Food

6 New England canned cocktails worth drinking this summer

The New England region is well represented when it comes to the canned cocktails trend.

By Gary Dzen

June 16, 2023

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If you’re reading this story and drink any form of alcohol even semi-regularly, you’re probably familiar with the canned cocktail.

In the last few years the category has gone from obscure to everywhere, crowding shelves already filled with cans of beer, wine, and hard seltzer. Opting for convenience over the craft of something made by your favorite mixologist, canned cocktails as we’re defining them here contain liquor along with other flavors and mixers, often mimicking traditional cocktails served in a glass. Industry folks often refer to them as “RTD’s” for “ready to drink,” but we’ll skip the lingo here. According to NielsenIQ, sales of drinks like these topped $800 million in 2021, with an annual growth rate of 29 percent projected from 2021 to 2025.

Given the dizzying array of canned cocktails available to consumers today, we curated some of our favorites, with an emphasis on local products.

Barr Hill Gin & Tonic: This is the first canned offering from the Vermont-based distillery, which makes its gin with local raw honey. Other particulars here include tonic water Barr Hill spent two years developing, made with real cinchona tree bark. Flavor-wise, there’s no Christmas tree here; you get the floral part of the gin and a nice citrus note, with no added sweeteners.

Casatera Tequila Seltzer: Let’s get something out of the way first: I hate coconut, at least in the fake, add essence-of-suntan lotion to otherwise good food and drinks sense. I do like real coconuts, and Casatera has found a way here to add tequila to a base of what essentially tastes like fancy coconut water. Other flavors in a tropical variety pack include mango, passionfruit, and pineapple, all of which have zero sugar, carbs, or artificial sweeteners.

Dogfish Head cocktails: We’re counting Dogfish Head as local here ever since the Delaware brewery merged with Boston Beer Company. While Dogfish has always nailed the beer game, they’ve also gotten into spirits, most notably with their “Crush” variety pack of canned cocktails. The two standouts here are the “Rum Crush” with pineapple and orange, as well as “Vodka Crush” with grapefruit and pomegranate. There are two full-proof shots in every can, and in addition to more booze there’s a lot more flavor here than with any hard seltzer.

Nantucket Craft Cocktails Pina: You’ve seen the Nantucket “Blue” cans crop up at parties over the last few summers, and if you’re lucky, you may have even tried a “Blue Haired Lady,” a combo of Cisco Brewery’s “Grey Lady” ale and blueberry vodka from Triple Eight Distillers, while on Nantucket. I intended to write about the blueberry canned cocktail here, but the Triple Eight people were so excited about their new offering that I relented. “Pina” combines blanco tequila with pineapple, orange, and a spicy jalapeno finish, and while I didn’t want to like this, nothing overpowers and the drink is truly refreshing.

Loyal 9 Cocktails lemonade: Launched in Rhode Island in 2018, Loyal 9 was acquired by beverage conglomerate Diageo in 2021. The thing to drink here is the classic lemonade, which isn’t too sweet or too tart, contains vodka, weighs in at 9 percent ABV.

Loverboy Limoncello Spritz: You may know Kyle Cooke from Bravo TV’s “Summer House,” where he plays himself as a hard-partying entrepreneur with a soft spot for his and wife Amanda Batula’s two dogs. Originally from New Hampshire, Cooke founded Loverboy when he was seeking a healthier alternative to all the Twisted Tea he used to drink in his youth. The teas are good, but new this summer is a bright, effervescent spritz inspired by the couple’s trip to Italy. It’s available for a limited time on Loverboy’s website.