Finger Lakes in a can, by way of Hollywood 

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One can be forgiven for letting out a sigh of resignation upon hearing about another Hollywood-born beverage company aggressively entering a regional market.

After all, George Clooney and company’s Casamigos tequila quickly became a barroom mainstay. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul have incessantly tried to convince us they’re honest-to-God friends throughout their multimedia push of Dos Hombres Mezcal. And boy, does Ryan Reynolds think his wit is just sardonic enough to sell us Aviation Gin.

Point being, the world of spirits has been flooded with celebrity investors aiming to use star power to sell products that are, well, fine. There’s nothing horribly wrong with any of the above products. There’s also nothing particularly interesting beyond the number of red carpets its purveyors have trodden.

But the same cannot be said of Lake Hour, a new brand of canned craft cocktails out of Conesus founded by actor Wyatt Russell and movie producer Richard Peete. While coming from a similar heritage to other film industry drinkables, Lake Hour treads somewhat new ground. Floral-influenced, low on sugar, and featuring bespoke flavor combinations like rosemary yuzu and honeysuckle ginger.
“I was an IPA drinker, and hanging out on the boat, as one does in the Finger Lakes, there’s only so many IPAs you can have out there, or just golfing or being out in the sun,” Peete said.

Russell, son of actor Kurt Russell and actress Goldie Hawn, has appeared as a regular in the Marvel cinematic universe; comedies like “This is 40” and “22 Jump Street”; and one of the more visceral episodes of tech-horror anthology series “Black Mirror.” Peete, a Geneseo native, is a producer who has worked on films including “Blue Ruin” and “A Place Beyond the Pines.”

Russell and Peete met through their spouses and developed the idea to launch a drink company over a desire for an easy-drinking line of cocktails. Most canned cocktails and seltzers Russell had tried were overbearing on sugar, making them a chore to get past a can or two.

 “We want this to be the kind of thing where you bring out a four-pack and it’s gone in 20 minutes,” he said. “...We want to be the LaCroix of RTD (ready-to-drink) cocktails.”

Unlike White Claw or Truly seltzers, which use a beer-like malt base, Lake Hour is more akin to High Noon in design, which simply mixes premade liquor with carbonated water and flavorings. This has two advantages—it allows for a more neutral backbone to build flavor blends off, and it allows a company to scale up as fast as they can buy liquor. On the latter, Lake Hour has been able to rapidly expand since launching in July 2023, hitting five states as of January 2024.

On the former, a word to describe Lake Hour’s four offerings—vodka-infused Rosemary Yuzu, Honeysuckle Ginger, Peach Jasmine, and the tequila-based Watermelon Cucumber—is “delicate.”

All are mild, nuanced drinks with a clean, refreshing finish. Honeysuckle ginger was the most divisive among CITY staffers; a robust ginger backbone laced with floral accents and finished with a tight bite reminiscent of a good ginger beer, albeit a bit more subdued.

“We really do want to offer something that anyone can enjoy, that you can pick up and drink on any occasion and it’s something that goes down easy without bogging you down,” Peete said.

The smoky accent of the Watermelon Cucumber juxtaposed by refreshing cucumber notes and a tart, not-quite-but-close watermelon Jolly Rancher tone is the standout. Approachable, yet complex. Rosemary Yuzu offered an interesting, layered flavor profile, although the pungent herbal oils overpowered much of the delicate citrus. The Peach Jasmine, meanwhile, with its almost non-existent dose of tea and unripe peach leaning, was drinkable, but forgettable. Three out of four ain’t bad.

Lake Hour can be found in liquor stores and bars around the Rochester region. lakehour.com

Gino Fanelli is a reporter for WXXI. He can be reached at [email protected].