Argue with me if you want, but nothing compares to an ice-cold Martini at 6 p.m. after a long day in the salt mines. Or a bright, invigorating Daiquiri sipped on the screen porch while your partner puts the kids to bed. Or, hell, a White Russian nightcap after the dinner guests have gone home and the dishes are done.

A good cocktail always has its time and place, but making it yourself—well, sometimes that’s a different story. Maybe you forgot to replace the dry vermouth after finishing the bottle, or, like many, you simply don’t keep orgeat on hand. Or you’re just tired and you don’t feel like squeezing limes and measuring ingredients and digging out the julep strainer. Once upon a time, you’d be out of luck, and the restorative jolt of a well-made cocktail would be utterly out of reach.

But not anymore.

High-quality, canned and bottled cocktails have arrived, allowing you to skip the effort and go straight to the enjoyment. These aren’t White Claws or High Noons or, God forbid, wine coolers; you’ll find nary a vodka soda or hard lemonade among them. Instead, they’re built on recipes devised by seasoned bartenders, transparent ingredient lists that eschew artificial flavoring and excess sweetness, and spirits from well-known distilleries. 

In other words, these are serious cocktails that you can drink, and serve, without embarrassment. The packaging is stylish enough to sip from directly, though you should feel no shame pouring one into your favorite coupe or rocks glass (garnish optional).

Many of these cocktails come in diminutive cans, and you may feel that’s a ripoff, but take a look at the proof: the smaller the package, the higher the strength. Larger servings tend to be lower in alcohol, often to the detriment of the cocktail. That’s why almost everything recommended in this article, other than what’s in the Spritz category, clocks in at 10 percent ABV or higher—often much higher. And nearly everything is packaged as a single serving, with just two brands (Bar Diver and Straightaway) specifying that their drinks are meant to be shared.

What’s not here: large-format pre-made cocktails, which would have made the list unwieldy, and two-ingredient Highball-style drinks that involve a base spirit and a mixer. While there are great canned versions of the Moscow Mule and Gin & Tonic, these can be made at home with next to no effort.

Instead, you’ll find below the best of the best of dozens of canned and bottled cocktails—the ones that can (seriously) stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts from a high-end bar. The good news: there are lots! The better news: more are coming. The pandemic spurred a rise in at-home drinking that, in many places, included to-go cocktails from local establishments trying to keep their staff employed. The desire to drink bar-level cocktails in the comfort of your own home isn’t going away. And lazy cocktail lovers are going to keep benefiting, to which I can only lift my glass—er, can.

Canned Cocktails to Know: Daiquiris, Margaritas & Other Sours

Citrus juice starts to degrade as soon as it’s squeezed, so it’s a wonder that so many companies have figured out how to preserve the flavors of fresh lime, lemon, and grapefruit in a can. But they have! And to such an extent that the Sour family is one of the most ubiquitous and successful categories among canned options.

The Margarita is America’s favorite cocktail, and several worthy pre-made iterations are here to slake our nation’s thirst. Golden Rule boasts balanced flavors and an optimal proof, at 27 percent ABV. The gentler strength (14 percent) of Crafthouse’s Spicy Margarita, designed by renowned bartender Charles Joly, juxtaposes nicely with its warming, fresh jalapeño heat. And Bar Diver offers a twist in the form of its Sparkling Margarita (18 percent), which is clarified and looks splendid in a flute. (Just be aware each 200 mL bottle serves two.)

Next door to the Margarita is the grapefruit-based Paloma, which can be made with grapefruit juice, soda, liqueur—sometimes all three. Golden Rule’s Tequila Paloma incorporates pink grapefruit liqueur and Ruby Red grapefruit juice to excellent bittering effect, amplified by a higher proof (26 percent). At lower strength (around 11 percent), Via Carota and Crafthouse both offer eminently quaffable sparkling takes on the Paloma.

If you prefer rum over tequila, look for Daiquiris from Tip Top Proper Cocktails and Post Meridiem. Their bracing acidity is balanced with just-so sweetness and buttressed by appropriately sturdy proofs (24-26 percent). Add a little mint to the Daiquiri and you’ve got a Southside; Post Meridiem’s version hits the spot here, too, with ideal leafy green freshness.

