Why So Many Canned Cocktails Are Carbonated

Finding a good canned cocktail can be challenging. Even more challenging, on the other hand, is finding a canned cocktail that is not carbonated. Whether it's a can of the cherry-apple-ginger flavored Betty Booze sparkling bourbon cocktail that our taste tester ranked the very best, or the Kirkland Signature seltzers from Costco, store-bought carbonated cocktails can either be really good or really bad — but no matter where they land on the spectrum, they're going to be fizzy. The reason isn't for any inherent textural experience the carbonation adds. In fact, the reasoning is much more functional.

Believe it or not, carbonation is utilized in so many canned cocktail preparations because of its ability to act as a preservative. So, not only does it give those canned drinks a refreshing effervescence, it actually introduces yeast fermentation-inhibiting carbon dioxide to the mix that fights the growth of mold. For a beverage that's intended to be prepared weeks, if not months, prior to its date of consumption, it's understandable why brands would want to infuse as much of it into their recipes as possible. But, when not used correctly, carbonation can certainly come at a cost in taste — which might that explain why there's so many bad canned cocktails out there.

While it's true that carbonation acts as a preservative, reducing the overall amount of oxygen that could lead to the growth of mold within the drink, it also has some undesirable effects. One is that the lack of oxygen can also lead to oxidation — a process that, when mixed with the fruit juices commonly used in cocktail recipes, can marshal some pretty off-putting flavors. When used in a drink that is intended to sit on a store shelf for weeks at a time, those flavors only become more off-putting.

Knowing that, it's probably not so hard to understand why finding a good canned cocktail is so challenging. But, that's where Tasting Table's taste testers come in so handy. Rather than playing the guessing game in front of the store fridge, consider sifting through our ranking of popular store-bought canned cocktails. When you do, it's no coincidence that you'll find that the Tip Top Proper drinks, the canned cocktails our taste testers listed in first place, aren't carbonated at all. However, if you are partial to sparkling over still, the QNSY Sparkling Cocktails and Social Hour Cocktails, will be cans to keep an eye out for.