First Asian American Vodka Seltzer Debuts at Plate by Plate LA Gala

Dô Asian Cocktails will debut at this month's LA's signature AAPI tasting gala, held at the Petersen Automotive Museum on September 19, 2026, pairing 5x distilled American vodka with real, cold-pressed Asian fruit — building "Two Worlds, One Spirit" into every can.

LOS ANGELES, September 2, 2026 — Florida-based 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, debuting as the first Asian American vodka seltzer made with real Asian fruit. Dô is a ready-to-drink vodka seltzer brand built at the intersection of Vietnamese heritage and American craft-spirit standards. Where the category has largely been defined by malt-based hard seltzers and artificial flavoring, Dô claims new ground: real, cold-pressed fruit on a base of 5x-distilled American vodka.

Guests, which includes industry and community leaders, influencers and entertainers, 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 and restaurateurs at one of LA's most anticipated culinary events of the year.

Dô 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 brand's slogan, 'Two Worlds, One Spirit,' reflects both its founding story and its product architecture. Every can features real Asian fruit — sourced from regional farms like the Nam Yên Collective Farm in Da Nang, Vietnam — cold-pressed and built on an American vodka base.

"I grew up split between two worlds — Vietnamese at home, American everywhere else," said Thinh Nguyen, Founder & CEO of Dô Asian Cocktails. "Most people spend years choosing a side. I built Dô instead."

Deep into fitness and clean eating, Steve T. Tran, Co-Founder & CMO, had all but written off alcohol over concerns about artificial flavoring and high sugar content. Therefore, ensuring Dô has zero artificial sweeteners and zero "natural flavors" additives was a non-negotiable. 

Real Ingredients, Real Standards

Every can of Dô starts with fruit sourced from regional farms in Asia, such as passion fruit from the Nam Yên Collective Farm in Da Nang, cold-pressed into pure juice at the brand's facility in Pensacola, Florida, and built on a base of five-times-distilled American vodka. The lineup's anchor flavor, chanh dây (Vietnamese passionfruit), ties the brand directly to its founding story.

"True representation isn't just about seeing our flavors on the shelf," said Steve T. Tran. "It's about lifting our community up from the ground up. When you hold a can of Dô, you're backing a brand that invests time, energy, and resources back into our community."

A Brand Built on Three Pillars

• A Seat at the Table — reclaiming cultural storytelling by and for the Asian American community, on its own terms.
• Better for You Ingredients — real, cold-pressed fruit; no artificial preservatives or chemical additives; vodka-based, not malt.
• American Shelf, Asian Soul — building physical and cultural presence, from night markets and music festivals to shelves at liquor stores and bars across the country.

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, reflecting the brand's commitment to community investment alongside product growth.

Why Vodka, Not Malt

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. As a vodka-based seltzer, Dô is naturally gluten-free, skips the fermentation byproducts and malt-derived sugars that malt seltzers rely on, and uses a clean, neutral spirit base that lets real fruit — not artificial flavoring — do the work.

"We didn't want to make a better malt seltzer. We wanted to make something in a different category entirely," said Thinh Nguyen. "Vodka gave us a cleaner canvas, and real fruit gave us something worth painting on it."

What "Real Fruit" Actually Means at Dô

The fruit in every can of Dô is cold-pressed — not heated, not blended at high speed. Heat and fast blades destroy the vitamins, minerals, and live enzymes inside fresh fruit, so Dô skips them. Low-speed crushing means less exposure to air, which keeps the juice fresher for longer. What's left is 100% pure fruit juice: no added water, no artificial preservatives, nothing to hide behind.

It's the hardest way to make a seltzer. It's also the only way Dô would do it.

Each flavor is rooted in a specific culinary tradition, built to pair with real food, celebrate traditions and occasions, and share with friends and family. Most seltzers aim to be a blank, inoffensive canvas — Dô was built to taste like a specific place and time, with 88% of the brand's production budget going directly into the ingredients that matter most, and that are better for you.

West Coast Soft Launch Details

Dô Asian Cocktails will pour at Plate by Plate Los Angeles on September 19, 2026 at the Petersen Automotive Museum. Tickets and event details are available at platebyplate.org/los-angeles. Following the soft launch, Dô will roll out online and in California based on interest and demand.

For more information, visit DoAsianCocktails.com and follow @DoAsianCocktails on Instagram.

About Dô Asian Cocktails

Dô Asian Cocktails is the first Asian Vodka Seltzer, a ready-to-drink cocktail brand founded by Thinh Nguyen and Steve T. Tran. Vodka-based and Asian American-owned, Dô blends heritage flavors with clean ingredients under the brand philosophy "Two Worlds, One Spirit."