Heineken test-markets Charli for women

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Dutch brewing company Heineken International is test-marketing in the Netherlands a new sparkling cider and malt drink for women called Charli.

The concoction, with 5 percent alcohol, is "the perfect alternative to beer and wine," the 143-year-old Amsterdam brewery said.

Charli's taste is made for people who don't like beer and don't entirely trust the quality of wine, said Heineken, the world's fourth-largest brewery.

The company founded by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in 1864 is test-marketing the drink in cafes in the Dutch capital and in Deventer, 70 miles east of Amsterdam, through Oct. 17, the company said.

Heineken hopes to introduce Charli across the Netherlands next summer, the Dutch news agency Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau reported.

The drink will be available on tap and in bottles starting Friday, the brewery said.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.