Ready to drink (often known as RTD) packaged

beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies a ...

s are those sold in a prepared form, ready for consumption. Examples include

iced tea Iced tea (or ice tea) is a form of cold tea. Though it is usually served in a glass with ice, it can refer to any tea that has been chilled or cooled. It may be sweetened with sugar or syrup. Iced tea is also a popular packaged drink that can be ...

(prepared using

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

leaves and

fruit juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat or seafood, such as ...

) and

alcopop An alcopop (or cooler, spirit cooler n South African English">South_African_English.html" ;"title="n South African English">n South African English or malternative

n American English N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

is any of certain flavored alcoholic beverages with relati ...

s (prepared by mixing alcoholic beverages with fruit juices or

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

s). There are different types of RTD beverages, each serving a different purpose. Here are the most notable ones.

RTD Cocktails

RTD Cocktails are cocktails that have been pre-batch and bottled or canned. The benefits of having such a drink is that the customer does not need to worry about balance, technique or having multiple ingredients at home. The idea is that the customer will open the cocktail and simply pour and serve.

Alcopops

Alcopop An alcopop (or cooler, spirit cooler n South African English">South_African_English.html" ;"title="n South African English">n South African English or malternative

is any of certain flavored alcoholic beverages with relati ...

s are mainly ready made alcoholic cocktails that are carbonated and bottled under various brand names. Alcopops are the most commonly consumed type of RTD in the world after

. Alcopops are

banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

in some countries due to religious and cultural prohibitions on the consumption of alcohol. A number of studies have linked the marketing of alcopops to increased incidences of

underage drinking The legal drinking age is the minimum age at which a person can legally consume alcoholic beverages. The minimum age alcohol can be legally consumed can be different from the age when it can be purchased in some countries. These laws vary between ...

. The industry term for this range of products is flavored malt beverage or progressive adult beverage. The majority sold in the United States are essentially flavored beer. Alcopops can be based on different types of spirits and liquors, such as vodka-based or rum-based. A notable type is

Lonkero In Finland, lonkero refers to a ready mixed drink made from gin and, most commonly, grapefruit soda, although other long drink flavours include cranberry and lime. In Finland, lonkero is available in stores and restaurants, where it can be on ...

, a Finnish mixed drink of grapefruit soda and gin, introduced as an RTD for the 1952 Olympics, which has continued to be popular in Finland.

Brands

Alcopop brands are numerous and their alcoholic base vary greatly.Cocktail Times , Ready To Drink (RTD) Fact Sheet
/ref> notable brands include: *

Smirnoff Ice Smirnoff (; ) is a brand of vodka owned and produced by the British company Diageo. The Smirnoff brand began with a vodka distillery founded in Moscow by Pyotr Arsenievich Smirnov (1831–1898). It is distributed in 130 countries. Smirnoff prod ...

Mike's Hard Lemonade Mike's Hard Lemonade Co. is an alcopop supplier based in Levittown, Pennsylvania Levittown is a census-designated place (CDP) and planned community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Del ...

Bacardi Bacardi Limited (; ) is one of the largest privately held, family-owned spirits companies in the world. Originally known for its Bacardi brand of white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in Cuba in 1862 an ...

Breezer * Skyy Blue * Wild Leap Blueberry Vodka *

Jack Daniel's Jack Daniel's is a brand of Tennessee whiskey. It is produced in Lynchburg, Tennessee, by the Jack Daniel Distillery, which has been owned by the Brown–Forman Corporation since 1956. Packaged in square bottles, Jack Daniel's "Black Label" T ...

Hard Cola * MG Spirits *

Vodka Cruiser Vodka Cruiser is a brightly coloured vodka-based alcoholic drink, with an alcohol content of 5%.Sometimes described as an alcopop, this premixed drink is available in seventeen flavours, including guava, lemon, lime, passion fruit, pineapple, ras ...

* Truly * White Claw * Evolve HardPop * Doc Wylder's

Non-alcoholic beverages

Non-alcoholic RTDs can be further separated into dairy and non-dairy drinks. *

Chocolate milk Chocolate milk is a type of flavoured milk made by mixing cocoa solids with milk (either dairy or plant-based). It is a food pairing in which the milk's mouthfeel masks the dietary fibres of the cocoa solids. Types The liquid carbohydrate ...

* Energy drinks *

Iced tea Iced tea (or ice tea) is a form of cold tea. Though it is usually served in a glass with ice, it can refer to any tea that has been chilled or cooled. It may be sweetened with sugar or syrup. Iced tea is also a popular packaged drink that can be ...

References

Alcoholic drinks Drinks {{mixed-drink-stub

RTD Cocktails

Alcopops

Brands

Non-alcoholic beverages

See also

References