Whiskey Sour fans shouldn’t miss the Single Barrel Gold Rush from Bar Diver, proofed at 28 percent and made with Green River single barrel bourbon. Gin more your stride? The 26 percent Bee’s Knees from Tip Top is an excellent option. And if you like vodka, Post Meridiem makes a surprisingly great Vodka Gimlet (25 percent) that boosts complexity with a savvy dose of lemongrass oil.

Martinis, Negronis & Manhattans

There’s just one readily available canned Martini, from Tip Top, and it’s brilliantly executed—especially if you follow the instructions and store it in the freezer. At 33 percent, it’s just a touch above David Wondrich’s perfect Martini proof, so feel free to give it a quick stir over ice before pouring one into a chilled coupe. An olive won’t go amiss here, but if you don’t have one, it still tastes complete.

That drink of the moment, the Espresso Martini, gets the canned treatment from several companies, but the one that hits the mark best is also from Post Meridiem. Proofed at 22.5 percent, it balances the vodka’s strength with sturdy cold brew and just-enough sweetness from coffee liqueur.

For Negronis, Bar Diver and Dashfire offer excellent options, both at 26 percent. As with its sparkling margarita, Bar Diver’s bottled format is big enough (and boozy enough) to share. In any case, this cocktail works best poured over ice, with an expressed orange peel if you have it.

Dashfire’s Fig & Cascara Manhattan (38 percent) is one of the best canned cocktails, period. Its unusual add-ins—including cream sherry in place of vermouth—lend complexity and depth to the drink’s familiar rye-based profile. On the more traditional side, the 28 percent Boulevardier from Bar Diver crisply nails the cocktail's balanced, bitter profile.

Classic (Canned) Cocktails

The Gin & Tonic is so simple you probably don’t need a pre-made version, but let me recommend one that’s a little more complex: Drifter Craft Cocktails' Nordic-Style Gin & Tonic (7 percent), designed by seasoned bartender Steva Casey. Made with a split base of Perry’s Tot gin and Svöl aquavit, plus pear juice and allspice, it’s an elevated twist that tastes like it would cost $16 in a bar.

How many people keep heavy cream on hand—much less Kahlúa—to sate sudden cravings for White Russians? (Besides The Dude, I mean.) Who even thinks about White Russians most of the time? Not me. But if I have the Chai White Russian from Dashfire in my fridge, you’d best believe I will find an excuse to pull its adorable old-school pop-top and melt into the cocktail’s warming spice flavors.

Those of us unwilling to trust just any old bar to execute a decent Mai Tai will appreciate the two extremely solid offerings from Tip Top and Post Meridiem (25-26 percent), which hew closely to Trader Vic’s original recipe. And if you’re after even more tiki tipples, Tip Top’s 25 percent Jungle Bird is just the ticket.

Perhaps surprisingly, very few Old Fashioneds succeed in the canned format. Some are overly sweet; others underproofed. Sometimes the orange flavor is too prominent. The one that stands out: Dashfire’s 38 percent Bourbon Old Fashioned. But since this cocktail works best when it's customized—with the whiskey, dilution, and level of sweetness adjusted to taste—you may just want to do it yourself.

Low-Proof and Wine-Based Spritzes

Stepping down from the power punch of a full-proof cocktail: producers are canning creative takes on the Spritz using craft spirits. This is solid session-cocktail territory, with refreshing offerings like Siponey Royale (7.25 percent), which mixes wildflower honey and New York rye whiskey, brightened by lemon juice and made long and frizzante with sparkling water. Cardinal Spirits, an Indiana craft distillery, features its house-made vodka alongside sweet raspberry juice, tropical hibiscus, and spicy ginger in the 6.5 percent Bramble Mule. Hewing to the traditional aperitivo profile, Via Carota’s 11 percent Spritz has a bitter effervescence that would fit right in on a sun-drenched piazza.

The Spritz format also works well with wine (and sometimes requires it, in the form of Prosecco or another sparkler). Italian wine-based Ramona offers a variety of Spritzes, all between 5 and 7 percent, the best of which fall on the drier side: Dry Grapefruit, Meyer Lemon, and the crushable Dry Amarino Spritz.

Straightaway Cocktails, made in Oregon, has a creative Spritz lineup that incorporates house-made amari and liqueurs. Some riff on classic cocktails, like the 13 percent Negroni Spritz, made with sparkling pinot gris, and 13 percent Apicco Spritz, made with sparkling Pinot Gris and Muscat. But Straightaway's originals are even better. Its herbaceous rosé-based Fiore Spritz, with its notes of sage and rosemary, is a perfect food cocktail.