LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bourbon is king in the Commonwealth, but two brothers started their Louisville business to forge a different path.
Clay and Braxton Turner wanted to tap in to the growing demand for spiked seltzer, and that's how Nulu's The Local Seltzery came to fruition.
What You Need To Know
- The Local Seltzery in Nulu is run by a pair of brothers
- They opened during the pandemic, when popularity of spiked seltzer skyrocketed
- The seltzery uses Louisville's award-winning water to concoct flavored, spiked seltzers that are vegan, gluten-free, low carb and low calorie
- The duo crafts all their own flavors in-house
It's no Mint Julep or Old Fashioned, but the Local Seltzery's signature drinks capitalize off of another local treasure: water. The Lexington-native Turners are using Louisville's award-winning water to serve up spike seltzer, an alcoholic beverage that skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic.
They saw the opportunity to break into a new market during COVID-19 lockdowns, and they took it. "It was what a lot of people were drinking at the time," Braxton Turner said.
Just as the type of drink is unconventional for Kentucky, the Turner brothers aren't your average bar owners. Clay is a neurologist and Braxton is a businessman.
The Local Seltzery is a creative outlet, they said. They wanted to make something of a higher quality than the canned offerings you'd find on store shelves.
"We really wanted to try to bring that product into a dedicated setting like this, where we can really serve it to customers within our own creative space, but then also give us the opportunity to create our own flavors do our own experimentation," Clay Turner said.
The duo crafts all their own flavors in-house, catering to all sorts of health-conscious consumers. Every syrup they offer is vegan, gluten-free, low carb and low calorie—not to mention it's all mixed, filtered and carbonated with Louisville's prestigious H2O.
"People who want to drink responsibly but don't want a beer or a heavy, sweet, sugary cocktail, we want to give an alternative product," Clay Thomas said. "You can enjoy a couple of cocktails and not just feel really bloated," Braxton added.
As one of only four craft seltzeries in the U.S. so far, the brothers say theirs is the perfect spot to try something new. The Turner brothers hope to expand to other cities in the near future.