch up your drink of choice.