This Canned Cocktail Feels Like The Adult Version Of A Favorite 1970s Lunchbox Juice

The prototype canned cocktails date back to the 19th century, but here in the 21st century, you can find dozens of the drinks. And many canned cocktail brands offer classics like whiskey and coke, margaritas, and moscow mules. However, a canned cocktail company called Big Sipz takes a more creative approach, cranking out malt-based cocktails in jugs and juice packs that taste exactly like HUG, a favorite lunchbox juice line that debuted in the 1970s.

In a Reddit thread, older generations from the '70s, '80s, and early '90s remember HUG juices as their daily dose of sugary, fruity goodness served in kid-sized plastic barrels with a tin foil top. One Redditor said they tasted "like melted popsicle juice," while another Redditor joked, "water, sugar, food coloring and chemicals. Everything a 80s kid needed for nutrition." Filled with so much sugar they literally "burned all the way down," HUG juices still tug at our adult heartstrings.

Well, Big Sipz adds alcohol to the mix for a completely different burn. The Jugz and Tetraz line of cocktails come in similarly fruity flavors like fruit punch, blue blast, and purple punch, sold in cute mini milk jugs and juice boxes, respectively. Each serving of Big Sipz contains 16% abv and is as gulpable as the kid-version according to a glowing review on TikTok. Another comical Instagram review of Sipz Fruit Punch Jugz says, "fools that drink this grew up drinking Hugs barrels like nobody's business."

In addition to HUG adjacent flavors, Big Sipz canned cocktails also have a line of wine-based cocktails, canned margaritas, and even a chocolate vodka martini in mini cans, jugs, and juice boxes. So, if you're not in a nostalgic mood, you can still get an adult beverage fix. You can also still buy HUG juice barrels, although they're sold with less sugar as per 21st-century nutritional cognisance. So, whether you want a childhood drink with an alcoholic kick or to literally relive those childhood memories with a wholesome barrel of HUG, both options are available.

A common remark on both the TikTok and Instagram reviews for Sipz was just how easily drinkable these fruity cocktails were and how smoothly they go down, which is a common theme with canned cocktails. Most canned cocktails don't always taste as boozy as they are by design as companies will tone down the taste of alcohol either by changing distilling methods or using more neutral grain and malt alcohols in order to play up the flavors of the mixers. In the case of Sipz, you get to feel like a kid in an adult body with a burst of fruit flavors and almost neon-hued liquids. While tips on how to find the best canned cocktails warn against malt-based cocktails and a long list of artificial flavors and sweeteners, your inner child can make an exception for a juice box of Sipz.