by Nina Elder
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Restaurants, newspapers and cookbooks are featuring a childhood treat with a grown-up spirit — alcoholic popsicles.
- Hopsicles (frozen beer on a stick) are one of the coolest items on the menu at Rustico in Alexandria, Virginia (Reason.com 7.15.08).
- On July 2, 2008, the Jackson Free Press ran a recipe that’s perfect for combating a sultry Mississippi summer — Margarita Popsicles.
- Pops!, a 2008 cookbook dedicated to all things ice-pop, devotes one chapter to boozy pops, including frozen versions of the martini, the mojito and the mai tai.
WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS
- When times get tough (recession, war, global warming), consumers seek comfort in nostalgia. Anything that taps into happy childhood memories has more appeal these days.
- Gen Xers and older Millennials are known for their Peter Pan-like attitude. If this group is down with Hello Kitty, videogames and Rock, Paper, Scissors tournaments, then drunken popsicles are right up their alley.
RESOURCES
- Check out Rustico, home of the Hopsicle.
- Pops! Icy Treats for Everyone by Krystina Castella, Quirk 2008
