The Can Makers Virtual Cocktail Taste Test

Once subject to a less than favourable reputation – with a number of aggressively sweet, budget brand and supermarket offerings making up the best of a bad bunch – canned cocktails have seen exponential growth in recent years.

Thanks in part to the craft beer revolution and an increase in at-home consumption, 2020 has seen an influx of creatively crafted, premium canned cocktails hit the market, and it’s fair to say they’ve taken the nation by storm.

With 10 million people including cocktails in their drinks repertoires, and demand growing at 10% per annum, canned cocktails have even been added to the basket of goods the U.K. statistics office uses to calculate inflation.

Canned cocktails allow the consumer to experiment and sample a wide range of bar quality combinations and innovative products at home or on the move.

What’s more, all the hard work has been done for you, meaning there’s no need to invest in multiple spirits and mixers to shake up your own delights.

For the more environmentally conscious, the canned format is better for the planet, too. They're lighter and easy to recycle – meaning they boast a much smaller carbon footprint than other packaging formats – while in the UK, 76% of aluminium cans are recycled.

Of course, the canned cocktail movement has been catapulted into the spotlight since lockdown occurred – generating close to $118 million off-premise in the States alone, a 146% increase compared to the same period a year earlier.

However, while the pandemic has accelerated consumer introduction to the category, perhaps what is more important than the category’s growth, is its clear direction towards premiumisation.

So, why the can has become the packaging of choice for a whole host of premium brands and independent distillers revolutionising the ready-to-drink category? And just how good are this new breed of canned cocktails? We brought together five of the UK’s leading drinks critics to find out.

See the video below…