3 items to improve your backyard BBQ, beach trip, or pool day, including rosé cider
Taiwanese hot sauce, a tart cider, and lactose-free ice cream.
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This month brings a few new products to add to a backyard barbecue, beach trip, or pool day: Hot sauce that can enhance just about anything you make at a cookout, a summery hard cider sold in State Stores, and lactose-free ice cream from a pair of local college grads.
Gwen Burlingame and Katy Flannery were students at Villanova University when they came up with the idea of creating a better lactose-free ice cream for people who are lactose intolerant, like Flannery. In 2015, they launched their solution: Beckon Ice Cream. Beckon is made with real dairy to give it creaminess, but no lactose — instead, they add the lactase enzyme used in lactose-free milk. Beckon comes in flavors including espresso, mint chip, and sea salt-chocolate chip, and it’s now sold nationwide in Whole Foods stores, including those in the Philadelphia region.
Beckon Ice Cream, $5.99 at Whole Foods, 2101 Pennsylvania Ave., and other locations; beckonicecream.com
At Baology, the fast-casual Taiwanese street food restaurant in Center City, the house-made hot sauce goes on everything from potstickers to the signature ruen bing wraps. Co-owners Judy Ni and Andy Tessier also sell bottles of it to take home. Made from Fresno and habanero peppers, the sauce is spicy, flavorful, and versatile enough to add to eggs, burgers, hot dogs, or wings. Or, as Ni suggested, stir into mayonnaise to make a milder dipping sauce.
Baology hot sauce, $8 at Baology, 1829 John F. Kennedy Blvd.; baology.com
Pittsburgh-based Threadbare Cider House and Meadery has been producing hard cider since 2017. Now, several varieties of the family-owned distillery’s apple cider are available at local State Stores, including the Bouquet de Rosé, a summery, semi-dry blend made with hibiscus and rose hips. The Bouquet de Rosé has a tart flavor, but it’s balanced with sweetness.
Threadbare Bouquet de Rosé cider, $17.99 for a 750-ml bottle at Pennsylvania Wine & Spirits stores; PLCB Item #29346; threadbarecider.com