15 Brands With Canned Beverages Worth Trying Whenever Possible
The summer 2020 season may now be behind us, but there is never a shortage of reasons to kick back, celebrate and/or cool off. As many top beverage producers — of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic sectors — are making drinks in canned form, below are 15 recommended brands with canned beverages worth trying this season (or whenever is most suitable for you).
River Dip
At first you see
only rocks and a black dirt path.
Then there is the sound
of water trickling beside you
–…Posted by Suu Kuu on Sunday, September 20, 2020
Suu Kuu was started in 2018 by West Michigan herbalist and student of Anthroposophy, Erika Hanson. Ms. Hanson has been connected to and involved with plants for over 30 years, integrated deeply into her life as plant allies, or as beautiful inspiration and sources of joy, or as plant-based whole food, or plant medicines. Suu Kuu makes high vibrational formulas to maximize vitality, featuring freshly dried and extracted, organic tonic and adaptogenic herbs. The hemp extract featured in many of our products can promote well being, both physically and mentally, and can work with the other ingredients to expand their potential. In turn, in all of its multi-dimensional formulas, the brand focuses on high bio-availability.
Inspired by traditional Icelandic restorative mineral tonics, Suu Kuu’s hemp tonics offer a modern twist. Joining the brand’s lineup of tinctures, topicals and skincare products, its hemp tonics are an accessible and refreshing way to sip on powerful plants and essential minerals on-the-go. The flavors include Grapefruit Nettle Tonic (a fruity, organic blend that targets your nervous system for when you are feeling on-edge), Magnesium Mint Tonic (like a natural cream soda with full relaxation benefits) and Celery Lime Tonic. All Suu Kuu tonics are made with pure plant extracts and broad spectrum CBD with zero THC guaranteed. They are available online or via select wellness retailers and start at $6.
Born and raised in the Rockaway Beach neighborhood of Queens, Bridget Firtle’s true happy place is the beach. After receiving her MBA in 2007, Ms. Firtle began her career on Wall Street at a hedge fund as a consumer goods investor with a focus in global alcoholic beverage companies. In 2012, she saw an opportunity to join the renaissance occurring in American distilling and founded Owney’s Rum, New York City’s only rum distillery, where she was recognized as a “Forbes 30 Under 30,” “Zagat 30 Under 30” and one of “Imbibe’s 75 People to Watch.” Within 5 years of the launch, Bridget formed a strategic partnership with international spirits company Proximo Spirits, and in early 2020 she successfully sold that company to launch Rockaway.
Rockaway is a new sparkling water that embodies the creative, unfaltering energy of New York City and offers functional benefits from powerful plants and adaptogenic herbs. The It launched nationally this month with 4 flavors: Coastal Immunity, Tidal Defense, Endless Summer Energy, and Last Stop Chill. Embracing the unique history and energy of the Rockaways — where the New York City streets meet the calming Atlantic beach — Rockaway aims to bring balance to an oftentimes chaotic day. Each flavor includes sea salt, a nod to Bridget’s oceanside hometown, and is packed with plant-based ingredients and herbs that help promote functional benefits, ranging from an immunity boost to improved sleep quality, and more. As a member of 1% For The Planet, Rockaway donates 1 percent of its sales to the local NYC chapter of The Surfrider Foundation, a global non-profit dedicated to protecting the world’s beaches.
Health-Ade makes bubbly, probiotic-filled kombucha that is both delicious and good for you. Recently, Health-Ade unveiled a new, redefined soda called Health-Ade Booch Pop that is made with its signature kombucha, minerals and prebiotics. It is soda-esque in carrying carbonation, full flavor and the seriously-satisfying taste you crave, but with added belly benefits, way less sugar and nothing fake. The perfect complement to Health-Ade’s probiotic-packed kombucha.
RANKED! The Top 10 Canned Cocktails For Making Labor Day Weekend Perfectly Labor-Free https://t.co/tZdRX079Lk
— Socialhour (@DrinkSocialHour) September 4, 2020
Social Hour is a line of ready-to-drink, canned cocktails inspired by Julie Reiner (Clover Club, Leyenda) and Clover Club’s longtime Beverage Director Tom Macy’s favorite drink recipes. Made locally with spirits from New York City’s premier craft distillery, the New York Distilling Company, Social Hour simultaneously evolves the craft cocktail category while elevating the caliber of ready-to-drink cocktails available. Social Hour’s Gin & Tonic, Whiskey Mule and Pacific Spritz — all launched over the summer in New York and New Jersey with more markets to follow shortly — let drinkers enjoy authentic craft cocktails anytime with a low-ABV above.
