Cutwater Canned Cocktails

Travel Distilled tastes and reviews three of Cutwater’s canned cocktails: Long Island Iced Tea, Tequila Lime Margarita, and Tiki Rum Mai Tai.

Canned cocktails can be hit or miss. Some are excellent but most are fairly insipid versions of the real thing, cutting down on the alcohol to save money. These can sometimes be rescued by adding an extra shot of spirits yourself, but with most canned cocktails coming in at about 5% ABV you’d be better off making your own.

I was therefore curious to try these new canned cocktails from Cutwater, which weigh in at about 12-13% ABV, a much better alcohol content for a cocktail. They also work out at around $3-4 for a generous 355ml can, containing two shots of spirits.

Based in San Diego, the distillery now has a wide range of canned cocktails from a straightforward Gin and Tonic or Rum and Cola to a Whiskey Mule, Rum Mint Mojito, Tequila Paloma, and several flavored vodka sodas including lime, grapefruit, and cucumber. If they’re all as good as the three I tasted, I’d have one of everything! Cutwater also sells its own range of straight spirits, including bourbon, rum, vodka, gin, and tequila.

Long Island Iced Tea

This notorious student and dive bar standby has a bad reputation, mainly because people throw in whatever cheap spirits they have lying around, on the basis that anything goes. The classic combination is four white spirits – vodka, rum, gin, tequila – with some triple sec and a dash of cola, to give the drink its pale brown iced tea color.

Cutwater goes for the classic cocktail recipe, and adds some citrus into the mix instead of the triple sec. At first my wife was reluctant to try it, having suffered one too many hangovers from drinking it at college parties. It does slip down as easily as a glass of iced tea on a hot day, and doesn’t seem as potent as it actually is.

Cutwater’s version is delicious – and slips down equally well. It does taste surprisingly like tea, perhaps a weak tea with a slice of lemon in it. There’s nothing weak about it, though, as it’s one of their stronger canned cocktails at 13.2% ABV and has a recommended price of $12.99 for a 4-pack.

Tequila Lime Margarita

The second of Cutwater’s canned cocktails was going to be the real challenge for them, as I make a good margarita myself and, as I live in southern Arizona, it’s my go-to cocktail when we go out (if you remember going out, back in the day).

To my taste, this wasn’t as good as a self-made margarita, but in Cutwater’s defence they do call it a Lime Margarita, made with tart lime, cane sugar, and a hint of orange. It was too much lime for my taste – not that it stopped me from drinking it. I think next time I’d put an extra shot of tequila in, and maybe some triple sec to add a little more sweetness. This one’s 12.5% ABV and also sells at $12.99 for a 4-pack.

Tiki Rum Mai Tai

Having commented that the Lime Margarita was too sour with a little too much lime, this one was an opposite challenge as I also don’t like drinks that are overly sweet. This one did sound promising as it’s a mix of Cutwater’s own Barrel-Aged Rum, their Bali Hai Tiki Gold Rum, pineapple, coconut, and citrus.

The aroma was pleasant as it smelled only slightly sweet but very fresh with that tropical fruit. The taste was equally satisfying, with plenty of pineapple and coconut but not too much to over-sweeten the cocktail. It was pleasingly potent, though as I like my drinks strong I would probably add a splash more rum to the next one. This one is also 12.5% ABV and retails at $13.99 for a 4-pack.

Cutwater Canned Cocktails

On the basis of these three samples, I’d definitely recommend Cutwater’s canned cocktails and think it’s a great idea to have some in the fridge on standby. Put them in a fancy glass with a garnish and no-one would know you hadn’t made them yourself.

More Information

You can find out more on the Cutwater website. The canned cocktails are widely available online, including at Drizly and ReserveBar.