ready to drink
{{Short description|Type of alcoholic beverage}}
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Ready to drink (often known as RTD) packaged beverages are those sold in a prepared form, ready for consumption. Examples include iced tea (prepared using tea leaves and fruit juice) and alcopops (prepared by mixing alcoholic beverages with fruit juices or soft drinks).
There are different types of RTD beverages, each serving a different purpose. Here are the most notable ones:
RTD cocktails
RTD cocktails are cocktails that have been pre-batched and bottled or canned. The benefits of having such a drink is that the customer does not need to worry about balance, technique or having multiple ingredients at home. The idea is that the customer will open the cocktail and simply pour and serve.
RTD cocktails date to the late 1800s, with Heublein selling pre-mixed cocktails under the “Club Cocktails” brand since 1892.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/intoxicating-history-canned-cocktail-180976145/|title=The Intoxicating History of the Canned Cocktail|first1=Smithsonian|last1=Magazine|first2=Liza|last2=Weisstuch|website=Smithsonian Magazine}} The popularity of the RTD category has varied significantly over the years and between markets, most recently growing significantly in the US from the 2010s with brands such as Seven Days Cocktail Co. and OTR: On The Rocks..{{Cite web|url=https://daily.sevenfifty.com/inside-the-evolution-of-ready-to-drink-cocktails/|title=Inside the Evolution of Ready-to-Drink Cocktails|date=30 May 2022|website=SevenFifty Daily}}
Alcopops
Alcopops are mainly ready made alcoholic cocktails that are carbonated and bottled under various brand names.{{cite book |title=Ready-to-drink alcohol beverages |language=en |date=June 2008 |ISBN=978-0-642-71932-4 |publisher=Parliament of Australia |access-date=19 August 2023 |url=http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/alcohol_beverages/report/report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006023628/http://web.senate@aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/clac_ctte/alcohol_beverages/report/report.pdf |archive-date=October 6, 2009}}
Alcopops are the most commonly consumed type of RTD in the world after iced tea. Alcopops are banned in some countries due to religious and cultural prohibitions on the consumption of alcohol. A number of studies have linked the marketing of alcopops to increased occurrences of underage drinking.{{cite journal|title=Flavored Alcoholic Beverage Use, Risky Drinking Behaviors, and Adverse Outcomes Among Underage Drinkers: Results From the ABRAND Study|date=2015-04-30|pmc=4358196|pmid=25713955|doi=10.2105/AJPH.2014.302349|volume=105|issue=4|journal=Am J Public Health|pages=810–5 | last1 = Albers | first1 = AB | last2 = Siegel | first2 = M | last3 = Ramirez | first3 = RL | last4 = Ross | first4 = C | last5 = DeJong | first5 = W | last6 = Jernigan | first6 = DH}}{{cite news|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10847267|title=Girls take lead in teen binge-drinking - study|author=Simon Collins|date=2012-11-14|publisher=New Zealand Herald}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/the-demonised-drink-how-has-youth-drinking-evolved-20-years-since-the-launch-of-alcopops-8675342.html|title=The demonised drink: How has youth drinking evolved 20 years since the launch of alcopops?|author=Nick Harding|date=2013-06-29|publisher=Independent}}{{cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/this-is-why-teenagers-arent-drinking-alcopops-anymore/|title=This Is Why Teenagers Aren't Drinking Alcopops Anymore|author=Tom Jenkins|date=2015-10-20|publisher=Vice}}
The industry term for this range of products is flavored malt beverages or progressive adult beverages. The majority sold in the United States are essentially flavored beer.
Alcopops can be based on different types of spirits and liquors, such as vodka-based or rum-based.
A notable type is Lonkero, a Finnish mixed drink of grapefruit soda and gin, introduced as an RTD for the 1952 Olympics, which has continued to be popular in Finland.
= Brands =
Alcopop brands are numerous and their alcoholic base vary greatly.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cocktailtimes.com/indepth/rtd/rtd.shtml|title=Cocktailtimes.com|website=www.cocktailtimes.com}}
notable brands include:
- WKD
- Smirnoff Ice
- VK
- Mike's Hard Lemonade
- Bacardi Breezer
- Skyy Blue
- Bartender's Trading
- Wild Leap Blueberry Vodka
- Jack Daniel's mixed with Coca-Cola
- MG Spirits
- Vodka Cruiser
- Truly
- White Claw
- Evolve HardPop
- Doc Wylder's
Non-alcoholic beverages
Non-alcoholic RTDs can be further separated into dairy and non-dairy drinks.
See also
References
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