The Best Canned Cocktails, 2023

May 21, 2024

Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. We may earn a commission from these links.

Some taste just like the real thing. Others are even tastier and more fun than traditional mixed drinks. Here’s why it’s time to pop the top on the delicious new world of canned cocktails.

Blasphemy, I thought. There it was, a prepackaged mojito in a grocery store. This was about a decade ago. Still, I was curious to try it, because a canned cocktail that was actually good? That could be a gateway to converting pedestrian drinkers into cocktail nerds. Sadly, there was no craft in that canned mojito. No love. It confirmed my conviction that quality drinks must be mixed, not mass-produced.

Recently, however, I popped open a daiquiri from Tip Top, an Atlanta-based company specializing in classic cocktails served in Lilliputian cans. It was, shockingly, sublime. The simple yet difficult-to-balance daiquiri is often considered a litmus test to separate ordinary bartenders from great ones. The fact that a version that stellar came from a can was revelatory. Ready-to-drink cocktails—or RTDs, as the industry calls them—are no longer what they used to be. As demand surged during the pandemic, more serious bartenders and distilleries began producing them using real spirits instead of industrial malt alcohol or vodka. Now we’re living in a golden age of the canned cocktail.

Nothing will ever quite replace the experience of being served a perfectly made cocktail to order—whether at a serious bar or at your friend’s dinner party. And there are still plenty of prepackaged drinks to avoid. But we discovered a profusion of flavorful options worth adding to your drinking—and hosting—repertoire.

All of the drinks that Tip Top sells in its signature small cans are worthy of having at your next party, but my favorites are the ones that would be harder to make yourself. That category includes the daiquiri, which has a lively blend of Caribbean rums, and Tip Top’s take on the Jungle Bird.

The espresso martini is back, and rightfully so. A sensation in the ’90s, the delicious kick-in-the-pants cocktail is newly popular again. But it’s never been fun to make at home. This nitro version, made with Stumptown coffee, delivers the frothy silkiness of the real thing.

Yes, there are good Bloody Mary mixes out there that allow you to simply add vodka (or tequila or gin) to get yourself a great drink. But if you want to fully embrace that hair-of-the-dog spirit and just pop the top and sip, this is the way to do it. It’s decadently spicy and vibrant.

Instead of dessert or an espresso martini, consider this mix. Rye whiskey, Intelligentsia coffee, demerara cane sugar, raw honey, bitters, and navel-orange peel make something that tastes a bit like breakfast, with a hefty 40 percent ABV kick.

A vodka soda with a splash of cranberry. It is one of the simplest drink orders, a gateway cocktail. And it does hit the spot, no? This canned version adds a touch of real honey for the right amount of complex sweetness.

A fizzy old-fashioned? Made with brandy, as is the custom in the Midwest? I was skeptical. But this can from Plain Spoke of Madison, Wisconsin, is spirit forward yet refreshing. The kind of reward you want at the end of a long, hot day.

Empirical was founded by alums from temple of gastronomic experimentation Noma, and its products have a mad-scientist energy. This lightly carbonated cocktail—made from vacuum-distilled Pilsner malt and other ingredients—is beyond what most bars can pull off.

Brooklyn-based St. Agrestis makes a lovely bottled negroni, but the nonalcoholic version is even better. It has a bit of carbonation to it; they say that’s the trick to making it feel like it has the bite of alcohol. Whatever the secret is, you won’t feel as though you’re missing the real thing.

All right, there’s nothing innovative about spritzes. But this version solves an issue that’s always bugged me: They tend to be flat and stupid sweet. Neither of those problems applies here. Dry, bitter, with endless bubbles. It’s a superior spritz.

A long drink, as it’s known in Finland, is essentially a gin highball served with a carbonated fruit beverage, a close cousin to our Tom Collins. This version, from a company named after the drink, has grapefruit tartness, a touch of sweetness, just the right amount of juniper, 99 calories, and zero grams of sugar. I’m not sure why anyone would touch a White Claw after drinking this.

Mezcal, a bit of citrus, and carbonated water. Put all those things together and you have a low-calorie, low-ABV sparkling beverage that you can drink all day.

Only 96 calories per drink. (Two come in the can.) By no means a traditional margarita, even though it uses triple sec and lime, this is more of a take on the margarita that’s been given a nuanced, bitter taste from the bergamot orange. Delightful and interesting and refreshing all at once.

Kevin Sintumuang is Esquire's Lifestyle and Culture Director.

Clase Azul's Ultimate Tasting Experience

The Hands-Down Best Rum to Drink in 2023

How to Get Into Tequila

54 Gift Ideas For the Beer Snob in Your Life

Your Guide to Zero Zero Wines

Barbie'-Themed Cocktails to Achieve Max Kenergy

Summer Gin-and-Peach Lemonade

How to Make a Classic Old Fashioned

The 11 Best Single Malt Irish Whiskey Brands

The Manhattan Is a Cocktail You Earn

The 24 Best Summer Drinks

35 Gifts For Serious Whiskey Drinkers