Boston Beer Company has found another growth driver with its spirits-based hard tea brand Sun Cruiser, which continues to deepen its distribution footprint. But the hot ticket item continues to be unable to stop flooding volume from its sibling brands, as the company recorded yet another quarter of shipments and depletions losses.
Super Lyte, a vodka-infused, sports-drink inspired refresher, from the makers of Surfside, has depleted 120,000 cases in its first five weeks in the market, with a forecast to hit 1.5 million cases this year.
Molson Coors has struck a deal to acquire spirits-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail pioneer Atomic Brands, whose Monaco Cocktails entered the then-nascent space in 2012. The deal should come as no surprise, as it aligns with Molson Coors’ goals to expand its beyond beer portfolio, part of the Horizon 2030 plan CEO Rahul Goyal outlined earlier this year.
The time is right for founders of scaled ready-to-drink (RTD) brands to consider exits with the emergence of a “classic seller’s market,” Arlington Capital Advisors managing director Townsend Ziebold declared earlier this month at the Beer Marketer’s Insights business conference.
Most founders build to scale, but Adam Kost, founder of ready-to-drink brand Dirty Shirley, built to prove. In a saturated market, Dirty Shirley was structured from day one as a market-validation project that was lean, disciplined, design-led and deliberately positioned for an early strategic exit – which it got.
Ready-to-drink canned cocktail brand Carbliss is open to potential acquirers, co-founder Adam Kroener made clear Wednesday at Beer Marketer’s Insights spring meeting. “Everything’s for sale,” Kroener said during a panel conversation that included SpikedAde co-founder and CEO Jason Cohen and Happy Dad co-founder and CEO Sam Shahidi.
Entering its third summer, Right Coast Spirits’ Italian Ice is riding high. The ready-to-drink (RTD) bottled cocktail more than doubled year-over-year (YoY) during summer 2025, increasing volume 101% compared to summer 2024, Right Coast director of commercial strategy Jon Schwartz told Brewbound.
Sazerac-owned BuzzBallz is the dominant brand in the RTD segment. BuzzBallz’ dollar sales increased 65.6%, to more than $569.3 million, in Circana-tracked off-premise retailers for the 52-week period ending April 19.
While off-premise bev-alc scans have been on a rollercoaster this year (one with admittedly mild drops compared to 2025), the on-premise has been more steady, trending between flat and up 1% over the last few months.
This month’s distribution moves see Carbliss push into two major new markets, Mark Anthony’s Canadian ready-to-drink (RTD) tequila cocktail expand in the U.S., and ShakeUp transitions to a beer house.
West Coast rappers and business moguls Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg are expanding their ready-to-drink (RTD) line into hard tea and lemonade.
In the latest RTD news, SunnyD brings back “purple stuff,” Chandon takes a six-year swing at reinventing the spritz and espresso martinis go decaf.
With recent warmer weather comes an uptick in bev-alc dollar sales, which flipped to positive (+0.5%) in the two-week period ending April 4 – a sequential improvement from -0.8% in the four-week window and -1.2% in the 12-weeks, according to the latest analysis of NIQ data from Goldman Sachs Equity Research.
Mark Anthony Brands announced it has struck a deal to acquire the Finnish Long Drink, the popular gin-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail. The company expects the transaction to close in the coming weeks.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Mark D. Anderson, the founder and former CEO of shuttered Drake’s Organic Spirits, alleging he orchestrated a years-long investor fraud scheme that raised $2.4 million.
In time for Opening Day and to mark the brewery’s 30th anniversary, Stone Brewing (Escondido, California) has unveiled a new branded bar next to Section 309 at Petco Park, home of MLB’s San Diego Padres.
One consistent trend through the first two months of 2026 has been the strength of ready-to-drink cocktails (RTDs).
