Pickles Are Invading the Beverage Aisle

Last summer, on an epic California road trip that ended in the small town of Philo, I discovered Donna’s Pickle Beer.

Cases of the stuff were stacked to the ceiling inside Jumbo’s Win Win, a burger joint in the area that might be one of my favorite restaurants in America. Jumbo’s owner, Scott Baird, created Donna’s, too.

On my first visit, I dismissed the drink as a gimmick. The Pickleback, a shot of whiskey chased by a shot of pickle brine, had already had a moment in the sun - a passing fad that burned bright and faded away. To me, pickle beer fell into the same camp: designed to grab attention, little staying power.

But I kept seeing the stuff.

Jumbo’s was so good, we visited multiple times over the course of our few days in the area. One day, we ate both lunch and dinner there (the fries! the burgers! the soft serve!). On each visit, stacked high at the register, and sitting on ice along Jumbo’s long bar, I was blasted with the visual of Donna’s distinctive can. At one point, I thought fuck it, and ordered one.

I was enthralled. The beer was crisp and punchy, beautifully balanced, and incredibly craveable. The pickle juice was precise, a dill pickle zing with the faintest hint of a bread-and-butter sweetness. When we got back to Charleston, I sorted out a distributor, brought it into my restaurants, and started proselytising on the virtues of the heady brew. I was a pickle beer convert.

Clearly, Donna’s is out front on a trend I think we’re going to see a lot more of in the next few years; Pabst even launched their own copycat version. I think it’s clear: pickles are about to invade the beverage aisle in new and exciting ways.

Stateside, you’re seeing this with new entries like Mr. Pickles Dillicious Lemonade, launched last year. I just clocked it in Matt Rodbard’s recent Instagram roundup of highlights from the Fancy Food Show.

And just this morning, I saw an announcement for Yew, a new beverage brand out of England that includes this Pickle sparkling water. Jesse Jenkins, one of a few cooking influencers I can tolerate, is involved in the project. His reach bodes well for the future of Yew, and for the wider acceptance of pickle drinks, a category I think we are poised to see more of.