Tasting and Reviewing Top Recommendations

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I'm not gonna to lie like Not that long ago, I was drinking whiteclaws at these kinds of events and I don't think that's the move anymore. It's a judgment free zone, but I can understand if you are ready to elevate. Like you like a nice cocktail. So there's no reason I think you should have to build out a huge bar if you want to have a nice cocktail at home. There are a ton of great options. Yeah, even when I go to more casual events, now there are so many of these more elevated can cocktails that do have really nice drinks like Espresso mitinis, whiskey sours, negronis so You do have a lot of choices these days and I love that. I love it too. and I am really excited that we're going talk to Anneina. She's an associate staff writer on the kitchen team here at Wirecutter. We've had her on the show before. She's absolutely delightful. And she's going to talk about testing these cann cocktails, what she learned, what we can expect and hopefully how to pick the right one to match your vibe Plus, we're gonna do a little taste test live on the show. , welcome to the show. Thanks so much for having me. Welcome back. Thanks. Yeah. So today we are talking about canned cocktails. I think a lot of people still might associate them with a hard seelter, a drink that you bring to a tailgate or a backyard barbecue, and it's something that you're just throwing back and kind of getting drunk. When I was reading your guide didn't recognize any of the brands that you recommend and they look more elevated and sophisticated. It seems like something's changed and you have nine picks in your guide. They range from anything from espresso martinis to margaritas to old fashioned. So what is the difference between these can cocktails in your guide and other alcoholic beverages that you can get in a can? Yeah, I think you really hit the nail on the head with how much the space has changed. I think that a lot of people's introduction to cananned alcoholic beverages is kind of of the tailgate, white cllaw, h noon variety. And we've seen this huge boom in we can kind of say elevated quote unquote cann cocktails, especially during lockdown and COVID. The way that people have socialized really changed and it still hasn't quite gone back to everyone being quite as out and about as they were before. Yeah, I wondered whether it was connected around the pandemic because that's when I started doing a little more searching and researching like good canned cocktails. Yeah. So I wanted to you know, like the kind that you would otherwise maybe get if you went to a cocktail bar. Totally. And that's exactly the need that the industry kind of met the moment These are the kind of drinks that you would at board game night, a dinner party there mixologist approved. They are touting high end liquors. They're really carefully curated and packaged and it's very different than college tail experience. Even just thinking about white claws, like, yeah, I used to love a white cllaw at a cookout, but that was only probably like five percent alcohol was akin to drinking a beer and it seems like these can cocktails are more heavy hitters. Totally That may be a big difference too. like you shouldn't expect to be throwing these back the way you would a white cllaw. You're not crushing seven of these over the span of an entire football game. Some of these are forty percent alcohol Tailes, capital C. they're not the sort of lower ABV sippable crushable drinks of ten years prior My feeling is that at the price point, I know that they vary in price, but at the price point, a good one is a good deal if you're not in a place to go out. and have a drink. That's exactly it. You know, we're based in New York City where a cocktail can cost sometimes Egregiously as high as twenty three dollars depending on where you're going. Oh yeah, eas. Absolutely. Yeah. So you know, a six dollar can cocktail made with high end ingredients and you don't have to stock up on liquor and ingredients the same way. You can have a variety of cocktails at one time, they are quite cost efficient. I remember saving up to buy a bottle of to Cass You know, there's only one size and the size is big.. I'm like I'm gonna have this for twenty seven years. Not everyone wants to curate a bar cart. Not all of us have the space to. I don't want to keep a bottle of vodka in the freezer anymore. It's nice to have the option of You put them out for your guests and they're gone with your guests. and this is it's met the moment We also found that a lot of these brands they really emphasize quality of ingredients in a way that, you know mayaybe you wouldn't expect if the last time you had a canned cocktail was , seven, ten years ago. So they can get pretty close in quality to what you would get at a restaurant or a bar. So you ended up tasting forty cocktails over multiple days for this guide, which sounds like a party at work. Yep What did the actual testing look like? Yeah, it wasn't quite a party. If you were to be with us duringer tasting, it would be kind of gross because we all had our own personal spatoon in the process. Spatoon. You sip it and you spit it out because spit You can kind of get the feel, get the taste and then you don't have to worry about taking, you know, twenty three sips of a cocktail at three PM on a work day. Wow, what a drag. It would be fun, but