Don't shake or stir: drinks firms push bottled cocktails for the holidays

investing.com:

By Emma Rumney and Arriana McLymore

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) — Major distillers want American drinkers to sip their Old Fashioneds, Negronis and Espresso Martinis this holiday season. But no bartender is required: these cocktails come bottled.

Diageo (LON:DGE) and Pernod Ricard (EPA:PERP) have both launched bottled cocktails in the United States in recent months, hoping to tap into a trend that has flourished since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unlike individual canned cocktails, the new bottled drinks can contain as much as 750 millilitres of booze. The companies hope that hosts will be pouring them at festive parties this year, and guests will bring them instead of wine.

Nylaya Corbin, a 22-year-old living in New York, bought a bottle of Diageo's Espresso Martini, based on its Ketel One vodka, when she was shopping for wine in November — and loved it. Corbin said it was «extremely strong» and better than versions she had tried in bars and restaurants.

«I actually haven't even ordered an Espresso Martini out since. I will just have it at home,» said Corbin, who comes from Maryland. She said she also bought a bottle of Ketel One's Cosmopolitan cocktail for her birthday this month.

For some price conscious consumers, the bottled cocktails are a good money-saving option, amid a rise in the cost of living.

When Caroline Zatina, a 37-year-old mom from Charleston, South Carolina, saw them on sale for $20, she immediately started doing the math on how much she could save versus a bar.

«It's perfect for someone like me,» Zatina said. «I love my cocktails, I have a sweet tooth and I'm on a budget.»

Drinkers today are looking for quality, but also want their drinking experiences to be easy and cheap, said Ann Mukherjee, outgoing