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The 17 Best Canned Cocktails to Drink

All of your favorite drinks pre-mixed in a convenient can.

collage of three canned cocktails Total Wine, Drizly

By Tyler Chin and Johnny Brayson

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Canned cocktails have been huge over the past few years. The segment surged during the covid-19 pandemic — likely a result of people not being able to go out to bars — with the IWSR, which analyzes the alcoholic beverage market, clocking growth in the ready-to-drink sector at 43 percent back in 2020. A few years later and there are no signs of slowing for RTDs, with consumers clearly appreciating the convenience offered by canned cocktails and brands continually producing higher-quality libations that rival homemade or even bar-made concoctions.

It’s nearly impossible to find a cocktail that isn’t available in a can these days. An old fashioned that’s better than the muddled fruit abomination you’d get in a hotel bar? It exists. A well-made margarita with quality tequila that won’t give you a hangover? Yes, those exist too. A mai tai made with actual mai tai ingredients? Yep, you can even find that. Then there’s a variety of spritzes and highballs that — while easy to make on your own — are just so much better when drunk from a can. The beverage aisle is overflowing right now with really good canned cocktails, but these 17 should be in your fridge right now.

Products in the Guide

  • F!ve Drinks Co. x Dante Americano 2.0

    Best Canned Aperitif Cocktail

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  • The Finnish Long Drink

    Best Canned Gin Cocktail

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  • Fishers Island Lemonade

    Best Canned Hard Lemonade

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  • Drifter Cocktail Co. Passion Fruit Caipirinha

    Best Canned Caipirinha

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  • Social Hour Cocktails Gin & Tonic

    Best Canned Gin & Tonic

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  • Hochstadter’s Slow & Low Rock and Rye

    Best Canned Whiskey Cocktail

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  • ABV: 9.5%
  • Price Per Can: $4

Dante, ranked at one point as the world’s best bar, is known for bringing a nostalgic piece of Italy to New York. And the folks behind the bar make a mean cocktail. The bar worked with esteemed canned cocktail brand F!ve Drinks Co. to bring its Americano aperitif to the masses. It’s bitter and sweet thanks to a blend of amaro, vermouth and bitters with a splash of soda water to help things go down smoothly.

  • ABV: 5.5%
  • Price Per Can: $3

In Finland, long drinks are called lonkero, and they were invented in 1952 as a way to get tourists buzzed (but not blasted) during the Summer Olympic Games in Helsinki. With a gin base and citrus-forward flavor, the popular Long Drink is a crisp and thirst-quenching brew that rivals your favorite hard seltzer. The drink also has an interesting (and bizarre) marketing team, with actor Miles Teller, DJ Kygo and golfer Ricky Fowler all becoming fans of the drink somewhat organically and joining the brand as investors and de facto ambassadors.

  • ABV: 9%
  • Price Per Can: $4

This is not the lemonade you get from a child’s lemonade stand. Clocking in at a whopping 9% ABV, Fishers Island Lemonade is made with a base of both vodka and whiskey and tastes like your childhood but drunk. The brand’s CEO, Bronya Shillo, got the recipe for the drink from her family’s bar, The Pequot Inn, which is located on Fishers Island, New York. Our tester says the drink is very sweet, but there is nothing better than drinking a cold one (with a straw) in the summer on the beach. She also adds that it will get you DRUNK (emphasis hers), so tread carefully.

  • ABV: 7%
  • Price Per Can: $5

Drifter Cocktail Co. gives top bartenders a chance to can their creations and share it with the world. Mariena Mercer Boarini, mixologist at the Wynn Las Vegas, utilizes the Brazilian spirit Cachaça in her creation, the Passion Fruit Caipirinha, which combines the funk of fermented sugarcane with lime and passion fruit juices, as well as vanilla, cardamom and lemongrass, to create an upscale mixology version of the classic Brazilian cocktail.

  • ABV: 11.5%
  • Price Per Can: $5

Few cocktails are easier to make than a gin and tonic. So if you’re going to buy a canned G&T, it had better be perfect. Social Hour made its version of the classic gin cocktail by using the ideal three-to-one ratio of tonic to gin. And unlike some other canned cocktail brands that don’t disclose where they get their spirits from, Social Hour uses Perry’s Tot Navy Strength Gin, a high-ABV gin that retains its flavors even after being mixed.

  • ABV: 42%
  • Price Per Can: $5

Slow & Low is an old fashioned that isn’t so old fashioned. It uses Hochstadter’s Slow & Low rye whiskey, raw honey from Pennsylvania and air-dried Florida navel oranges. And because it is an old fashioned, there are, of course, Angostura bitters and some rock candy. Drink it straight from the can, or pour it over ice for a drink you’d expect to pay $18 for at a craft cocktail bar. Plus, at 84 proof, this isn’t watered down in the slightest — it’s more or less equivalent to a can of whiskey.

  • ABV: 8%
  • Price Per Can: $6

Vervet is making a name for itself in the canned cocktail space because it makes literally everything from scratch. The amaro, bitters, spirits — it’s all made in-house. Vervet describes this as a “boozy strawberry soda,” and that’s as accurate as it gets. It’s made with cold-pressed Oxnard strawberry juice, champagne vinegar, rhubarb-oak bitters and amaro. This is something you’ll enjoy from sunup to sundown if you’re into bubbles.

