These are the refreshing, easy-to-carry, and delicious summer drinks you need.
There were very few canned cocktails available five years ago. Why? Why?
While the laws are still in force, states like New Jersey consider changing them. Even though they are more expensive to make, the gamble on canned cocktails paid off. Pop-top cocktails are no longer an exclusive product on supermarket shelves. Pop-top cocktails are easy to transport and are a popular way of enjoying a decent mixed beverage anywhere: parks, pools, parks and everywhere in between.
We still love canned cocktail OGs like Long Drink or Hochstadter’s Slow & Low Rock & Rye. It’s time to try some of the latest offerings. These are our top picks at the moment.
Anheuser Busch purchased Blue Point Grapefruit ZingerThis brewery in 2014. However, it still operates from Patchogue, New York, in 1998. This year it’s offering three vodka-based products in 12-ounce cans at 9.1% ABV. The Grapefruit Zinger is the standout. It looks like grapefruit juice but more bubbly and is rife in fresh pink grapefruit, ginger, and a pithy finish. You can think of it as a Greyhound with more personality.
Boardroom Spirits Vodka Iced Lemon Tea
Boardroom Spirits tried its hand at canned cocktails last summer. It was so successful that it added a Moscow Mule and Vodka Iced Tea to its 355-mL cans. These simple flavors are aimed at adults and don’t overpower the palate. The 5.5% ABV Vodka Iced tea is a great choice. It has a bitter, well-steeped finish that will make you want more.
CanBee Cocktails Bee’s Knees
Black Button Distilling collaborated with professional beekeepers to create this gin-based drink. A portion of each can sell funds CanBee’s Pollinator Conservation Program. It works with bee conservancies around the globe. This lightly carbonated mixture of honey, lemon, gin and carbon dioxide is 8% ABV. It pours out golden, with the sweet honey scent hitting your nose right away. It is sweet and tart and has a refreshing, crisp finish.
Canteen Spirits Cucumber Mint Vodka Soda
This light canned cocktail, which is part of Austin’s Cantina division, is a great choice for those who are calorie- and sugar-conscious. The fizzy 5% ABV highball is just below 100 calories. It fills your nose and palate with fresh cucumber aromas. This refreshing, clean drink transitions to a minty finish.
Cantina Especial Watermelon Margarita
Austin, Texas-based Cantina Spirits recently released a fizzy Margarita in 12-ounce cans with a subtle and refreshing summery watermelon-and-citrus flavor. This Blanco blue Weber-agave-based drink has 5.6% ABV. It is an affordable option to have more than one during a long sunny afternoon at the pool.
Cutwater Peach Margarita
The Peach Margarita is one of the most recent additions to this extensive range of canned cocktails. With a 10% ABV, tequila will be the first thing you notice. The subtle peach flavors blend well with the tequila’s palate. There’s also a strawberry version.
Deloce Espresso Martini
The Espresso Martini is back in the spotlight of bar culture. Bartenders agree that it’s high time for a revival. This company is going one step further. Uncarbonated cans of 6.8 ounces should be shaken before pouring the vodka-based 11% ABV drink. You’re in for a pleasant surprise, coffee lovers: The drink isn’t a sugar bomb. Instead, it has a subtle cocoa flavor that melds with the beans. While the finish may be a bit short, the cocoa flavors linger.
Drifter Cocktail Co. Passion Fruit Caipirinha
For poolside cocktail nerds, the initial release of 7% ABV cans comprises a trio of star-bartender-created cocktails by Nico de Soto, Michael Neff, and Mariena Mercer Boarini. The refreshing, juicy Passion Fruit Caipirinha is the last. It’s a delicious combination of passion fruit juices, cachaca, lemongrass, cardamom and vanilla that’s both rich and refreshing.
Fishers Island Lemonade Spiked tea
This company was an early participant in the can-cocktail movement. Its original offering was a canned vodka-whiskey concoction made behind bars at the Pequot Inn on Fishers Island. This Arnold Palmer-inspired spiked 7% ABV Arnold Palmer tea is one of its latest offerings. This version has the same whiskey-vodka–citrus base as the original but brewed tea. It is lemony, delicious, and extremely easy to drink.
Jim Beam Highball
It’s not surprising that Beam, a legendary bourbon drinker, would be interested in the canned-cocktail boom. These classic 5% ABV bourbon and seltzer highballs are mildly citrusy with a slight orange-lemon kick. The unattractive packaging might not enthrall you. It is a high-quality cocktail in a can made by one of America’s most renowned bourbon producers.