It’s a good day if you’re in Texas Hill Country. With clear skies, you’ll catch hawks riding the wind. Grasshoppers pop every which way on asphalt like popcorn. When the Frio River’s untouched by floating tubes and kicking legs, it runs as clear as a gemstone from frigid, spring-fed temperatures. The Hill Country exemplifies the beauty of Texas ― a hot sun and icy cooler kind of place that sounds like something made up in Roman mythology in the wake of COVID-19. In other words, Lone Star Beer sure found a sentimental time to launch a new beer dubbed “The New Taste of Texas.”

The iconic San Antonio-based beer company’s new Mexican-style lager, called Rio Jade, is brewed at their partner brewery, Oasis Texas Brewing Company, just outside of Austin. The beer is Lone Star’s first-ever seasonal beer with an easy-drinking ABV of 4.5%. The lager comes in a calming turquoise can. Artist Cruz Ortiz, whose wife Olivia Flores Ortiz owns the creative studio Burnt Nopal in San Antonio, designed it. A six-pack will sell for $7.99.

Rio Jade is a new Mexican-style lager from Lone Star Beer. (Lone Star Beer)

You can feel the pandemic’s seismic shift at the grocery store. People are reaching back into their saddles for pure comfort and nostaligia ― SpaghettiOs and Hamburger Helper are in high demand. Hard seltzer sales soared recently, sure, but beer, the world’s most beautiful four-letter word, peaked in March. Lone Star seems to have noticed. The Rio Jade will roll out in late April and will be widely available in May. They expect Rio Jade to be available for home delivery next week on Drizly. The release also notes:

“Rio Jade pairs perfectly with floating the river, sunbathing at a favorite swimming hole, or watching the sunset from your backyard to practice 'social distancing’ at this time.”

Strange times are when a 80-year-old beer brand says “actually, just try drinking it in your yard away from others!” More sincerely, Lone Star’s launching Rio Jade with a nonprofit-benefitting initiative called Keep the Lights on Y’all. It’s a partnership with the apparel company Texas Humor to create an exclusive T-shirt: Every penny of the profits, the release explains, will be directed to Southern Smoke, a 501c3 organization based in Texas. Smoke’s focus is “to provide assistance to people in the food and beverage industry” that are in crisis.

“The shirt serves as a reminder to all Texans to show support and help out those in the service industry while their doors are temporarily closed.” T-shirts are $30 each and available now.

Lone Star notes the pronunciation of Rio Jade is ree-oh hah-day. Kudos to Lone Star for infusing their beer with at least one dimension of heartaching nostalgia: The thought of speaking an order of an ice-cold Mexican lager at a bar, to a human bartender, sounds like heaven on Earth.

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