Updated Aug. 27, 2024
One of the best parts of summer is cracking open a cold beverage—and with these new canned alcoholic drinks, you'll never run out of options!
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.Learn more.
COURTESY CUTWATER SPIRITS
No need to take a trip to the tropics, because Cutwater now has a canned pina colada that will bring the tropics to you. Like all of Cutwater’s beverages, this drink is one you can pour over ice and serve to friends—without seeing the packaging, no one is going to know it’s a canned cocktail. It’s that good!
Courtesy Fruit Cart
Just in time for the summer, Golden Road Brewery released Citrus Pack, the latest extension of its popular Fruit Cart Hard Seltzer series. This is the perfect summer sipper for people who think the flavor of hard seltzer usually falls flat—every can is an explosion of fruity flavor! Pack a few cans in your cooler the next time you head to the beach, and you won’t regret it.
Courtesy Luxardo
This Luxardo Gin & Tonic is inspired by the brand’s Luxardo Sour Cherry Gin. The editor who taste tested this drink reported going out and buying not one but two cases of Luxardo canned cocktails. And if that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is!
Courtesy Drifter Craft cocktails
The drinks from Drifter Cocktail Co. are all outstanding, but the most memorable has to be the Passion Fruit Caipirinha. Drifter asked Las Vegas bartender Mariena Mercer Boarini to create this Caipirinha, and she delivered. If you’re looking for a bright, unusual drink on a day when your usual cocktail won’t do, this is it.
Courtesy Willie's Superbrew
Full disclosure, Grapefruit & Lime isn’t a drink we’ve had a chance to sip yet. But we’ll recommend it based on the delicious of the Willie’s Superbrew Variety Pack. The superbrews are all made with real fruit instead of added flavors, and the result is a crisp, easy-drinking hard seltzer.
Courtesy PRESS x Emily Henderson
Press launched its Select Variety Pack this summer, and that’s where you’ll find the Lingonberry Elderflower seltzer, a canned drink that one of our editors can’t get enough of! It’s tart and crisp, perfect for anyone who likes cranberries.
Courtesy Colony Cocktails
You’re going to want to keep a handful of Colony Cocktails in your refrigerator at all times. Colony three very different cocktails in its lineup: The Biarritz, The Tangier and The Charleston. You can offer guests a choice, and serve up a variety of real cocktails without actually having to, you know, make cocktails.
Courtesy Greenbar
Greenbar Distillery released a lineup of three classic canned cocktails, but the Rum + Cola is our personal favorite. The distillery, which is based in Los Angeles, blends its spiced rum with bubbly cola for a fresh take on the iconic rum drink.
Courtesy Cutwater Spirits
The Transfusion is a golf course standard made with vodka, Concord grape juice and ginger ale. The Cutwater Transfusion is made with all of the classic ingredients, and it’s super easy to pour over ice. Even off the course, this canned cocktail is truly refreshing. The only knock? This Transfusion is very grape-y.
Courtesy Dogfish Head
You may know Dogfish Head for its craft beer, but the brewery is home to a distillery as well. The new scratch-made canned cocktails use Dogfish Head’s spirits to create a seriously good cocktail in a can! We’re partial to the Strawberry & Honeyberry Vodka Lemonade, but the Blueberry Shub Vodka Soda is pretty good, too.
Courtesy CanBee Cocktails
This beautiful canned beverage tastes like you ordered it from a bar. Bee’s Knees effortlessly blends three key ingredients—gin, lemon and honey—with carbonation for a simple, delicious drink. Plus, part of the proceeds from the canned cocktails goes to benefit bee conservation organizations.
Courtesy Smithworks
This lineup of hard seltzers is also brand-new—and we definitely recommend looking for the variety pack. It’s different than traditional seltzers, because rather than a “hint” of strawberry in every sip, you get serious strawberry flavor.
Courtesy Cutwater
It’s not too soon to say this is one of the best canned alcoholic drinks of the year! This brand-new canned cocktail is made with Cutwater tequila, along with mango and a splash of lime juice.
If this margarita isn’t for you, though, Cutwater’s lineup of ready-to-drink cocktails also includes margaritas, vodka mules and tiki rum mai tais.
Courtesy Bud Light
The new Bud Light Seltzer iced tea is made for flip-flops weather. It’s brand-new and the variety pack has four classic flavors, all sweetened with cane sugar. We’re here for the peach iced tea!
Courtesy Sam Wilson
With help from “creative advisor” Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bon Viv has launched a Raspberry Dragonfruit spiked seltzer. You can find it in Bon Viv’s Blends Variety Pack, along with three other adventurous flavors: Pear Elderflower, Clementine Hibiscus and Coconut Pineapple.
