Absolut And Ocean Spray Team Up For Vodka Cranberry Canned Cocktail
You could call the newest entry in the booming ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail category a clash of titans, except for the fact that the pairing is so harmonious and classic that it's almost surprising it hasn't already happened. Absolut and Ocean Spray announced in a press release today that they're partnering to deliver the Vodka-Cranberry Range, a new line of canned cocktails that should appear on the market in early 2024.
The new RTD cocktails are made from Absolut Vodka, a Swedish brand owned by beverage giant Pernod Ricard, and Ocean Spray cranberry juice, produced by a collective of 700 cranberry growers located in North America and Chile. The vodka and cranberry juice cocktails will also contain sparkling water and other natural flavors. They'll be available in a variety 8-pack with four distinct flavors, as well as in 2 different 4-packs and in single cans. Though the vodka-cranberry juice cocktail is one of the easiest to make, it's possible that at-home mixing for these straightforward cocktails is on the way out. Consumers have flocked to the RTD format for cocktails, as it's a category that's sustained impressive growth these past many months.
Absolut + Ocean Spray = a classic cocktail
There's a reason why vodka-cranberry is such an enduring cocktail, and it's not just because it's easy to make. The cocktail originates in Cape Cod, near several cranberry bogs, and also close to Ocean Spray's headquarters in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. The cocktail was originally conceived as a marketing strategy to get people to consume more cranberries. Originally called the Red Devil in the 1940s, Ocean Spray memorably brought together the cocktail and its New England roots when it renamed the drink the Cape Codder (or simply Cape Cod) in 1965.
Crystal-clear vodka, paired with tangy, not-too-sweet cranberry juice, is a light, refreshing cocktail that's delicious as-is and also ripe for playful bartenders to jazz up with additional cordials, fresh juices, and flavorful herbs. Serving it up as a canned RTD just makes sense, as there are a host of variations on the vodka-cranberry, which include the Sea Breeze, which calls for the addition of grapefruit juice, and the Bay Breeze, which uses pineapple juice in addition to the cranberry juice and vodka base. Only time will tell if this partnership will see to it those drinks are also brought to market in canned form.