Avoid This Trader Joe's Canned Cocktail Unless You Want College Flashbacks

Canned cocktails are becoming more and more popular because they take the work and cost out of mixing cocktails yourself. Just as countless spirit companies and name brands have come out with canned cocktails that you can pick up at your local convenience store, Trader Joe's has a selection of canned cocktails, which we tasted and ranked based on flavor balance.

We were looking for a cocktail that wasn't too sweet and had a well-rounded complexity that balanced the flavors of the mixer with those of the spirit in question. Unfortunately, the Links Drinks Classic Transfusion landed in last place because it was neither balanced nor complex. The cocktail consists of vodka, grape juice, and ginger ale. Vodka is a famously neutral spirit that's easily masked by sweet mixers. So, we expected not to taste the spirit, but we hoped that the spice and bite of the carbonated ginger ale would complement the sweet, fruity grape juice. After a sip or two, it was clear that no such balance was reached. All the ginger ale did was turn the grape juice into grape soda while combining the sugar content of both drinks into a cloyingly sweet presentation. It reminded us of the badly mixed vodka and grape soda drinks we'd drink in college. Some college flashbacks are great, but those lethal hangovers after drinking syrupy sweet vodka drinks are the flashbacks we'd rather not relive.

While college-aged kids might love the overwhelming sweetness of Links Drinks Transfusion vodka and grape juice cocktail, more mature palates should steer clear. If grape is your favorite flavor, other companies like Welches, White Claw, and Cutwater offer grape-flavored canned cocktails. Still, grape juice is a very sweet mixer, so you're still running the risk of wasting your money on an overly sweet six-pack. You're better off making your own grape cocktail so you can control the sweetness yourself. We have a recipe for a grape cognac cocktail that muddles fresh grapes with sugar and lemon juice before shaking them with cognac and topping the mixture with sparkling wine.

Such an elegant cocktail might not be worth making for a crowd, but it does point out that the sweetness of grape juice needs either some acidity or a dry carbonated beverage for a well-balanced cocktail. To that effect, many of our top choices of canned cocktails at Trader Joe's have a tart fruit like citrus or cranberry to balance the sweet with the tart. Even though the Everything But The Bartender cosmo, which we ranked third, was a little too sweet, it was nothing that a squeeze of lime juice couldn't fix.