RTD

YOSHI Matcha Liqueur is moving from a two-state test market to national distribution in under a year, testing its thesis that the popularity of espresso martinis and matcha prove there’s demand for green tea-laced cocktails.

Sazerac has signed a binding agreement to acquire Au Vodka, a top-selling ready-to-drink (RTD) canned vodka brand in the UK. The deal continues the Fireball owner’s two-year buying spree and marks its largest push yet into the UK market.

The latest spirits distribution headlines include RTD gin cocktail The Original Southside landing in major retailers, a wave of Southern Glazer’s (SGWS) additions spanning vodka, rum, and scotch, and distributors scooping up new territory in the wake of Republic National Distributing Company’s (RNDC) collapse, among other moves.

Rhinegeist Brewing’s Cincy Light line has crossed categories with the debut of Cincy Splash, a vodka-based, ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail. The vodka sodas are available in three flavors: Pineapple, Black Cherry and Peach. The 4.5% ABV, 100-calories drinks are packaged in 355 ml slim cans and sold in single-flavor 4-packs and variety 8-packs, according to a press release.

There were many kinds of party drinks before 2010, but we’d bet none of them came in colorful plastic orb-shaped containers. BuzzBallz, the Sazerac-owned ready-to-drink (RTD) party prop, doesn’t just stand out for its spherical shape, but for what it represents about how people are drinking these days: with entertaining, high-ABV, convenient formats.

Check out news items initially reported in the Brewbound Insider Newsletter August 6-7, including headlines from A-B, Tilray Brands, Departed Soles and more.

How can a new brand make a splash in the increasingly crowded ready-to-drink waters? A winning combination of differentiated flavors, artistic packaging and a willingness to work the market day in and day out. That’s what has been working for Lake Hour, according to CEO Michelle Ivey, this week’s featured guest.

Minute Maid Spiked is adding Vodka Lemonade Iced Tea to its lineup, marking the brand’s first entry into the hard iced tea set. The launch also lands as the brand’s first release since Sazerac took over distribution in partnership with Coca-Cola’s newly restructured “firewalled, wholly owned” bev-alc subsidiary, Red Tree Beverages.

Vodka’s buyer base is aging and drinking less, but new formats can serve as recruitment tools, according to a new report from NIQ. 

The margarita’s grip on cocktail menus is loosening as drinkers, particularly younger ones, have begun to diversify their cocktail choices. After a long reign at the top, challenges to the margarita have emerged: value velocity fell 16% year-over-year (YoY) in Q4 2025 according to a new report from NIQ.

Joel Gott Wines, a powerhouse producer of entry-level supermarket staples, is tapping ready-to-drink (RTD) and functional trends with a new release launched today.

Two years after appointing dual CEOs, Cleveland, Ohio-based Great Lakes Brewing Company (GLBC) is down to one, following the May departure of Steven Pauwels, who returned to his native Belgium to be closer to family, Crain’s Cleveland Business reported.

Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) plans to lay off 160 workers in Alaska by September 4, the company wrote in a July 6 WARN Act notice.

Philadelphia-based Top Dog Cocktails is putting $1.3 million behind a new joint venture with St. Croix-based Flamboyant Water to launch a four-flavor rum ready-to-drink (RTD) line across the Caribbean and select U.S. markets this fall.