All You Need Is Fresh Herbs For A Fancy Hard Seltzer Upgrade

What's the difference between a twenty-dollar cocktail and the drinks you make at home? Mostly the presentation! Details like a great glass, the right ice, and eye-catching garnishes made a good drink into a social media showstopper. A great mixologist balances a beverage carefully, considering acid, sweet, bubbles, and flavors, but lucky for us, the companies who create hard seltzers have already done the hard work in those areas, making seltzers a great starting point for a fancy libation at home. You too can add some bar tricks to upgrade your seltzers (because self-care is important!) starting with fresh herb garnishes.

Herbs like rosemary, mint and lavender are easy to find in the grocery store or garden, and their flavor and color really spark up a plain glass of hard seltzer on ice. In fact, you could freeze some smaller sprigs of herbs and edible flowers in the ice, too!

We have some great starting inspiration for your hard seltzer upgrade, but the combinations are endless. Many of the most popular seltzer flavors are citrus: lemon, lime, and grapefruit. All of these work with sprigs of mint, and even a small sprig of rosemary. For a more green, herbaceous flavor, try basil, parsley or a touch of cilantro. You can simply choose a long herb stem and slide it into your glass, or muddle up the herb and pour the seltzer on for a stronger hit of flavor.

Don't forget about less common herbs like lemongrass, lavender, and leafy fennel fronds -– they add a truly unique flavor profile that can amp up tropical flavors of hard seltzer like pineapple and mango. We love the combination of thyme with peaches, so why not try it with a seltzer, too? If you can find flowering herbs, even better – and don't be afraid to use more than one herb at a time. The best cocktails come from creative flair, so take a nibble of your fresh herb, sip the can and let your imagination upgrade your seltzer to a cocktail worth posting!