Overview: Dô Asian Cocktails debuts at the Plate by Plate Los Angeles Gala on September 19, 2026. The brand represents the first Asian American vodka seltzer made with real cold-pressed Asian fruit.
The Full Story
Dô Asian Cocktails will soft launch at Plate by Plate Los Angeles, the city’s signature AAPI tasting gala, held at the Petersen Automotive Museum on September 19, 2026. The event features industry and community leaders, influencers, and entertainers sampling the brand alongside dishes from AAPI chefs and restaurateurs. This launch marks the debut of a ready-to-drink vodka seltzer built at the intersection of Vietnamese heritage and American craft-spirit standards.
The brand was founded by Thinh Nguyen, a U.S. military veteran, and Steve T. Tran, who is also the Director of Marketing for Project by Project, the nonprofit organization hosting the tasting gala. The slogan “Two Worlds, One Spirit” reflects both the founding story and the product architecture. Every can features real Asian fruit sourced from regional farms like the Nam Yên Collective Farm in Da Nang, Vietnam, cold-pressed into pure juice at the brand’s facility in Pensacola, Florida.
Production & Profile
The base of every Dô Asian Cocktails product is five-times-distilled American vodka. This vodka-based formulation distinguishes the brand from malt-based hard seltzers that rely on fermentation byproducts and malt-derived sugars. The lineup’s anchor flavor, chanh dây (Vietnamese passionfruit), ties the brand directly to its founding story. Ingredients include zero artificial sweeteners and zero “natural flavors” additives.
The production process prioritizes real ingredients over chemical additives. Fruit is cold-pressed rather than heated or blended at high speed to preserve vitamins, minerals, and live enzymes inside fresh fruit. Low-speed crushing means less exposure to air, which keeps the juice fresher for longer. The result is 100% pure fruit juice with no added water or artificial preservatives.
Brand & Industry History
Dô Asian Cocktails partners with Project by Project (PbP), a nonprofit developing the next generation of Asian American leaders across Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, and New York. This partnership reflects the brand’s commitment to community investment alongside product growth. The brand operates on three pillars: reclaiming cultural storytelling by and for the Asian American community, ensuring ingredients are real and better for the consumer, and building physical and cultural presence from night markets to shelves across the country.
What This Means
The release shifts the category away from malt-based seltzers toward a vodka-based alternative that is naturally gluten-free. Most seltzers on the shelf today are malt-based, brewed the same way beer is, then stripped of color and flavor and built back up with additives. Dô starts somewhere different by using a clean, neutral spirit base that lets real fruit do the work. The brand invests 88% of its production budget directly into ingredients that matter most.
Consumer Takeaway
Guests at Plate by Plate will be among the first to taste Dô’s signature flavors, sampling the brand’s lineup alongside dishes from AAPI chefs. Following the soft launch, Dô will roll out online and in California based on interest and demand. Each can features real Asian fruit sourced from regional farms like the Nam Yên Collective Farm in Da Nang, cold-pressed into pure juice at the brand’s facility in Pensacola, Florida.
Source: Read the original article
