GS25's new highball marks chatbot's mixology debut

The first-ever alcoholic beverage created by a chatbot will be released by convenience store franchise GS25 on Wednesday. GS25 collaborated with alcohol producer Brewguru to create “AskUp Lemon Sparkle Highball,” a whiskey highball for which...

AskUp Lemon Sparkle Highball will be released in GS25 branches on Wednesday. [GS RETAIL]

The first-ever alcoholic beverage created by a chatbot will be released by convenience store franchise GS25 on Wednesday.

GS25 collaborated with alcohol producer Brewguru to create “AskUp Lemon Sparkle Highball,” a whiskey highball for which the chatbot service “AskUp” decided the taste, alcohol percentage, recipe, design, product name and price.

Developing the beverage took about a month, according to GS Retail, which operates the convenience store. Employees asked the chatbot questions such as, “What is a recipe for a delicious highball?” and “How should we design the can label?”

The beverage's flavor is highlighted by a mixture of lemon and oak-aged whiskey. The can design brings together the colors mint and yellow, which signify the product’s taste, as recommended by AskUp.

The highball is 5.5 percent alcohol by volume and costs 4,500 won ($3.36) per can or 12,000 won per three cans.

With the release of chatbot-created alcohol, GS25 is considering utilizing artificial intelligence to create other products as well as using related services to create new customer experiences.

AskUp is a chatbot service that was created by artificial intelligence startup Upstage which was released on KakaoTalk in March. The service was also launched on the messenger app Line earlier this month.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]