Elmhurst 1925 is no stranger to reinvention. More than 100 years ago, it started life as a New York dairy company. Then, in 2017, Henry Schwartz, who inherited the business from his father and uncle, transformed the company by relocating production from Queens to Buffalo and shifting its focus entirely to plant-based milk.
Now, the brand is making another major move. It remains firmly rooted in plant-based products, but this time it’s branching into the alcohol market.
At the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City at the end of June, Elmhurst debuted a new offshoot called Good Day, Darling. The first beverages in the new line are oat-brewed amber spritzes in two flavors: Blueberry Lemon and Strawberry Lychee.
Each drink, described as “bubbly” and “slightly hazy,” contains 100 calories, is gluten-free and sugar-free, and has an ABV of 4.1 percent.
Per Brewbound, Good Day, Darling aims to “bring a better-for-you approach to beverage alcohol.”
Elmhurst 1925
The launch is the latest sign that Elmhurst is leaning more into the “better-for-you” category. In March, for example, it introduced Clean Protein, a line of protein shakes in flavors including Sea Salt Chocolate, Pistachio Crème, Vanilla, and Strawberries & Cream.
“Too often, shoppers have had to choose between clean ingredients and a protein shake that genuinely tastes good, and that’s exactly the gap we set out to solve,” said Heba Mahmoud, Elmhurst’s senior director of brand innovation, at the time.
“Elmhurst has always been committed to offering the cleanest, creamiest, and most nutritious plant-based options on the market,” she added. “Clean Protein was developed to meet those same high standards. We’re thrilled to meet shoppers in a new aisle and bring better plant-based nutrition to more households than ever before.”
JetBlue
More brands bet on oat-based booze
Oat-based alcohol has some serious advantages; oat farming is low-emission, beneficial for soil health, and water-efficient. And Elmhurst 1925 isn’t alone in embracing it. In May, for example, JetBlue revealed it had partnered with Outrageous to offer dairy-free oat milk cream liqueurs on all of its flights.
“At JetBlue, we’re always looking for new ways to delight our customers onboard—and that means bringing them products that feel fresh, fun, and worth discovering,” said Sven Singh, director of product at JetBlue. “Oatrageous Oat Milk Liqueur is a great example of that. It’s the kind of unexpected, high-quality option we know our customers will enjoy, whether sipped on its own or as part of a cocktail.”
In 2025, Scottish distillery Nc’nean launched Quiet Rebels, Sarah, a whisky-based oat cream liqueur. In the same year, Baileys launched Coffee Toffee and Cookies & Creamy, two oat-based nondairy liqueurs.
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Charlotte is a VegNews editor and writer based in sunny Southsea on England's southern coast.
