Ready-to-Drink/Premixed Cocktails
Ready-to-drink or RTD cocktails got their start as so-called “alcopop” beverages, such as Smirnoff Ice, which are malt liquor-based beverages that approximated a cocktail experience through the addition of different flavorings, generally sugar- and fruit-heavy, plus a healthy amount of carbonation. As with most alcoholic beverages, RTD products have moved upscale in recent years, with numerous craft distillers producing genuine cocktails ready to drink out of the can or bottle. These are often made with the identical ingredients you’d get if you made the cocktail from scratch, though quality tends to vary considerably.
Top Ready-to-Drink Cocktail Posts:
Zima
Cutwater Spirits Whiskey Highball and Whiskey Lemon Tea
Truly Spiked & Sparkling Water
Hercules Mulligan is a minor figure in American history — and a somewhat larger figure in the musical Hamilton — and now the old Mulligan has a ready-to-drink cocktail named in his honor. It’s a complicated blend of three aged rums, three rye whiskeys, bitters, and fresh ginger — plus a splash of simple syrup. The…
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We’re back with more from Drnxmyth, one of my favorite ready-to-drink brands on the market. As a reminder, these are kept cold and come packaged in unique two-chamber containers, booze on top, juice on the bottom. Twist the two together and you’ve got a cocktail ready for a glass of ice. Abv for each hovers…
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One wouldn’t expect to find a ready-to-drink seltzer made with absinth in the mountains of Georgia, but that’s just what Oldknow Bev Co. has been doing, using its own interpretation of the green fairy — plus versions with gin and vodka — to make a canned, fizzy, ready-to-drink cocktail. Are the masses ready to sip…
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We reviewed Buzzbox’s Perfect Margarita earlier this year, and today we are trying their Tequila Paloma. I was happy to see that they have changed the shape of the cocktail box so that it no longer resembles a children’s juice box, but it is still eco-friendly and recyclable (including the cap, which is plant-based). There…
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Onda is a brand of tequila seltzers that leads with its lifestyle credo of “endless summer in a can,” replete with a retro vibe website that evokes the “surf style of the ’90s.” The drinks comprise blended tequila blanco, seltzer, and real fruit juice, nothing more, not even added sweeteners. (Though note: one never can…
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Launched in 2016, On The Rocks ready-to-drink cocktails seem to have held a solid footing in the RTD space and chances are high that you have already seen bottles of On The Rocks at your neighborhood stores. The beverages aim to stick with traditional recipes and start with premium well-known branded spirits as their base.…
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Lemonade Stand at Main & Vine is brought to you by The Wine Group, which includes in its hefty wine portfolio familiar brands such as Cupcake Vineyards, Franzia, Chloe, Benziger Family Winery, and of course, Main & Vine. The new ready-to-drink cocktail line bottled under the Lemonade Stand moniker aims to widen the reach of…
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You’re a major spirits company with some well-known brands in your portfolio, and you know people are going to make cocktails out of them. What do you do? Why, you release them as ready-to-drink versions, of course. Brown-Forman is no stranger to the RTD bandwagon — its Old Forester Mint Julep is an instant winner…
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Ready-to-drink fans take notice. We may be experiencing the halcyon days of canned cocktails now that a brand as well-respected as Death & Co. has thrown their impressively plumed hat in the ring. Last fall, in partnership with Craft Spirits Cooperative, the company launched a line of three canned libations modeled after original cocktails created…
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Drinkhacker dove into Lunar’s original core line last year with a nod of approval. Recently the brand has partnered with high-profile NYC area Asian-owned restaurants for a limited series “Sunset Edition” of its Heritage Line, this time aiming to bring “the warm, bustling yet relaxing Asian beachside market to New York City with this lineup…
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