Whether driven by the desire for an alternative to beer, the need for portable drinks during the COVID pandemic, or some combination of many factors, one thing we can say for sure is that canned cocktails have experienced something of a renaissance in recent years. Also known as ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails, these convenient beverages require no bartender or mixology knowledge to enjoy — but don’t mistake them for spiked seltzers, a similar yet distinct category of drink.
When it comes to canned cocktail brands, one of the most popular by far is Cutwater Spirits. According to parent company AB InBev, as of 2022, Cutwater was the best-selling full-flavored canned cocktail brand in the United States. Consumers have come to rely on Cutwater for canned cocktails that taste just like the ones they know and love, without the mess of making a drink at home or the expense of ordering one at a bar. But Chowhound wondered, can all the brand’s canned cocktails live up to their freshly mixed counterparts? To find out which ones are truly worth purchasing, we ranked 11 of Cutwater’s most popular canned cocktails on the market.
Happily, our expert mixologist and taste-tester enjoyed many of the brand’s offerings. The one we have to veto definitively, however, is the Strawberry White Russian. Honestly, this one sounded like a hard sell from the very start. A milky RTD cocktail is already a questionable choice, and unfortunately, Cutwater’s strawberry-tinged twist on this creamy classic was just too sickly sweet for our taste.
Cutwater’s Strawberry White Russian overwhelms in all the wrong ways
Cutwater’s Strawberry White Russian was not only the least favorite of the bunch we tried, it was also the strongest. With two shots of vodka inside, an ABV of 13%, and a whopping 540 calories per serving (including 14 grams of fat and 32 grams of sugar), this is not the kind of cocktail we’d recommend for light sipping on a warm summer afternoon.
Of course, that’s not exactly what its namesake drink is known for, either. Like a traditional white Russian, Cutwater’s version contains vodka, cream, and coffee liqueur, so it’s already a very sweet, heavy drink that makes for something of an acquired taste. If you’re a white Russian fan, you might end up enjoying this version with its hint of fruity flavor, but if you’re a creamy cocktail skeptic, it’s highly unlikely to win you over. Cutwater also offers a standard white Russian, sans strawberry, though we didn’t have the chance to compare the two.
Ultimately, Cutwater’s Strawberry White Russian looked and tasted too close to a boozy kids’ medicine in our opinion, and frankly, we can’t see ourselves buying a canned cocktail with heavy cream any time soon. When it comes to white Russians, we’ll stick to making them at home (perhaps with a seasonal pumpkin spice twist) or entrusting them to our local bartender. As for canned cocktails, it turns out that the best ingredients don’t include creamy liqueurs.
