Want to encourage craft beer drinkers to pick up a craft ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail? Try offering more beer.
Now in its third release, Tip Top Proper Cocktails’ Kindred Spirits Series is a first-of-its-kind RTD brand and brewery collaboration that reimagines classic cocktails through the lens of craft beer.
The series pairs the RTD brand’s expertise in cocktail recipes with the creative force of five breweries from across the country: WeldWerks Brewing (Greeley, Colorado), Holy City Brewing (Charleston, South Carolina), Green Cheek Beer Co. (Orange County, California), Revolution Brewing (Chicago) and Creature Comforts Brewing Co. (Athens, Georgia). The beers are rolling out throughout 2025 and sold at the respective breweries and regional retailers.
Each collaboration transforms one of Tip Top’s signature cocktails – such as the Bee’s Knees, Cosmopolitan, and Whiskey Sour – into a distinct beer release
“Breweries have a legacy of craft and innovation that’s well-respected by both the beverage industry and craft beverage consumers,” said Neal Cohen, co-founder of Tip Top. “A big part of why I personally bought into the craft beer movement 20 years ago was due to the spirit of camaraderie, creativity and respect for ingredients that I saw there. So it also seemed like a great way to showcase that we’re following that example as we continue to evolve the category.”
By collaborating with well-known breweries, Tip Top is aiming to establish “a clear bridge for those who’ve yet to discover that level of craft in the ready to drink cocktail space,” he added.
Tip Top debuted in 2020 with a line of classic cocktails in 100 mL cans, including the Manhattan, Old Fashioned and Negroni, all clocking in at around 30% ABV per serving. The Atlanta-based brand comes from former music festival industry veterans and longtime friends Cohen and Yoni Reisman. It was one of the early RTD lines to offer a premium look and feel, and encourage consumers to pour their libations over ice like they would at a bar. It helped that the cocktails were crafted with the help of seven-time James Beard Award-nominated bartender Miles Macquarrie of Atlanta’s Kimball House.
For this series, the Tip Top team wanted to work with other beverage makers that have “meticulous care for their craft.”
“We reached out to the craft breweries we love and respect and posed a question: Which of these classic cocktails inspire you to create a new beverage?” Cohen said. “The response was super encouraging and honestly, it was a little fanboy moment when these breweries came back excited to collaborate and take on the challenge with us.”
The call to that challenge kicked off in June with a Gin Barrel-Aged Bee’s Knees Imperial Sour Ale brewed in collaboration with WeldWerks. A nod to Tip Top’s Bee’s Knees cocktail, the beer is aged in gin barrels with lemon and honey syrups, juniper berries and milk sugar.
Later in June, Tip Top and Holy City released the CosmoALE, a crisp blonde ale inspired by the Cosmopolitan, brewed with tart cranberry and citrus.
The most recent release was in collaboration with Green Cheek and inspired by the modern classic cocktail, the Naked & Famous Fizz. The beer evokes the drink’s classic bitter and smoky flavor through alpine and aperitivo botanicals and smoked citrus.
Flavor and Consumer Trust Driving Trial
The Tip Top team has always argued that constant innovation is what makes their brand the most in touch with cocktail culture – and helps a small company like theirs carve out a distinct position in a saturated category.
“Craft consumers are intrigued by flavor exploration, and capturing their imagination by associating the new beverage creation with a classic flavor profile makes them more curious to try it,” Cohen said. “The brand recognition is driving sales as well.”
With the breweries earning consumer trust in their regions, that seems to be rubbing off on Tip Top by having an association, he added. So far, the collaboration beer sales are moving fast and being marketed through grassroots efforts such as social media collaborations, tasting events and word-of-mouth.
The idea that Tip Top can be linked to established breweries in their market has gotten many retailers excited as well, Cohen said.
As for now, there are no expectations to continue the series into 2026, but the Green Cheek team was so thrilled with the final product that they’ve stocked up on ingredients for another batch, Cohen added.