WATER: OK, so we’ve done wine, coffee and tea, which leaves water to get its much-deserved premiumization moment. And we don’t mean of the Pellegrino or Perrier kind: those upgraded bottled water brands have become too mainstream to excite truly premium-obsessed consumers.
So, make way for Evian’s limited release Palace bottle, only available in high-end bars and restaurants. Features a specially designed pouring top and is accompanied by a stainless steel coaster, selling for $15-20 per bottle.
Or how about Bling H20, a bottled water that comes in limited edition, corked, 750ml frosted glass bottles, embellished with Swarovski crystals. Aiming to be the Cristal of bottled water, it’s been spotted at everything from the MTV Awards to the Emmys. The bottles cost from $17 to $480.
Then there is Tasmanian Rain, captured “on the pristine north-west coast of the island of Tasmania, Australia.” The water is collected “just minutes from where the World Meteorological Organization records the world’s purest air.”
As this rain has travelled eastward via air currents over Antarctica and 10,000 miles of ocean, it contains 17 parts per million of dissolved solids. Tasmanian Rain is collected by a custom-designed catchment facility and never touches the ground. And so on.
Limited-edition Carlsberg 900 bottles.
BEER: Carlsberg 900 launched this summer in a very limited number of selected bars in Stockholm. Developed in collaboration with 12 top Swedish bartenders, Carlsberg 900 is “brewed from refined virgin hops and selected crystal malt, and triple filtered with a longer cooler fermentation process to ensure a pure, delicate taste.” Carlsberg 900 is priced at the premium end of the market, about the price of decent glass of champagne.
FOOD: Further proof that anything can be premiumized: luxury marshmallows. From Dean & DeLuca’s 1-pound Boulé Marshmallow Sampler of lemon chiffon, passion fruit, vanilla and rose-petal flavours ($28) to Pete’s Gourmet dipped and undipped marshmallows, which are $1 a piece!
Meanwhile, get ready to welcome honey to the world of premiumization. Most supermarket honey in the West is imported from China and Argentina, and/or blended from many sources, creating a homogenous taste. But, like water, marshmallows and beer, honey is now striking back with a sweet vengeance, and artisanal honeys are on the rise. Since honey’s flavour and colour are determined by the source of nectar, there’s a huge variety of very local and exclusive types of honey, with floral sources varying from tupelo gum tree and Tasmanian leatherwood to cranberry and orange blossom.
The Savannah Bee Co. Inc., for example, sells its honeycomb jars with this awe-inspiring description: “Filled with honey equalling the life’s work of two bees, each golden cell brims with the concentrated nectar of thousands of rare and remote Georgia flowers.” In New York, the Blue Ribbon Bakery Market has installed a honey bar, selling imported raw honey from Mexico. Seasonal (read: limited time only) varieties include mesquite blossom, orange blossom and golden reserve.