Taste Test: Canned Spirits
The sipping’s easy when you crack open one of these no-fuss adult beverages. Tony Valainis
Candi Crushable
Northern Indiana’s 18th Street Brewery cans this light-bodied, citrus-tinged pale ale sweetened with lactose sugar. The packaging is as vibrant as the flavor, which some tasters liken to bubble gum.
Lavender Lemon Mead Spritzer
Don’t let the dainty name fool you. This heady find from New Day Craft is energized with ginger and hibiscus flowers. 1102 Prospect St., 888-632-3379
Vodka Soda
Cardinal Spirits’s classic version of sparkling water’s older, cooler sibling combines the Bloomington distillery’s smooth vodka with bubbly soda and contains 95 calories.
Sunset Tart Cherry
The crisp, classic cider at Ash & Elm Cider Co. is crafted with fresh apple juice from family orchards in Indiana and Michigan.
Fleeting Youth Lemon Raspberry Cider
Summer is the perfect time for an ice-cold fruity cider. The Fleeting Youth cider from Ash & Elm Cider Co., on East Washington Street, delivers the tartness of a typical cider but is reminiscent of sparkling wine. Pour this fizzy delight over some ice and relax under the sun’s rays as you contemplate the cider’s name. 2104 E. Washington St., 317-600-3164
Ash & Elm’s Fleeting Youth CiderImage by Baylie Blake
Elmo Cola
St. Elmo Steak House’s signature cocktail is a fan favorite for a reason: It packs a punch, merging the classic refreshment of Coke with a hefty dose of bourbon and the sweet addition of a Madagascar vanilla bean and maraschino cherry. The handsome canned rendition tastes remarkably like the very drink you’d get served straight from a bow-tied barkeep at 1933 Lounge, cherry flavor and all. Find four-packs at Target and Kroger in addition to liquor stores. 127 Illinois St., 317-635-0636
The St. Elmo ColaImage by Baylie Blake
The Snap Back & High Ball
The newly released, ready-to-drink refreshment is a canned bourbon cocktail, which makes West Fork Whiskey Co. one of the first distilleries in the country – and the only in Indiana – to offer a line of bourbon-based canned beverages. Consumers have two different drinks to choose from: The Snap Back, which is a bourbon and ginger mix with lime, spars with any traditional bourbon cocktail, but packs a comfortable punch at 7 percent alcohol by volume. Meanwhile, The High Ball, a carbohydrate free blend of bourbon, soda and lemon, is a lighter option at 130 calories and a sweet substitute for a spiked seltzer – without any added sugar. 1660 Bellefontaine St.
Written by Elizabeth Robbins, Douglas Roche III, and Baylie Blake