The Pacific Spritz, an airy Aperitivo-style cocktail clocks in at 8 percent ABV, with grapefruit, a hint of passionfruit, and of course bubbles. Light and refreshing, the Spritz steers away from sweetness and delights with fizzy, pleasantly bitter flavor notes. Definitely a brand to keep your eye on, especially with a great name like that.
Del’s Rhode Island Hard Tea from Narragansett Beer
The thirst-quenching professionals at Narragansett Beer and Del’s Lemonade have teamed up to bring another Refreshingly Different collaboration to your coolers, Del’s Rhode Island Hard Tea. With the perfect balance of natural tea flavor and a touch of lemon, the new Rhode Island Hard Tea makes for the ultimate year-round sidekick. The 6th collaboration between the two iconic Rhode Island brands is made for those looking for something outside the status quo. Lightly-carbonated, Rhode Island Hard Tea is painstakingly-brewed to take all that your party-hard, outdoors-harder, extra-mile, “I-earned-this-one” life can throw at it.
At 5 percent ABV, Del’s Rhode Island Hard Tea is available in a 6-pack of 16-ounce and 24-ounce cans for market price, between $9.49 and $9.99. Del’s Rhode Island Hard Tea will be distributed throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio, with more markets to follow.
Tanqueray Crafted Gin Cocktails In A Can
A delicious, new range of versatile cocktails that are ready to pour over ice or enjoy chilled, directly from the can, Tanqueray Crafted Gin Cocktails were inspired by Charles Tanqueray’s original recipes and use both real Tanqueray Gin and natural flavors. Finished with tonic water, Tanqueray Crafted Gin Cocktails are available in 3 variants: Tanqueray Gin & Tonic, Tanqueray Rangpur Lime Gin & Soda, and Tanqueray Sevilla Orange Gin & Soda. Tanqueray Gin & Tonic is a perfectly-blended cocktail made with the iconic Tanqueray London Dry Gin and an aromatic tonic. Tanqueray Sevilla Orange Gin & Soda starts with a burst of orange essence, paired with notes of peach, rose and juniper, and its aromatic citrus and gin flavors give way to a smooth and slightly sweet finish. Tanqueray Rangpur Lime Gin & Soda is made with Tanqueray Rangpur Distilled Gin, and its lime and botanical flavors carry through to a crisp and slightly dry finish.
Tanqueray Crafted Gin Cocktails In A Can each have a 6 percent ABV and are 4-packs are available for $14.99. The select markets in which the product has already launched include Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois and Washington.
Austin Eastciders produces craft ciders in Austin, Texas using all-natural ingredients and bittersweet apples to create traditionally-inspired ciders. Helping to move the mainstream toward a hard cider that is lower in sugar while featuring more complex flavor profiles, Austin Eastcider’s offers a range of styles created to appeal to beer, wine, and cider drinkers alike. On their own, Austin Eastciders can be mixed into a cocktail, or served with a shot of whiskey, proving that there is no wrong way to enjoy an Austin Eastcider.
For the fall 2020 season, Austin Eastciders has launched a new Limited Release Cranberry Cider that uses a blend of bittersweet apples and real cranberry juice for a tart yet light and refreshing beverage. Beyond enjoying on its own, you can consider this one as a base for a holiday punch.
Stone Brewing’s No Stone Unturned
Founded by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner in 1996, the groundbreaking San Diego-based Stone Brewing is the 9th largest craft brewer in the United States. Recognized as an award-winning industry leader, Stone has been listed on the “Fastest-Growing Private Companies” list of Inc. more than 10 times and has been called the “All-time Top Brewery on Planet Earth” by BeerAdvocate twice. Still new-ish from Stone Brewing is its Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager. Brewer Ben Sheehan created this beer while working down at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station. Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager’s inspiration comes from Southern California, which is vibrantly-influenced by our neighbors to the South.
Not technically canned, but also new-ish and interesting from Stone Brewing are its “No Stone Unturned” bottles, which feature upside product labels. In the words of Greg Koch himself: “These upside down labels aren’t a mistake. They’re the visual manifestation of our most deeply-held belief. Because in the pursuit of craft beer perfection, we leave no Stone unturned.”
Cutwater Spirits’ Long Island Iced Tea
A leader in the canned cocktails space, Cutwater Spirits is one of the few distillers in San Diego to distill authentic tequila. And last year, Cutwater recently launched its first-ever tequila, Rayador Tequila Blanco. There are currently 18 Cutwater canned cocktails to choose from, including drinks with whiskey, vodka, gin and rum. Notably, its Vodka Soda offering includes the award-winning Fugu Vodka, 6 times distilled and lightly-flavored with cucumber, grapefruit and lime soda water.
