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
For almost 100 years, Tequila Cazadores has been producing 100% Blue Weber agave tequila from the highlands of Jalisco, Mexico. Naturally, Cazadores recently launched a trio of sparkling, ready-to-drink versions of classic Mexican cocktails made ...
Chandon is as ubiquitous as it gets in the sparkling wines category. And given the way of the beverage world at the moment, it should be no surprise that they too have decided to branch ...
Canned gin & tonic is on the rise, and many of them are surprisingly solid in quality. While we’ve been worried that the new trend toward ready-to-drink cocktails would result in gin & tonics that ...
Fabrizia Spirits, based out of Salem, New Hampshire, is the leading producer of limoncello in the U.S. It has been expanding its line of liqueurs and ready-to-drink cocktails over the past few years, some of ...
Our coverage of the products of Vermont’s Mad River Distillers — a grain to glass operation that produces bourbon, rye, rum, and apple brandy — has been scattershot, as new products have been released over ...
New Liberty Distillery was started in 2004 by Robert Cassell with a focus on Pennsylvania’s whiskey heritage. But this review will not be about whiskey. It’s founder has now launched a new spirits company, American ...
Jim Beam has jumped into the ready-to-drink canned cocktail scene with highballs to go. Their angle? To solve for “beer boredom” and provide alternatives for all-day “sessionable” summertime sipping. These to-go varieties are inspired by ...
Straightaway Cocktails, from Portland, Oregon, is a newcomer to the ready-to-drink space. While they have been around only since the end of 2018, Straightaway has rapidly expanded with three product lines currently offered. While Accompani ...
With all of the ready-to-drink cocktails that have been coming out lately, it is surprising that it took so long for the classic gin and tonic to appear (though perhaps that’s because this is literally ...
One of the pioneers of ready-to-drink cocktails is Fishers Island Lemonade, launched by Bronya Shillo in 2014 based off the popular signature cocktail served up at the Pequot Inn (based in Fishers Island), which was ...
