![]() The ultimate effect is like a return to the absolute nadir of the tiki cocktail, which occurred in the 1970s-1990s as traditional recipes were abandoned and most drinks simply became colorful, horrendously sweetened disasters. Instead, they respond by dumbing down the cocktail recipes, offering insipid, weak versions that fit in better alongside more basic mixed drinks. In short, these drinks are generally too complex, too strong, too exotic and too situational for RTD companies to ultimately offer an accurate, premixed version. The hurdles standing in the way of a great canned version of a classic tiki cocktail such as the mai tai are numerous, so let’s go through them here. Why Canned Tiki Cocktails are Being Butchered Whereas it’s not difficult to offer a legitimate canned version of a gin & tonic or an old fashioned, classic tiki cocktails are getting absolutely abused in this emerging market, and it threatens to both devalue the image of the drinks themselves and turn an entire new generation off the glory of well-made tiki drinks.Īn actual mai tai, in its natural habitat. They do, however, seem to recognize the value of a term like “mai tai,” and what we’ve seen in response is a new wave of abominable bastardizations of classic tiki drinks. I’m talking about classic, rum-based tiki/tropical cocktails, which inherently demand a level of preparation and complexity that is outside the realm of what RTD drink makers want to offer. There is one area of the RTD market, though, that stands out as deeply problematic and inherently unsuited to being contained in a can in the first place. This is a canned cocktail as it ought to be, the closest thing one can get to just bottling a batch from the bar. A company such as Golden Rule Spirits particularly impresses in the way they deliver no more and no less than what is promised: A legitimate old fashioned, at a strength (79 proof!) that assures the drinker there’s nothing at all included beyond whiskey, sugar and bitters. I’ve personally tasted and reviewed a fair number of these drinks for Paste, and there are some quality examples on the market-faithful canned takes on simple, classic cocktails such as the old fashioned, margarita or Manhattan. These facts, in and of themselves, aren’t necessarily something we think is bad news for drinkers who appreciate good cocktails. ![]() These are the boom times for canned cocktails, in other words, and all the biggest players in the alcohol industry have scrambled to get a piece of the action. ![]() ![]() Spirits-based RTDs in particular (as opposed to flavored malt beverages that mislead consumers into thinking they contain spirits, more on that later) have seen meteoric growth, with spirit-based seltzers and RTD cocktails growing 60% or more in chain retail stores in 2021. Perhaps initially in response to scenarios that saw Americans trapped in their homes and unable to hit the local bar scene, but eventually gaining strength and sentience all its own, the RTD boom has leaned on convenience as its primary feature, promising consumers the ability to take their favorite, pre-mixed cocktails wherever they want. There’s no denying that from both a business and drinking culture point of view, one of the biggest stories of the pandemic era has been the meteoric rise of ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails. ![]()
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