Canned in Connecticut: The Rise of the Convenient Cocktails
Over the last few years, we have seen many new canned adult beverages pop up and dominate alcohol sales across the country. Following the massive spiked seltzer craze (we’re looking at you White Claw) and a global pandemic closing down everyone’s favorite bars and restaurants, ready-to-drink cocktails found a home in our refrigerators.
Connecticut companies are also getting in on the trend with brands like Litchfield Distillery which launched their line in August 2018, Drink Mechanics that emerged during quarantine and delivers canned cocktails to your door, and The Cocktail Chemist Beverage Co., started by the Cocktail Chemist himself, Dimitrios Zahariadis.
Dimitrios Zahariadis - The Cocktail Chemist. Photo courtesy of thecocktailchemistbevco.com
Zahariadis, beverage director at Viron Rondo Osteria in Cheshire, launched the brand in early July with three flavors , Vodka Soda, Mojito, and one called, Something Good which is a vodka lemonade with a custom blended violet extract. “It was a drink I used to make for people that would came into the bar and ask for me to make them something good,” he said. It had such a great response, that he knew it needed to be part of his cocktail line.
It all started conceptually a couple of years ago when Zahariadis saw a rise in the RTD alcohol beverage sales and a gap in the Connecticut market. “At the time there weren’t a lot of good products on the market and I knew I wanted to change that,” he said.
Zahariadis and a few of his canned cocktails. Photo courtesy of The Cocktail Chemist Instagram
His timing was perfect. In 2019, hard seltzers grew 226.4% and is expected to reach $3.5 billion in sales by years end. The convenient RTD cocktail creators are riding that wave straight into 2021.
With 25 years of experience, Zahariadis knew how to take the RTD concept to new heights including only the best ingredients available. He uses the freshest pressed juices, RIPE Cranberry juice made locally in New Haven, gluten free vodka made from American corn, and a trio of rums for the mojito that took him three weeks to perfect.
Soon he will be adding a fourth cocktail to The Cocktail Chemist line, a nitro infused espresso martini. Zahariadis is already working on some new flavor concepts to launch next year.
If you want to try some of the perfectly balanced drinks from The Cocktail Chemist Beverage Co., they are available in Connecticut and Massachusetts. To find retail locations near you, check out the “Find Us” page on his website.
Instagram: @cocktailchemist www.thecocktailchemistbevco.com
