Canned Cocktails: Classics with a twist now come in a can

Canned cocktails have become a global phenomenon, but it’s taken one Melbourne company to elevate the experience by bringing a top-shelf tipple to the aluminium revolution.

The team at Curatif are leading the pack, aligning with award-winning bars as they reimagine the classics in a can – where flavour isn’t compromised and sustainability is at the heart of the enterprise. 

Matt Sanger, one of three founders behind the start-up, says the global cocktail crossroad renaissance started in 2005, and now it’s all about curated cocktails delivered to your door, with the shake and stir already mastered for you.

“I call it the MasterChef effect,” Sanger says. “Everyone is cooking better food and are more aware when they’re shopping, and that’s all thanks to the MasterChef phenomenon, where provenance and quality are very important.

“That curiosity has now spilled into cocktail culture. People want to drink less but better, and now it’s all about convenience.

From Archie Rose espresso martinis made with Seven Seeds coffee to a Four Pillars gin negroni and Melbourne award-winning bar Black Pearl’s The Toreador, it’s all about aligning with the best in the biz to deliver a quality cocktail.

Curatif is also about to release a penicillin cocktail and Midori illusion shaker, all in the name of nostalgia. 

While Australians were already big fans of ready-to-drink cockails long before the global pandemic hit, a series of lockdowns, which has seen bars and restaurants close for months at a time, has boosted their popularity even further as Aussies sip their cocktails at home.

“Australia is the highest consumer of ready-to-drink anywhere in the world,” says Sanger, who worked in bars for 20 years before undertaking his MBA and developing his new business model. 

“We wanted to make world-class cocktails that were transportable and convenient. Sustainability is important, too – we wanted to leave as small a footprint as possible, and the choice of aluminium cans made sense because they’re more likely to be recycled than anything else.”

Another local maker, Batch & Co – best known for its canned spritzers – has just ventured into the canned cocktail market with a range of negronis, espresso martinis and strawberry daiquiris.

Founded by award-winning Melbourne bartender Thomas Kiltorp, it’s all about sourcing fruit from Mildura and coffee beans from Melbourne to keep the spirit loaded with local ingredients.

Kiltorp says nostalgia was key in their product development process.

“You can’t go past the classics, or a classic with a twist,” he says. “Consumers are inclined to reach for something familiar and a great drink has the ability to bring back happy memories.”

Ends and Means, a cocktail bar in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, has also put its attentive bar skills to the canned cocktail format with a small range.

From Hookey’s margarita to “The Wind and the Monkey” – a collaboration with Monkey 47 gin to deliver a limited 400-can run – they’re as close as you’ll get to pulling up a bar stool at the venue.

The canned cocktail market was valued at $34 billion dollars in 2020 and is expected to grow by 20 per cent by 2030. It seems the aluminium canned revolution is being embraced by everyone from craft brewers to wine-makers, and now cocktail experts as well. 

“Collaborations are the key to the success of these cocktails,” Sanger says. This is no doubt the reason his company won six medals at this year’s Premix Awards – including winning the World’s Best Classic Cocktail for its Tequila Tromba margarita and World’s Best Contemporary Cocktail for The Toreador.