Don’t have a clue about stirring up cocktails and have friends camping at your pad? How about some ready-to-pour drinks? All you need to do is - open the cap and quaff the drink. A lot of youngsters, especially those trying out alcoholic beverages for the first time are opting for Ready-to-Drink juice- based bottled beverages with low alcoholic content.
With Bacardi’s Breezers already being a popular option in this segment, the new one to enter the market is Sniffer vodka being launched today. Priced at Rs 100, the beverage is triple distilled vodka,bottled in Hamburg, north Germany. The drink that contains 5% alcohol is being claimed to go well with grilled red meats, seafood and pastas. Currently being launched in lemon flavour, orange and cranberry are to follow, with the drink set to be sold from gourmet stores and restaurants across the city.
Traditionally, RTDs have not been able to find much success in India, primarily due to the hot Indian weather being a deterrent. With commercial refrigeration being an expensive proposition, liquor shops were not too keen to allow large shelf space to RTDs. RTDs rolled out in the past by local manufacturers such as Xotica from Balrampur Chini Mills never took off and had to be withdrawn from the market.
That may just change now, with the drinks providing an option to the cautious drinkers not wanting to seem out of place in a party. “It is better than holding a glass of juice in your hand when your friends are downing scotch,” says model Era Chowdhury. “With a low alcohol content, they are more socially acceptable, and preferred by youngsters and women,” says Raj Kumar of Polo Lounge, Hyatt Regency.
That may just change now, with the drinks providing an option to the cautious drinkers not wanting to seem out of place in a party. “It is better than holding a glass of juice in your hand when your friends are downing scotch,” says model Era Chowdhury. “With a low alcohol content, they are more socially acceptable, and preferred by youngsters and women,” says Raj Kumar of Polo Lounge, Hyatt Regency.
Yet another RTD to hit the Indian market in a few weeks’ time is Teacher’s Lime & Cola, a whisky based beverage.