Courtesy Monaco Cocktails
Monaco has a whole lineup of canned alcoholic drinks, featuring spirits of all sorts, but this Tequila Sun Crush is one we can stand behind. The bright orange flavor is perfect for pouring on ice at a pool party, and the flavor will remind adults of Orange Crush.
Courtesy White Claw
White Claw might be the original hard seltzer, but that doesn’t stop them from launching fresh flavors every summer. This brand-new hard seltzer + iced tea combo comes in a 12-can variety pack with four popular White Claw flavors—Lemon, Raspberry, Mango and Peach. Of course, each can is still only 100 calories.
Psst… Learn how to make White Claw slushies.
Courtesy Jose Cuervo
This refreshing, tequila-based sipper is perfect for hot beach days. And with only 90 calories, it won’t weigh you down.
This brunch sipper is made with sustainably produced wine from Italy and California orange juice. It was created by Allie and Scott Griswold, a brother-sister duo!
People were obsessed with Bud Light Lemonade in 2020, but for 2022, look out for Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade. Like White Claw, this sparkling canned alcoholic drink is 100 calories per can, with a 5% ABV. It comes in a variety pack with four flavors: Original Lemonade, Black Cherry Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade and Peach Lemonade.
Courtesy Topo Chico
This seltzer is a spirited version of Topo Chico sparkling water, with added minerals for a crisp finish. If you’re Topo Chico fan, then it’s worth picking up a variety pack of this stuff, with flavors like lemon lime, pineapple and strawberry guava. Topo Chico hard seltzer is only available in nine states right now, but should be across the U.S. later this year.
In the past, White Claw hard seltzer had a reasonable 5% ABV with 100 calories per can. The brand-new White Claw Surge packs a stronger punch with 8% ABV. Both tart flavors—Cranberry and Blood Orange—have 220 calories per can but offer what White Claw describes as a “stronger wave of refreshment.”
Courtesy Hey Mama
Each can of Hey Mama rosé is packed with flavors of watermelon and strawberry, plus aromas of honeysuckle and honeydew melon. Send this four-pack of canned alcoholic drinks to a friend who needs a pick-me-up—each one has a phrase of mama encouragement.
Courtesy Alani Seltz
You may know fitness influencer @katyhearn from Instagram—this is her brand-new line of hard seltzer. It comes in four unexpected flavors, including Frozen Lemonade and Hawaiian Shaved Ice, and has only 100 calories, 2 grams of carbs and 1 gram of sugar in each can.
This is a brand we might have to add to our hard seltzer taste test!
via mikeshardseltzer.com
Did you know Mike’s has been making hard lemonade for 21 years? This brand-new lemonade seltzer comes in four flavors (Lemon, Strawberry, Mango and Pineapple) and each one has a citrusy taste that only Mike’s can deliver. The Pineapple flavor won our taste test—it’s tropical perfection.
via Luck Springs/Facebook
Born in Austin, Luck Springs is a 100-calorie sparkling hard lemonade + iced tea that’s low on calories and sugar, but still has packs a punch of flavor. Look for the Luck Springs variety pack, which has a classic hard lemonade as well as a peach tea, raspberry tea and a “half and half” that’s the perfect balance between iced tea and lemon.
Courtesy Austin Eastciders
Austin Eastciders always earns a spot on our best-of lists. This Blackberry Cider has fresh flavors like ripe blackberry and crisp apple, and makes us want to pack a picnic basket and spend a day in the sun.
Courtesy Cutwater Spirits
Courtesy Cutwater SpiritsThe White Russian exploded in popularity after appearing in the iconic film The Big Lebowski. We’re confident “The Dude” followed a different recipe, but this smooth and sippable version has notes of vanilla ice cream, fresh coffee, mocha and even a hint of waffle cone.
In a DIY mood? This is how to make a White Russian from scratch.
Courtesy Karbach Brewing Company
This may not sound like something you want to sip, but trust us—Karbach’s blend of seltzer with lime and agave is a serious thirst-quencher. (The original ranch water was created to cool down cowboys after spending a day in the Texas heat.)
Courtesy VIZZY
The original Vizzy was popular enough that the brand released a Variety Pack 2 with four brand-new flavor combos. Each can has only 100 calories, 1 gram of sugar and vitamin C—so it’s good for you, right?
Courtesy 'Merican Mules
This should be the signature drink for any Southern-style summer party! The Southern Mule is made with bourbon whiskey and all the flavors found in a whiskey Old-Fashioned. If bourbon isn’t your spirit of choice, our taste testers also loved the Mexican Mule, made with tequila, ginger and lime.
Originally Published: September 17, 2021
