You may find it hard to believe, but the canned cocktail craze has only gotten crazier ever since most of us decided to spend the spring/summer/indefinite future hiding from our neighborhood bar. Outside of groceries, booze has really been the only thing any of us could shop for, so sales have been booming, tequila foremost among all other spirits categories. At the intersection of those two worlds comes canned sparkling tequila cocktails, something we haven’t really tackled much here at Drinkhacker but a beverage that seems to be gaining in popularity during the summer of “Corona.” One of the newer players in this space is Onda. Their sparkling tequila, which comes in lime and grapefruit flavors, is made from a blanco tequila sourced from an unidentified, but reportedly highly awarded, distillery in Jalisco. Each is 5% abv, 100 calories, and carb, sugar, and gluten free.

Onda Sparkling Tequila Grapefruit – The grapefruit comes through generously on the nose, ripe but without much sweetness. The only trace of tequila in the aroma is a slight bit of cooked agave, but for the most part this smells like a grapefruit seltzer. The palate is light, as expected, but there’s actually a bit of body here, which with the carbonation gives the whole thing a cream soda quality. It’s only mildly sweet and the flavors aren’t huge: subtle roasted agave and fresh-squeezed grapefruit, both of which come across without any artificial overtones or aftertaste. For those who enjoy a dry Paloma, this is your new cocktail-in-a-can. A- [BUY IT NOW FROM TOTAL WINE]

Onda Sparkling Tequila Lime – The lime notes are faint on the nose with even less evident sweetness and signs of tequila than the grapefruit option. On the palate, the flavors are more pronounced. It’s all lime soda with minimal signs of agave, but manages to hit the palate as clean and refreshing. The lime notes are a touch more artificial than the grapefruit version however, without much tartness and a peculiar bit of cinnamon on the finish. Still, it’s a nicely balanced, low-calorie alternative to those terrible poolside frozen margaritas. B+ 

$15 per 4-pack / drinkonda.com

[This is our 7500th post, y’all! Woo woo! -Ed.]

Onda Sparkling Tequila Grapefruit

$15

8.5

Rating

8.5/10

BUY IT NOW