Clubby Hard Seltzer
A Summertime Seltzer
The Club Special, purportedly invented at Twin Hills Golf & Country Club, is a cocktail containing vodka, limeade, Sprite, lemon, lime, and club soda. It’s treasured by many Oklahomans, particularly golfers, but not everyone finds the cocktail ideal on a hot summer day at the course.
One such person is Lane Gibbs. “We used to play a lot of golf and drink Club Specials on the course, and they’re hit or miss,” Lane says. “With the vodka, you can’t drink too many before your game goes downhill. And with the sweet and sour, you can only drink one or two before you get heartburn.” The desire to create a more drinkable version of the classic golfing cocktail inspired Lane and his two friends, Thomas Moratto and Matt Whitaker, to develop Clubby hard seltzers.
The owners spent eighteen months working with a beverage consultant, sampling flavors, and finding the right balance. “Lots of seltzers aren’t too good,” Lane says. “They either have a chemical flavor or fake-tasting fruit. We wanted it to be exactly right. We wanted to drop the calories, drop the sugar, and add electrolytes since you sweat on the golf course and lose even more water drinking alcohol—so you can hydrate while you dehydrate,” he says with a laugh. Lane is quick to point out, though, that Clubby isn’t just for golfers. “We want it to be a lifestyle, for the pool or the lake,” he says.
Currently, Clubby Seltzers are only available in Oklahoma, primarily in the OKC metro. “Right now, we can’t produce them fast enough to even get to Tulsa or Stillwater,” says Lane. But the long-term plan is to distribute to Texas and then to twenty-five other states.
You can tell the Clubby team has a sense of humor. When asked about their tag line, The #1 Seltzer in Golf, Lane said, “Golf has a lot of number ones - Titleist is the number one ball in golf, TaylorMade is the number one driver in golf. We thought, ‘Let’s be the number one hard seltzer!’ We do believe, in time, we will be.”
> Clubby Seltzers, 921 NW 63rd St., Suite 200, Oklahoma City; clubbyseltzers.com
