Costco's New Kirkland Brand Cocktails Are An Obvious High Noon Copycat

Costco is no stranger to the fruity, effervescent a-little-too-easy-to-drink canned cocktail game. Its Kirkland Signature label Hard Seltzer is often compared to White Claw in terms of taste, alcohol content, and flavor options, with many people lauding how affordable the Costco drink is in comparison to popular brands like White Claw and Truly. Recently, a Reddit user in Washington State noticed that a new boozy seltzer is popping up in Costco aisles, and it looks suspiciously like High Noon, a popular vodka and fruit-based canned seltzer sold at many major grocery and liquor stores. 

Costco's new Kirkland Signature brand cocktail is simply called Vodka + Soda. We like that the branding team pulled no punches when it came to naming the product. According to the Reddit post, the Kirkland Signature Vodka + Soda variety pack includes 18 cans in three different flavors: peach, watermelon, and pineapple. High Noon also comes in pineapple, peach, and watermelon, but the brand ultimately offers a larger array of flavors, including lemon, lime, passion fruit, black cherry, and grapefruit. Both Kirkland Signature's Vodka + Soda and High Noon tote no added sugar, 100 calories per can, real fruit juice, and 4.5% alcohol by volume.

Costco's whole thing is that it sells items in bulk, helping customers save potentially thousands of dollars a year. But the listed price of the Kirkland Signature Vodka + Soda has some people hesitating to head down to the liquor aisle, at least in Washington where the drink is currently available. In a photo posted to Reddit from a Washington State Costco, the price of an 18-pack of Kirkland's Vodka + Soda cans is listed as $54.21, which roughly comes out to $3 a can. However, a closer look at the price breakdown reveals that the base price is actually $24.99, with an additional $5.12 in sales tax and a whopping $24.10 extra for the Washington State spirit sales taxes.

This has left many customers online complaining that the drink is being taxed like a full-strength spirit, even though it is a diluted drink that is only 4.5% alcohol by volume. But it is worth noting that the the price might be better at other Costcos around the country that aren't subject to the same alcohol taxes.