"bottled cocktails" news and stories

Coming of drinking age during the Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler craze, I don't usually associate elegance with a pre-mixed drink from a bottle. But the last decade has changed some of that, with the movement toward all-natural flavors with no artificial coloring.

Back when I first learned to mix drinks, I would still occasionally grab a bottle of Jose Cuervo margarita mix for a camping trip. This never compared to the freshness of using squeezed limes, but sometimes the convenience of a bottled margarita was just too tempting when you are feeling rushed or just don't want to be bogged own with several different bottles and the accoutrements for making the drinks from scratch. This was back in the day when I didn't pay attention to whether or not the mix had high fructose corn syrup or FD&C Yellow #5. Now with companies like Stirrings, you can grab an all-natural mix and add tequila and feel pretty good about yourself.

Charbay released all-natural aperitifs that are meant to just be poured and drank in flavors of pomegranate and green tea. Like everything this company does, the aperitifs taste fresh and are made with a lot of attention to detail.

A friend of mine brought over a bottle of the most obscenely pink drink to my house the other day, Nuvo, and asked me to try it because the bottle very clearly says "For Her" (my friend is a "he"). I was very very very (very!) skeptical because though I have this problem with squealing like a teeny little Hello Kitty of a girl when I see anything pink, I am wary of cocktails that are pre-mixed and bottled. They almost always taste like...cocktails that are pre-mixed and bottled. In other words, I'd rather drink Alka-seltzer on the rocks.

The drink is called Nuvo, is from France, and is supposed to be a sparkling vodka. The cocktail is a blend of vodka and Champagne, which is what gives Nuvo it's "sparkle." If the pink doesn't tip you off to the fact that the drink is "fem," then the shape of the bottle will. You can't tell from the photo I took, but when I first saw the bottle, I thought it was something a little more naughty than what I eventually realized it was. It's shaped like a giant tube of lipstick.