I feel like we would get less precise tasting notes. the evening go at off. The notes get a little squiggly. Exactly. And we also kind of made an effort to group similar liquors, similar flavor profiles.'s It's really difficult in a cocktail to compare them one to one like we can with a butter taste test or a yogurt taste test. So this wasn't quite as brand concealed as some of our other taste tests may have been. You do wantan to know you're drinking a neegroni before you sip on a negroni. If you're expecting a margarita, you're not gonna to have a favorable opinion of your neegroni. But you guys like covered the label, but you just know like the category of drink try Yes. So we made an effort to compare like to like, and we also took into account that everyone has very different preferences of their favorite drink. And we narrowred it down to something where there's a list where we hope no matter what your preference is, you can find a cocktail for you on the guide. What is your guidance for how to pick the right canned cocktail for you? I mean, beyond If you don't like vodka, don't p a vodka cocktail or if you don't like something, I've noticed a lot of them are effervescent. sometometimes I don't like or want that. But beyond that, how do you suggest people think about it? Actually, to your point, I think that what you said if you don't like vodka or if you don't like whiskey, I think that can cocktails are the best time to try drinks that you may not normally go for just because it is a cheaper, lower commitment way to test out like, you know, do you like an espresso martini, but do you want to keep So ne'cess their ingredients at home, now is a chance to try it But to look for a good canned cocktail, we found that we had the best luck with brands were really specific where they their ingredients And it's something that they were touting or bragging about intentionally. So what would be an example of that? Yeah, so tip top, one of our picks, for example, we love their espresso martini and it was actually one of the few coffee based cocktails that we really enjoyed from the many that we tried. And we found that they specifically mentioned, for example, that they were using counter culture coffee, which is a brand that we also have chat about on our coffee guides on the site. So just that specificity, you know what to expect and you also know that they're not cutting corners and putting you know cheaper booths or cheaper ingredients because there is a lot of concealment that can happen in a can. And so you really want to look for the specifics that the brand is touting. Uually a lot of cocktails aren't too many ingredients. so you really taste each one, which is why that specificity is so important. Like an old fashioned is just whisky, sugar, and bitter. so you want it to be a good quality whiskey. Some brands also even mentioned partnerships with certain mixologists and maybe you like a certain liquor specifically and if you see that it's touting a certain brand, you know, you're more likely to enjoy those than something that's like we're malt liquor at certain percentage and we have cherry natural flavoring. So there's an audience for that, but with ingredients Okay onnt out. We're gonna to talk about a few of your favorites from the guide and do a little taste test, yes, on a weekday at noon. But before that, we're gonna take a quick break. be right back The Funny thing about your mortgage, it kind of runs on autopilot. Same payment, same rate month after month, but SOFI can help make it work harder for you. Explore refinancing options like lowering your monthly payment or tapping into your home equity for cash, so your mortgage is a better fit for your lifestyle. Take your mortgage off autopilot today. Visit soOFi dot com slash powerowermove Mortgages originated by SopFi Bank in a member FDIC NMLS six nine six eight nine one. Terms and conditions apply. equal housing lender. You've never been one to settle. Stand down or stand still. You're a lifelong learner, ennergized by excellence. There's a fire inside you you can't ignore. You've got competition to outrun, momentum to build on. and your own high standards to meet. Stop now? Not a chance. At Capeella University, we help you catch what you're chasing because you've always had the drive. Now, go earn the degree. Capeella University. What can't you do? Visit Cpeella. edu to learn more. comeome back Today we're talking about canned cocktails perfect for your summer gatherings with wire cutters Andra Sinha. Anthra, we know you brought some cocktails for us to taste Let's, I think, take them one by one and we'll sip on them. and you can tell us a little bit about What's going on, why you like them, how they ended up in the guide. Yeah. Okay. so we have kind of an assortment of some trendy ish drinks, some classic drinks and some that maybe newer to an American drrinking culture So let's start with the Jumo. That's the one that I'm most excited about. The primary base in Jumo is Soju And this particular one is mango, Yuja and citrus mint flavored. so we know what mango is. loveo a mango drink. This has Yuja and citrus mint, which is a variety of mint that has citrus notes. So it's lightight, fruity and sweet. So if that's your kind of drink, this is the one to reach for. Let's try Cheers. Cheers cheheers That's refreshing. Yeah. This was one of our favorites just because of how crisp and light it is. Yeah. It