Plenty of excellent summer-friendly beverages now come canned these days
The Summer 2020 season is now underway, even if the COVID-19 pandemic still has many people quarantined. However, with good health and appropriate social distancing intact, there are still plenty of ways that people can celebrate the Fourth of July and other summer-centric happenings in the near future.
Top beverage producers — of both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic sectors — are making drinks in canned form. Below is a mix of recommended drinks for you and yours to try when celebratory vibes are intact this summer.
Canned beverages to try: Stone Brewing’s Stone Buenaveza Salt & Lime Lager
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.
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Interestingly, the true story of Stone Brewing was recently documented in cinematic form. The 2020 documentary The Beer Jesus From America chronicles co-founder Koch’s tumultuous journey to becoming the first American to build, own and operate his own large-scale independent craft brewery in Europe. The Beer Jesus From America is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Also 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.
It’s a thrillingly-crisp, clean, refreshing Mexican-style lager that quenches thirsts, while gratifying taste buds via lime and sea salt.
Canned beverages to try: 21st Amendment Brewery’s SOMA Hard Seltzer
Exactly 20 years ago, Nico Freccia and Shaun O’Sullivan opened the doors to the 21st Amendment brewpub in San Francisco’s historic South Park neighborhood. In addition to quickly becoming one of the city’s favorite pubs, 21st Amendment began expanding beyond the Bay Area by helping to pioneer the movement to canned craft beer.
Sold in 28 states, plus Washington D.C., 21st Amendment produces beer in its state-of-the-art brewery headquarters in San Leandro, California and is among the top 50 craft beer brewers in America.
Masterminds of beloved fruit beers (i.e. Hell Or High Watermelon), 21st Amendment’s SOMA Hard Seltzer carries on the brand’s infatuation with watermelon via a clean, crisp all-natural seltzer. It also comes in Guava & Passion Fruit, Mango, and Black Cherry. SOMA Hard Seltzer is sold in 6-packs, each drink with a total of 100 calories, 2g carbs, 0g sugar).
Canned beverages to try: Cutwater Spirits
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 16 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.
Canned beverages to try: Bravus Brewing Company’s Non-Alcoholic Beer
The Bravus Brewing Company is North America’s first brewery dedicated to non-alcoholic craft beer. Thanks to a proprietary brewing process, Bravis is able to produce craft beer styles that taste exactly like their alcoholic counterparts. Crafted in Southern California, Bravus is a healthier, delicious alternative offering a wide variety of flavors and bold tastes to satisfy every beer lover.
Its IPA smacks of fresh hops. Its Stout reveals hints of coffee, chocolate, and caramel. And its Amber Ale is malty with a touch of bitterness. Looking for something fresh and light for the warmer weather? Try it wheaty, citrus White Ale or their tart Raspberry Gose with hints of lemon? Or, try its newest style Cerveza, its take on a Mexican lager. Only 100 calories for a 12-ounce bottle, Bravus is available in Amber Ale, IPA, Oatmeal Stout, White Ale, Raspberry Gose, Cerveza, and custom variety packs.
Canned beverages to try: Spa Girl Cocktails
Ready-to-drink Spa Girl Cocktails makes 100 percent plant-based, better-for-you, ultra-premium vodka cocktail offering, and the brand recently unveiled new single-serve cocktails in 200ml cans. Available in peach, pear, and cucumber, these delicious “pop and pour” cocktails are crafted with clean ingredients, innovative flavors, and natural infusions.
Made from ultra-premium vodka distilled 6 times, Spa Girl Cocktails has the lowest calorie count I’ve heard of for a canned cocktail — only 48 calories per serving — especially when considering these drinks to have a high proof of 33. Beyond that, Spa Girl’s cans include no artificial sweeteners or colors, and are also gluten-free and vegan.
More cool canned beverages to try this summer
Canned beverages to try: Goslings Dark ‘N Stormy Cans
Founded in 1806, Goslings has been blending award-winning rums for 214 years, including its distinctive Black Seal Rum. The family-owned Goslings also not only happens to be Bermuda’s largest still-active exporter, yet also the country’s oldest business house. It is regularly a marquee sponsor at top international destinations, the U.S.’s #1 producer of ginger beer, and is notably where the world-famous Dark ‘N Stormy cocktail — the National Drink of Bermuda — originated from.
Goslings Black Seal Rum and Goslings Stormy Ginger Beer pair together for this product in a perfectly-carbonated, 7 percent ABV alcohol drink that’s not at all malt-based. It’s indeed the authentic Dark ‘n Stormy cocktail, only canned and required no mixing.
Canned beverages to try: Stella Artois Solstice Lager
Inspired by the longest and sunniest day of the year, Stella Artois recently introduced Stella Artois Solstice Lager, the brand’s first-ever limited-edition golden lager. An ideal complement to a backyard soiree, driveway happy hour or afternoon spent catching some rays, Stella Artois Solstice Lager is beautifully-balanced with citrus essences and triple filtered for a smooth, crisp finish. Full-flavored and refreshing, the beer features malty sweetness and zesty citrus notes, carrying a slightly-lower ABV of 4.5 percent and a slightly-lower calorie count of 105 per bottle..