Notably, last month Cutwater Spirits released a brand-new, ready-to-enjoy canned cocktail: a Long Island Iced Tea. The 13.2 percent ABV throwback everyone needs right now, Cutwater’s elevated interpretation of the notorious dive bar classic features four of the brand’s award-winning spirits: Rum, Gin, Cutwater Vodka and Cutwater Tequila, along with citrus notes and a splash of cola. Delicious and strong.
Elysian Brewing’s Halloween Beers
3-time “Large Brewpub Of The Year” at the Great American Beer Festival, the Elysian Brewing Company operates 3 locations and a production brewery in Seattle, Washington. Known both for classic styles and for flexibility and innovation, Elysian has brewed over 500 different recipes since opening in 1996. While Elysian’s brewers use a variety of unusual ingredients, they are seasonally-notorious for their pumpkin beers. The Night Owl is Elysian’s original pumpkin ale, and it comes in both 6-pack cans and bottles. A very drinkable pumpkin ale, it is brewed with pumpkin puree and juice and spiced in conditioning with ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice.
Elsewhere on the Halloween spectrum, the Punkuccino is another pumpkin-related offering from Elysian Brewing, a pumpkin ale with the attitude of a world-weary barista. The Great Pumpki is an Imperial Pumpkin Ale, featuring intense pumpkin, sugar and spice on the nose with a nice bready and malty backdrop to help tame all those autumn spices into a remarkably smooth, balanced and delectable fall treat. Its Dark ‘O The Moon is a pumpkin stout that is spookily smooth and chocolatey with a touch of cinnamon. Elysian is also the maker of the Rolling Stone Lager, as co-created with the legendary publication. So there is uncertainly something for every beer-drinker with Elysian.
Devils Backbone Distilling Co.
The Devils Backbone Distilling Co., a Virginia-based brewery, recently released premium, ready-to-drink canned cocktails distilled with real spirits and high-quality ingredients. From the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains straight to your home bar comes these natural, delicious craft cans in 4 fresh, powerful cocktails: Vodka Soda, Orange Smash, Vodka Mule, and Gin & Tonic. My favorite of the batch is the Orange Smash. From that one you can expect fresh crushed citrus and real vodka, as combined with orange juice and lemon-lime flavors. Strong but not too strong, as meant in the best of ways.
CANTEEN is a line of canned vodka and sodas in a variety of refreshing flavors. CANTEEN’s products made with real vodka and all-natural ingredients in a 12-ounce can that will actually fit in your boat or golf-cart cup-holders and koozies; founder Brandon Cason made the cans in a regular size for this exact reason since skinny cans fall all over the place. Cason also founded Waterloo Sparkling Water and served as the longtime Vice President of Marketing for Deep Eddy Vodka prior to the launch of CANTEEN. All 5 flavors — Watermelon, Black Cherry, Lime, Grapefruit and Cucumber Mint, with more expected to be launching in Fall 2020 — carry 5 percent ABV, 99 calories, zero carbs and no grams of sugar in each can. Single-flavor 6-packs of CANTEEN currently have a suggested retail price of $9.99, while variety packs are expected to be on the market in the very near-future.
Caveman Coffee Co. is a buzzed-about, Amazon-friendly brand known for healthy, nutritious specialty coffees. It expanded its product line this summer to offer something different in the cold brew categoryl the brand’s original cold brew beverage was a #1 best-seller in its category on Amazon. Its Sparkling Hibiscus Cold Brew Herbal Tea is the herbal beverage brewed cold with hibiscus flowers and lemongrass. This is “version 2.0” of the canned tea you may be used to.
Cellucor’s C4 Energy is reportedly the best-selling pre-workout brand in the nation, with over 3 billion servings sold since its launch in 2011; additionally, C4 is also said to be the fastest-growing energy drink on the market. Powered by InnovaTea Naturally Derived Caffeine (from tea), brain-boosting Cognizin® Citicoline, and the additional support of N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, C4 Smart Energy delivers energy, focus, and mental performance to help you conquer any task—from work to play, gaming to studying, partying to planning. C4 Smart Energy is proudly made with natural flavors, no artificial colors or dyes, and contains zero calories, sugar or carbs.
Last year Lifted Libations recently took Second Place for “Judges’ Choice” in the Distilled Category at Fizz Fight, the first official hard seltzer festival. Unlike White Claw and Truly, which are reportedly just fermented cane sugar with added fruit flavors, Lifted Libations uses nothing but organic distilled spirits and all-natural ingredients with no added sugar. The result from Lifted Libations is a pure, clean taste and buzz, which initially came offered via in the Currant, Orange, Lime, and Grapefruit flavors canned cocktails. New from Lifted Librations are 2 additional flavors: Mile High Mule (Vodka, Ginger and Lime) and Tee Time (Vodka, Tea and Lemonade) — and the greatness continues!
TweetAbout the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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