The Best New Canned Cocktails for Summer

Welcome to the InsideHook Guide to Summer, a collection of recommendations on everything worth doing, drinking, eating, watching and otherwise enjoying between now and Labor Day. Don’t forget the sunscreen.

If there’s one thing fueling the drinks industry right now, it’s ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails. In the most recent economic report by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, RTDs show a whopping year-to-year growth in both sales (+26.8%) and volume (+24.3%). 

“Hey, nerd, enough with the math. I just want something easy to drink,” you’re saying. In that spirit, no pun intended, we asked the InsideHook staff to wade through the literally dozens of new canned/RTD brands and flavors crowding our office and come up with a few recent releases that are worthy of your summer cooler.

Presenting the drinks of the summer! Surfside, the spirits-based iced tea and lemonade brand, just released five new flavors (Green Tea/Vodka, Raspberry Tea/Vodka, Raspberry Lemonade/Vodka, Black Cherry Lemonade/Vodka, Strawberry Lemonade/Vodka). InsideHook HQ got a chance to try the new cans — all coming in at a sessionable 4.5% ABV — and we were pleasantly surprised at how delicious and, most importantly, clean-tasting the lineup was. — Logan Mahan, Associate Commerce Editor