Aplós Review

Aplós sits in a different lane from a lot of zero-proof bottles because the brand is selling both flavor and effect. The current core bottles are Calme, which is positioned as the unwind bottle, and Arise, which is positioned as the social, up-tempo bottle. The lineup also includes canned drinks built from Arise, like Chili Margarita and Kola Fashioned. If you are skeptical of “functional” drinks, that is fair, but the bottles still have to answer the more important question first: what do they actually taste like?

Calme is the easier of the two to imagine from the ingredient list. Aplós describes it with yuzu, calamansi, rosemary, basil, coriander, dandelion root, gentian, cucumber, mint, and shiso. That reads like a bittersweet, herb-heavy bottle with enough cooling green notes to keep it from turning muddy. Arise pushes in a bolder direction, with agave flower, lemon verbena, black Sarawak pepper, and a more earthy citrus-herbal profile. Both are clearly designed for ice and dilution rather than neat sipping straight from the bottle.