Gen Z has a drinking problem — the generation that grew up on healthy soda has nowhere to go in the alcohol aisle. That is, until Crooked Pop entered the picture.

Ben Weiss, founder of Bai, returned to the beverage industry to create a USDA-organic, zero-sugar, gluten-free alternative to spiked seltzers and ready-to-drink cocktails. He sat down with ADWEEK executive editor Alison Weissbrot at a Brandweek session to discuss what could be a whole new beverage category.

“Right now, that consumer who grew up drinking Poppi does not have a place to go in alcohol,” Weiss said. “As a matter of fact, they are becoming somewhat sober-curious.”

Most hard seltzers in stores today are made with fermented sugars to create a gluten-free malt alcohol base. There’s also the ready-to-drink cocktail category, which tends to be more expensive as it features distilled spirits.

Rather than attempting to create a healthier hard seltzer, Weiss approached this gap in the market by brewing a new kind of alcohol called osava, made from quinoa, amaranth, millet, and cassava. Weiss said his goal was to create an alcohol that doesn’t rely on sugar and wouldn’t incur an excise tax — and that means distilling was out of the question.

“For me, to develop a super-clean alcohol that lives as a ferment, and not as a spirit, was very important,” Weiss said. “I felt that was the white space that we needed to innovate into, and that’s where we live today.”

Weiss launched Crooked Pop with the intention of disrupting the alcohol industry, Weiss continued, in part inspired by Bai’s positioning and success. Weiss’ initial venture was an antioxidant-infused flavored water made with coffee fruit, which is usually discarded in the coffee-making process. Weiss capitalized on this underused ingredient to create Bai, which he ultimately sold to Dr. Pepper for 1.7 billion dollars.

Crooked Pop is still quite new to consumers, but Weiss is wary of over-explaining the ingredients in this discovery stage. He said he learned from his experience with Bai that forcing a complicated explanation on the consumer right away tends to be a turn-off, even if it is something new and interesting.

Instead, he said it’s better to let the consumer who is seeking a sugar-free product discover Crooked Pop themselves, and as they get to know the brand story, they’ll talk about it. With this strategy in mind, he’s focusing on distribution to grocery stores and sports stadiums, even partnering with professional athletes like Ryan Howard and Trae Young.

“It’s proving to be a game-changer for us,” Weiss said. He added that Crooked sold between three and four thousand cans at a recent Buccaneers game. “That’s a great sampling opportunity for a young brand in the alcohol space.”