Celebrities are Getting Into RTD Cocktails

In the featured image of a recent press release, celebrities hold up ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails with million-dollar-smiles on their faces. You can immediately recognize John Cena, Sarah Jessica Parker, Playboi Carti, Ashley Benson, Rosario Dawson, and Vanessa Hudgens. Contrary to appearances, this is not a movie poster for the latest alcohol drenched RomCom staring Hollywood’s darlings. No. This star-studded line up is showing off a line of ready-to-drink cocktails from Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits. The movie stars were partners in founding this spirits company, and the group are now releasing four classic cocktails in a can. Among the selection are The Perfect Cosmo by Sarah Jessica Parker and John Cena’s The Classic Old Fashioned.

Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits Founding Partners

The late TV legend Betty White once said, “Vodka is kind of a hobby”. While it may be a hobby for most of us, many celebrities take their vodka (and other spirits) seriously. In fact, dozens of mega-stars from Justin Timberlake to Kendall Jenner to Pitbull own spirits companies. And, yes, celebrities getting into the spirits business might be old news to some, but celebrities in the ready-to-drink cocktail business are still thin on the ground. This is a little surprising as RTD cocktails are one of the fastest growing segments of the alcohol business. However, like the celebrity line up of Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits, some A-listers have taken a liking to canned cocktails and the fast-growing RTD market. We compiled a list of five celebrities with RTD cocktail brands to check out now.

1) Sean “Diddy” Combs

Sean Combs is also known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy and Diddy along with other names. The three-time Grammy award winning musician wears many hats. He’s also an actor, rap artist, Oscar-winning executive producer, and entrepreneur. Among his many business pursuits, Diddy has a 50/50 profit share deal with CÎROC Premium Vodka for marketing the premium brand in the United States. Unlike many grain-vodkas, the brewers of CÎROC distill their vodka from French grapes. And Diddy was instrumental in the brand’s success. In an interview with Forbes about the brand’s new RTD offerings, CÎROC Vodka Spritz, Sean Combs states, “Everything that Cîroc does, I’m involved in, from the bottle design to picking the flavors to the final taste and all the creatives.”

Ready-to-drink cocktails are a new venture for CÎROC. Their first release was in April 2022. The brand released four flavors in their CÎROC Vodka Spritz, Watermelon Kiwi, Sunset Citrus, Pineapple Passion, and Colada. The alcohol content of these offerings comes in at a 7% ABV, which is comparable to an IPA or higher alcohol beer. Unlike most beer, however, these vodka spritzes are gluten free.

2) Bethenny Frankel

Bethenny Frankel is no stranger to savvy business deals, as her guest appearances on ABC’s Shark Tank signify. After competing on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart, Bethenny gained worldwide fame on The Real Housewives of New York City. Since then, she created the Lifestyle brand Skinnygirl. Bethenny’s brand has many lifestyle lines but first among them was a line of ready-to-serve cocktails. Bethenny has since sold Skinnygirl Cocktails to Beam Suntory, but she remains the CEO of Skinnygirl. Unlike other brands we are featuring here, Skinnygirl Cocktails are only available in bottles with multiple servings. The flavors offered are Margarita, Sweet ‘N Tart Grapefruit Margarita, White Peach Margarita, Spicy Lime Margarita, Sweet’arita, And White Cranberry Cosmo. The Skinnygirl Margarita contains only 3.8 carbohydrates and 100 calories per 4 oz serving.

3) Sammy Hagar (The Red Rocker)

Sammy Hagar, also known as The Red Rocker, headlined for Montrose and Van Halen before launching his solo career. In addition to his musical success, the Grammy-award winning artist saw worldwide renown for his Mexican resort and American nightclub chain Cabo Wabo and his Tequila brand of the same name.

The Red Rocker recently released a line of RTD rum cocktails under his brand Sammy’s Beach Bar Cocktail Co. The sparkling rum cocktails come in four flavors, Island Pop, Cherry Kola Chill, Pineapple Splash, and Tangerine Dream. According to the brand’s website, Island Pop is a take on Hawaiian Punch. Cherry Kola Chill would be your classic cherry cola and rum. Pineapple Splash is a spicy-sweet pineapple and jalapeño mix. And, last but not least, Tangerine Dream holds the nostalgic taste of a creamsicle. These canned cocktails contain 130 calories per can, and their alcohol content is at a 5.5% ABV.

4) Shay Mitchell

Shay Mitchell costarred on Freeform’s Pretty Little Liars and Netflix’s You. The Canadian actress is also a model and business owner. Just last year, Shay Mitchell started a tequila seltzer ready-to-drink canned cocktail company named Onda Tequila Seltzer. The brand’s line of tequila seltzers uses Blanco tequila from Jalisco, Mexico. Each can only contains 100 calories, 1 gram of carbohydrates, and 0 grams of sugar. The alcohol content of these beverages falls at a 5% ABV, average for hard seltzers and canned cocktails. Onda Tequila Seltzer has four original flavors, Grapefruit, Lime, Blood Orange, and Watermelon. They also released a new collection of tropical flavors, adding Strawberry, Pineapple, Passion Fruit, and Mango. The drinks are also gluten free. Onda Tequila Seltzer is available in 31 US states.

5) Miles Teller

Miles Teller is an American actor, co-starring in the soon-to-be released Top Gun: Maverick. The actor’s self-proclaimed marriage with the Finnish Long Drink began with him tasting the canned cocktails in a New York liquor store. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the Divergent actor states, “I usually stay down in the Bowery, and I popped into the local liquor store and tried it [The Finnish Long Drink]. I had the same reaction that pretty much everybody has had that I’ve given it to. You’re just like, ‘What is this?’ I wouldn’t call it gin and grapefruit—although it has a lot of those flavors. But it’s clear and really refreshing. And I just loved the buzz of it.” The actor goes on to state that he fell in love with the “taste and history of the company”. This convinced him to become part-owner of this RTD cocktail brand.

The drinks come in four varieties. The traditional Finnish Long Drink mixes citrus soda with gin. The alcohol content is at a 5.5% ABV. It contains 180 calories and 18 grams of carbohydrates. If that’s too many carbs for your diet, the brand also offers the Finnish Long Drink Zero with 0 grams of sugar and carbs and only 99 calories. The alcohol content is a little lower as well at 5% abv. The brand also offers a limited-edition Cranberry flavor. And, they have a higher alcohol take on their original flavor with an 8.5% ABV. These offerings are now available in 26 US states.

Read reviews of canned cocktails and RTDs on Seltzer Nation.

Want to find your perfect hard seltzer or canned cocktail? Try our new Seltzer Finder! You can search by flavor, ABV, carbs and more to discover your ideal beverage.