Tip Top Proper Cocktails Espresso MartiniDrizly

Best Canned Espresso Martini

Tip Top Proper Cocktails Espresso Martini

  • ABV: 22%
  • Price Per Can: $5

Espresso martinis are having a moment in 2023. The ’90s castoff cocktail is suddenly everywhere, with “National Espresso Martini Day” practically becoming a national holiday this year. The drinks are still kind of a pain to make though, especially if you’re trying to craft your own, which is what makes Tip Top’s version so great. Strong but not too strong, with a bold coffee flavor, this can contains vodka, vanilla and real espresso from Counter Culture Coffee.

  • ABV: 7%
  • Price Per Can: $4

There’s a pretty good chance that Cutwater is the first brand that comes to mind when you think of canned cocktails. A trailblazer on the scene, the brand’s offerings are likely lining the beer case at your local grocer this very moment. And while pretty much all of Cutwater’s offerings are popular, its Vodka Mule is arguably its best offering. A mix of ginger beer and lime flavoring with the brand’s own 15-times-filtered vodka, this is smooth and refreshing with the perfect amount of bite.

  • ABV: 5.9%
  • Price Per Can: $4

There is no shortage of canned margaritas on the market, but you’ll struggle to find a better version than the one from tequila brand Cazadores. It’s made with Cazadores 100-percent blue agave blanco tequila — high-quality stuff — with real lime juice, the oft-forgotten orange liqueur and, as a lengthener, sparkling water. The ABV here is closer to a beer than a cocktail, making this an easy sipper with loads of true margarita flavor.

  • ABV: 39.5%
  • Price Per Can: $5

Considering the fact that this can has a picture of an Eames Lounge Chair on it, we’d consider buying it regardless of what it tastes like. Thankfully, the stuff inside is quite good. Golden Rule’s version of a canned old fashioned is made with three-year-old bourbon and rounded out with sugar, bitters and a touch of citrus, with nothing artificial. At 79 proof it’s a legit cocktail and is best enjoyed ice cold or over ice.

  • ABV: 23.5%
  • Price Per Can: $4

Is there any cocktail with a more tarnished reputation than the mai tai? Try ordering Trader Vic’s mid-century creation in most bars and you’ll get some abomination filled with pineapple, grenadine and other de facto tropical ingredients that don’t belong in the drink. Bucking the trend is Post Meridiem, which makes a mai tai better than most bars by sticking to the original recipe of rum, real lime juice, orange curacao and almond-tinged orgeat syrup. Vic would be proud.

Dogfish Head Vodka Crush Blood Orange & MangoDrizly

Best Canned Vodka Cocktail

Dogfish Head Vodka Crush Blood Orange & Mango

  • ABV: 7%
  • Price Per Can: $3

Yes, Dogfish Head is a brewery, but the brand also knows its way around a canned cocktail. Most of its options scream “summer fun,” and none do so better than this version of an Orange Crush cocktail — a favorite of the Mid-Atlantic region that Dogfish Head calls home. Instead of the standard orange juice, this juiced-up version features vodka distilled with both blood oranges and mangoes and then combined with additional OJ and mango juice, making for a sweet and citrusy creation.

Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits The Perfect CosmoTotal Wine

Best Canned Cosmo

Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits The Perfect Cosmo

  • ABV: 20%
  • Price Per Can: $8

We usually take a celebrity’s involvement as a sign of weakness when it comes to alcohol, but Thomas Ashbourne — a brand whose entire identity revolves around celeb collabs — is an exception thanks to the quality of the product. And if we’re being honest, we can’t think of anyone who knows their way around a cosmo better than the woman who helped popularize it, Sarah Jessica Parker. While SJP’s involvement is likely mostly ceremonial, the drink itself is top shelf — it was a 2022 Double Gold winner at SFWSC — with vodka, triple sec and balanced sweet and sour notes from cranberry, lime and strawberry.

  • ABV: 24%
  • Price Per Can: $6

If you want to get technical, this cocktail comes in a 100ml bottle rather than a can, but it’s so good that it gets a pass. The summery, Italian-inspired libation from the Brooklyn distillery is a mix of local Greenhook Gin, St. Agrestis’s own Inferno Bitter Aperitivo in place of Campari and house-made Torino-style vermouth. It’s refreshing with a significant kick, but if you’d prefer it sans kick, there’s also a non-alcoholic “Phony Negroni” version.

  • ABV: 5%
  • Price Per Can: Available in Japan

Shochu is a liquor of Korean origin but with its own variant in Japan, and mixing it with soda makes a highball. Most chuhai (Japanese for “shochu highball), however, are also fruity and can be a bit sweet, at least for our tester’s taste. That’s why he prefers Kirin’s version with yuzu, an East Asain citrus fruit that’s sourer and a little bitter, kind of like grapefruit (which is also good for chuhai). You can pick one up in a convenience store and drink it walking down the street, if you so choose, because that’s OK in Japan — but finding a can at a bodega in the US is a bit more difficult.

Lyre's Non-Alcoholic Amalfi SpritzTotal Wine

Best Non-Alcoholic Canned Cocktail

Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Amalfi Spritz

  • ABV: 0%
  • Price Per Can: $4

Light, bubbly, crisp and dry, Lyre’s NA take on the classic Aperol Spritz — changed in this case to Amalfi Spritz, since there’s obviously no Aperol in it — is an excellent alternative for those that want to sip on a summery cocktail without getting bogged down by the ill effects of alcohol, says our tester. And while it’s great on its own straight out of the can, it also works great as a mixer or session-style cocktail base, in case you decide you want a little booze after all.

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