Stella Artois Solstice Lager launched in most of the United States as of June 8, 2020 and will be available while supplies last, through this year’s Labor Day on September 7th.
Canned beverages to try: Bud Light Lemonade
Earlier this year Bud Light launched a new, refreshing innovation, Bud Light Lemonade. Perfect for easy-drinking occasions under the sun, Bud Light Lemonade is brewed with real lemon peels and offers a delicious twist to America’s favorite light lager.
Not to be confused with Bud Light Seltzer, Bud Light Lemonade is a premium light lager with 4.2 percent ABV. This new lemonade-flavored beer is available nationwide, wherever beer is sold. Bud Light Lemonade comes in both 12-ounce slim cans and 25 ounce-cans, beyond Bud Light Orange and Bud Light Lime offerings in Bud Light Peels Variety Packs.
Canned beverages to try: Novo Fogo Sparkling Caipirinha
Canned beverages to try:The rare spirit company which produces beverages that are simultaneously delicious, sustainable and in-demand, the Novo Fogo distillery stands out from the pack. Founder and CEO Dragos Axinte — a University Of Washington-schooled entrepreneur — has been overseeing a reforestation program where Novo Fogo rehabs species of endangered Brazilian native trees that have been decimated by decades of misuse.
He calls this “The Un-Endangered Forest.” Novo Fogo also holds its own in producing high-quality canned cocktails, like its Sparkling Caipirinha and its Silver Cachaça.
Novo Fogo’s Sparkling Caipirinha comes in 200ml cans — priced at $3.99 per can or $15.99 per 4-pack — in 3 flavors: Original Lime, Passion Fruit-Lime and Mango-Lime. The trio of these canned cocktails offer consumers a variety of ways to enjoy Novo Fogo’s carbonated twist on Brazil’s national cocktail.
These cocktails feature less sugar, fewer calories and carbohydrates, and lower alcohol by volume, combining freshness, deliciousness, and shelf stability by virtue of its 100 percent natural ingredients that harmonize as balanced, carbonated drinks. They can be served straight from the chilled can, over ice in a glass, and with or without a slice of lime.
Canned beverages to try: Jiant Hard Kombucha
Billed as “hard kombucha, with a soft touch,” Jiant crafts smoothest and refreshing hard kombuchas. Upholding the highest food standards, its product is clean, Non-GMO and gluten-free, brewed with high-quality organic green tea. Its kombucha is ultimately fermented to a perfect 4.5 percent ABV. Presently, Jiant’s kombucha comes in 3 flavors: Original, Gingerly, and Hicamay.
More cool canned beverages to try this summer
Canned beverages to try: AfterGlow
AfterGlow is an organic hard kombucha beverage created by Aqua ViTea, a functional beverage company and the largest producer of kombucha on the East Coast. With more than a decade of kombucha brewing expertise, Aqua ViTea launched AfterGlow Hard Kombucha in 2019 with the goal of giving consumers a well-balanced drinking experience.
Made from the naturally-occurring alcohol in kombucha and with clean and organic ingredients, AfterGlow is a smooth, tasty alternative to beer and cider, and a more natural option than spiked seltzers.
Each bottle of AfterGlow contains 5 percent ABV and all of the brand’s three flavors are gluten-free, low calorie, low sugar, and both paleo and vegan-friendly. AfterGlow retails for $12.99 per 6-pack and is available for purchase at liquor stores, convenience stores and grocery stores, as well as at select bars and restaurants across the Northeastern United States.
Canned beverages to try: Wave Soda
Wave Soda is a politely-caffeinated alternative to not-so-natural natural sodas, sparkling waters, and traditional cola drinks. In turn, Wave ought to be an ideal to alternative for people who are suspect of what the “natural” flavorings are in zero-calorie drinks, want to kick a soda addiction, need more than a slightly flavored sparkling water and/or need a gentle buzz rather than the heart-pounding effects of highly-caffeinated energy drinks.
Simple and clean, each can of Wave is just comprising 85 percent bubbly water, 15 percent real fruit juice, and has a polite dash (42mg) of natural caffeine (the same as many diet colas). Nothing else.
Canned beverages to try: Blue Point Brewing’s Pinstripe Pilsner
Blue Point Brewing is inarguably Long Island, New York’s first and most innovative craft brewer. While the 2020 Major League Baseball season may not be currently in session, Blue Point still has its baseball on its mind. Blue Point’s Pinstripe Pilsner was brewed in collaboration with the New York Yankees with generous amounts of pilsner malt. This bright golden pils is balanced with a hint of lime aroma from specialty hops. Once only available at an MLB ballpark, the beer is now available for purchase in canned form.
Also great and/or new-ish from Blue Point Brewing are its Imperial Sunshine (blonde ale, ABV: 9.6 percent, brewed with orange peel) and its Summer Ale (lighter beer, ABV: 4.5 percent, a substantial portion of wheat malt was added to a traditional barley malt mix).