really nice. There's like a lingering sweetness that's very distinctly soju and not just sweetener from the fruit flavoring. Yeah. And we thought this was a good introduction to canned soju on the market, which is relatively new The mint really comes through I think Yes. And the soju, and the soju ye is pretty forward, but I like it. And this is lower ABV, so I wouldn't recommend crushing them but this is a nice, you know, sipper. It does.. A little. Sometimes I do need a cocktail to taste like a cocktail. Yes, you take a slow. Yeah. whichich is probably a good segue into this next one. This is the tip top. Yeah, this is a tip top old fashioned. Okay. Really simple, whisky sugar bitters Like a classical fashioned smells like straight whiskey. And this is thirty seven percent ABV, so tread lightly yeah Strong, it is. But this is Rosie's drink. She loves her like a dark liquor. Oh damn. This is not mine, but I can appreciate it Yeah, it's definitely one of the higher quality old fashioned styled drinks that we had, wouldould you like a to of Even for me, I'm good. I don't know if it's ' it's noon or O what, but this is hitting. Yeah It definitely feels strong. It is strong. We really likek there was like a lingering spiciness that we enjoyed. It is The flavor is really deep and nice feels taste complex. Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't taste like a cheap whiskey.. One of our tastterers said that they wouldn't be disappointed if they were served this at a bar. Yeah. I think just broadly across the board, TipTop was a really reliable brand and it's also one that you can find at a lot of liquor stores and it's pretty good price wise. Yes. Is itually like twentyh dollars for a pack of four. Okay, whichich, you know, is still cheaper than all the ingredients of like a high quality whiskey and the necessary tools that you need to make one. Yeah. And again, cheaper than what you're gonna one cocktail in a bar Yeah. Yeah. And likel we split this one can amongst the three of us and we feel like we're good. So you know you can probably stretch those four cans if you really wanted to. That's true. I think for a lot of these can cocktails, we found that they all performed better when they were poured over ice and had kind of a second to mellow out a little bit Should we try What's this other one here? This is actually called Southide. Gin base, this one is slightly effervescent. It's very bubbly and crisp and there's lemon and mint and this is another example of like more of a mature sipping like an alternative to a white claw that feels a little more mature in balance. And this is like, it's a gin cocktail, so it's kind of like a gin and tonic type vibe sort of. Yeah. The lemon and mint is the addition in this one. Oh my days, that's nice. Oh, I love that It's very simple. That's nice. It's very simple. It's very simple, but we found that there was like a crrismness to the gin flavor that came through. you are getting a little bits of juniper and super nice.. It's very refreshing. Not too sweet Yeah, and give it a suack over ice and it'll me out even more. This was dangerous. This is ten percent alcohol. Yeah, I'm gonna fish this. That's yours to keep my fish that off, Mike. The last one Yeah. The last one is the cutwater White Russian, which everyone in the studio is making faces. But Kyra hass been disqualified from drinking this because it has dairy, White Russian. It does. It has kulua, it has vodka and heavy cream Cut waterater was, I think, one of the first can cocktails in the market. I think that they weren't quite as reliable across their hore portfolio the way that ip is tip top is you know, you pick it up, you're going gonna probably enjoy what you're drinking. Cot water just kind of oscillated too much between quality of ingredients and even just how strong they were. Of the men that we tasted, the white Russian felt like the one that we were most excited to recommend, just because it is something that feels special and not one they want to purchase some the ingredients for and keep them on hand. like how often do you really have kolua on hand? Yeah. And so this was our favorite from the mix. I see. So I will preface by saying that We are drinking this in the spring, but this is I think holiday party sort of szipper. Totally you want to split a can with someone. This is a full soda can sized beverage But it is really rich. It's in the sort of vein of a milkshake in the vein of like a mudslide, there are people who love this What do we think? The problem is this is delicious I love this. We found a convert. Tell us more I mean, it tastes like a milkshake. Re? Vodka in. It's sweet though, which is like always a little bit dangerous. Yum It is very sweet. It's very kind of vanilla cream forward It is one of the outliers from our list of picks, but you know Everyone needs their drink and for some people, this is their drink. And thr my final question to you Out of all of the canned cocktails you recommend in your guide, which one are you buying for yourself when you're hosting, when you're going to a picnic? What's your drink of choice? Yeah, I'm actually torn between two that we've tasted right now. the south side and the Jumo. The south side feels like the most sort of broadly crowd pleasing. It's so crisp and light and I can't imagine anyone being upset with a nice crisp gin cocktail.. And the Jumo was the most exciting to me just because