Red Stripe Beer Jumps On The Canned Cocktail Bandwagon

Summer is almost here and the booming canned cocktail market is about to get a kick of Caribbean flavor. The Jamaican beer brand Red Stripe has announced a new pair of tropical canned cocktails packed full of island flavors.

Both cocktails are rum-based, of course. The Rum Punch is made with mango juice, while the Rum Mojito has fresh lime juice. In a press release announcing the new product, Oscar Martinez, Senior Director of Marketing and Innovation at Red Stripe's parent company HENEIKEN USA, noted that this move marked the brand's venture beyond just beer and that the cocktails were designed with Jamaican tastes and flavors in mind.

This will be a new look for the brand. Red Stripe was born in 1928 and has since gone on to be widely recognized both for its beers and stubby bottles. The squat, brown glass containers with the distinctive red stripe were introduced in 1965 and have become one of the brand's defining characteristics. By moving into the canned cocktail sphere Red Stripe looks to be angling for a share of what industry analysts have estimated to be a more than $700 million global market.

The new Red Stripe canned cocktails will join a crowded RTD (ready-to-drink) market, with one estimate counting more than 450 different brands available as of 2022. They also aren't the only beer brand to get in on the RTD bandwagon. Molson Coors launched the Topo Chico line of hard seltzers and also announced they'd be moving towards spirits with the Topo Chico Spirited line of canned cocktails. Dos Equis has a tequila-based canned margarita, and Anheuser-Busch acquired Cutwater Spirits, whose canned cocktails include ranch water, rum mojito, and vodka soda flavors.

If that all sounds like an overwhelming amount of drinks to choose between, don't worry, we've done some hard-hitting research and found the 20 best canned cocktails to try in 2023. People who do get their hands on the Red Stripe canned cocktails (the drinks will initially launch in Florida and select markets in the northeast), could even make a whole party of it. They can cook up some classic Jamaican jerk chicken and Jamaican rice and peas, and those who choose not to imbibe can be offered a refreshing Jamaican sorrel drink. Maybe a Caribbean holiday isn't in the budget this year, but people can plan a Jamaican staycation in the comfort of their own homes.