Canned beverages to try: BACARDÍ Real Rum Cocktails
In 1862, in the city of Santiago de Cuba, Don Facundo Bacardí Massó revolutionized the spirits industry when he created a light-bodied rum with a particularly smooth taste: BACARDÍ. The unique taste of BACARDÍ rum inspired cocktail pioneers to invent some of the world’s most famous recipes including the BACARDÍ Mojito, the BACARDÍ Daiquirí, the BACARDÍ Cuba Libre, the BACARDÍ Piña Colada, and the BACARDÍ El Presidente. In turn, BACARDÍ’s rum is arguably the world’s most awarded spirit of all-time, with more than 800 awards for quality, taste and innovation to its credit.
BACARDÍ’s new Real Rum Cocktails are simply convenient, full of flavor, and carry an ABV of 5.9 percent. These ready-to-drink cans are made with a base of award-winning BACARDÍ white rum and available in three delicious flavors: BACARDÍ Lime & Soda, BACARDÍ Limon & Lemonade and BACARDÍ Rum Punch. Priced at $12.99 per 4-pack, you can purchase these cans for at-home consumption via Drizly, Minibar and Instacart alike.
Canned beverages to try: Rekorderlig Cider
Rekorderlig — pronounced “rek-order-lig” — is a Swedish premium hard cider created and imported from Vimmerby, Sweden. The premium cider brand originally launched its bottled beverages in the U.S. nearly 7 years ago and its current portfolio boasts 5 gluten-free, lightly carbonated fruit blends: Strawberry-Lime, Pear, Passionfruit, Wild Berries and Spiced Apple.
Each flavor is 4.5 percent ABV and serves up the perfect balance of mouthwatering sweetness and tanginess. Furthermore, Rekorderlig’s ciders have 70 percent less sugar than most ciders, with just 110 calories per can. And of course, these delicious drinks can both be poured over ice or served as part of a zesty, fruity cocktail.
More cool canned beverages to try this summer
Canned beverages to try: Austin Eastciders
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.
Canned beverages to try: Waterloo Sparking Water
In 2017, after recognizing that consumers were seeking — but not finding — beverage choices which were healthy, authentic, transparent and better-for-them while tasting great, Waterloo Sparkling was launched. The Austin-based brand is a bold take on sparkling water, making its mark by focusing on fruit-inspired flavor & aroma and delivering a much richer, more authentic taste.
Waterloo is made with Non-GMO Project Verified and Whole 30 Approved flavors, while also free of calories, sodium, sugar and artificial sweeteners. For the benefit of their fans and the environment, Waterloo has only ever been produced in aluminum cans, made with BPA-free liners. In turn, Waterloo’s sparking water is ideal for mixing with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, while also great on its own.
Canned beverages to try: Beach Juice Rosé
Beach Juice is an easy drinking California rosé with a retro-vibe can that just screams “good vibes only.” Its 2 rosé products — “Original” and “With Bubbles” — are presently available for purchase in 6 states: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with online ordering recent launched.
This single-serve rosé is a great option when heading to the pool, beach or socially-distant hangouts. And given everything going on, single-serve beverages are undeniably the best option to “grab and go” without having to share a bottle of wine.
Per the taste of Beach Juice, expect luscious red berry fruits on the nose. It carries a crisp yet flavorful palate with notes of strawberry, cranberry and watermelon, and ultimately a refreshing and dry finish. 13 percent ABV and an interesting mix of Barbera, Grenache, Syrah and Pinot Noir.
Canned beverages to try: Twisted Tea’s Big Ol’ Bag Of Freedom
To keep the good times twisted this summer, Twisted Tea has released a celebratory summertime bag-n-box complete with the spirited Big Ol’ Bag Of Freedom design. Drinkers can enjoy said Big Ol’ Bag Of Freedom by slapping it, tapping it or to keep it extra Twisted, by putting it in your freezer and making a boozy Twisted Tea slushie. Technically not a canned product with this one, no, easy to pour into Solo cups; Twisted Tea does of course come in single-serve bottled form.
Also of note about the Twisted Tea brand is that has also released some fun new flavors just in time for the summer of 2020: Peach Twisted Tea, Passion Fruit Twisted Tea, and Black Cherry Twisted Tea. Altogether ideal for fans of the current hard seltzer craze.
Canned beverages to try: Absolut Cans
Last but definitely not least are Absolut’s newest products, Absolut Vodka Sodas and Absolut Cocktails. A mix of ready-to-enjoy vodka sodas and cocktails, these Absolut offerings are both made with original Absolut Vodka and natural flavors,
The Absolut Vodka Sodas were inspired by the classic go-to cocktail known as the “vodka soda.” The 97-calorie, lightly-sparkling sip comes in 3 delicious flavors: Lime & Cucumber, Grapefruit & Rosemary, and Raspberry & Lemongrass. The Absolut Cocktails are also ready-to-drink, arriving in 3 well-balanced and refreshing flavors: Mango Mule, Berry Vodkarita, and Grapefruit Paloma.
Absolut Vodka Sodas and Absolut Cocktails are currently available nationwide in 4-pack sets and carry a suggested retail price of to $12.99. Like Absolut says, these cans are “all about the fizz, but none of the fuss.”
Which of these canned beverages will you be trying next?