Unless you are living under a rocks (glass), you probably know that these days consumers want more transparency in what they drink and eat. This is a growing movement in the wine and spirits world. “People want products made with all natural ingredients and no additives that taste great,” says KLYR American Rum Distiller Lexi Close.
Hand-crafted in Pennsylvania, KLYR is the vision of three friends who wanted a clean tasting premium rum with zero grams of sugar, zero grams of carbohydrates and fewer calories. KLYR rum is distilled 12 times and filtered 18 times with pure reverse osmosis water.
Lexi Close, Distiller, KLYR Clean American Rum. Made in Pennsylvania.
Born and raised in the York, Pennsylvania, Close’s family was in the distilling business where she learned her trade. When the founders of KLYR approached her to join their startup team, she jumped at the opportunity to create a beverage she knew would appeal to her generation of imbibers.
“KLYR’s founders, Amish Patel, Adam Lehrhaupt and Neil Kahrim, wanted to create a better tasting white rum that almost drank like a vodka and was versatile to sip neat or mix in cocktails They also wanted all natural ingredients with the ideal balance of sugar, water and yeast. We all spent several months fine tuning and tasting to achieve our goal when creating KLYR,” Close said.
KLYR rum tastes light and smooth on the palate with no burn or bite. It is easy to sip neat or on the rocks. A 750ml bottle is $21.99.
Pictured: KLYR Rum with a splash of tonic.
Another major development in the beverage industry is a profusion of sessionable RTD (ready-to-drink) canned cocktails, spritzers and no/low alcohol beverage options. Many RTDs we have tasted satisfy our “quench factor,” but not all measure up to our picky palates when it comes to taste profile.
Along with a bottle of KLYR Rum, we were sent a selection of KLYR RTD canned cocktails to try. The chill and serve canned cocktails have names like Blast, Crush, Mash and Punch. They pack a punch in natural berry and citrus fruit flavorings blended with the KLYR Rum but maintain a 6.5% ABV per twelve-ounce can and 190 calories. There are no additives other than citric acid for stabilization. Also, these are non-carbonated cocktails, so you feel satiated but not full after consuming.
Another RTD line is called Water. This is a lighter canned beverage with 4.5% ABV and 99 calories. “We created Water for more health-conscious consumers who likes the lightness of a spritz or seltzer but who may not want the bubbles. Water has a hint of natural flavoring blended with the rum and water. It is almost like a flavored water but with rum added,” Close said,
Currently KYLR Clean American Rum and its RTD canned beverages are sold in Pennsylvania and direct to consumer. For information visit www.klyrrum.com
In this episode of The Connected Table SIPS, Lexi Close discusses KLYR Rum and its RTD canned cocktails on The Connected Table SIPS. Click link below to listen.
KLYR Coco Mojito