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5 premix drinks to invite to your pre-party


Read time 5 Mins

Posted 06 Oct 2022

By
Alexandra Whiting


Your first drink of the night really sets the tone, make it a good one with these canned cocktails.

Some people are all about an after party, others live for the main event, personally, I like the party before the party: just your few besties, catching up on your the office drama from the week, your homemade gauc, the corn chips from the fancy grocer and (most importantly), music you control. You can’t deny, the best stuff happens before you get to the birthday party, set dinner, or friend’s standup debut. *cringe*.  It’s also when you get the best drink: something you really feel like, savour and put more thought into than, “whatever you’re having”. For the pre-party, we recommend a premix – something new and tasty. It’s essentially a cocktail without any of the stress, mess or required skill, and it’s ready to pour, fresh, whenever your friends turn up. So you can serve a delish drink on arrival, while still giving full attention to figuring out your outfit. Here are five premix drinks to freshen up your pre-party.

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1. A guava drink minus the fruit market forage

Guava, as a fruit and a flavour, is a good time. It tastes like an island holiday: something between a strawberry and a pear but more fleshy than both. The only downside is that, unless you’re in a tropical location, they are very hard to find. Even in juice form. Good Tides Guava Hard Seltzer brings together that Caribbean vibe with a splash of the Australian coast (the brand’s forever muse). The counterparts to the natural guava flavour are triple distilled (once through charcoal) Vodka O and Australian sparkling water, making this can, with its cute whale, a refreshing, clean-tasting, ode to that seaside trip you daydream about during the work day. Pass the sunscreen.

2. The perfectly balanced dry & lime

Wild Turkey is a pretty stick-to-their-guns, the-right-way-is-the-traditional-way, Texas-forever, Matthew McConaughey bourbon brand. So when they step outside their comfort zone, it’s worth paying attention. Wild Turkey Discovery Series Dry & Lime combines their signature bourbon with the perfect amounts of ginger ale and lime. A full flavour, it’s zingy, fresh but honeyed and slightly smokey from the bourbon. It’s pretty delicious and a nice alternative if your BFFs are beer drinkers (this might persuade them otherwise).

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3. The mess-free mango seltzerHave you ever tried to make a drink with mango? It is not an easy fruit to liquify. It’s pulpy and squishy and makes a whole lot of mess, but the flavour is so perfect for a first drink. Fun, refreshing, tart on the palette, but a pain in the ass to achieve. Want it with a bit of lemon too? I hate to tell you, but that’s more fruit to cut up. Enter Truly Mango Lemonade Seltzer. You can tell these flavours have been mixed for impact from the first sip – it’s a big flavour, a true tropical punch. Pull it straight out of the fridge as your friends arrive or add some ice and a slice of lime and appreciate how little effort it took to whip up a drink this great.

4. The lemon squash with a built-in kick

Lemon squash is uniquely Australian – a true-blue pub drink beloved from the first time we’re allowed a soft drink with dinner. Brookvale Union High ABV Lemon Squash adultifies the icon with a generous serve of vodka. All in all, it’s nothing crazy (though they do make it with real lemon juice and have made it both low-cal and low-sugar), but it’s tasty, nostalgic, refreshing and a very satisfying drink. Ideal for hangs that are starting mid afternoon and you feel more like something fun and bubbly than strong or refined.

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5. A marg where the spice is just right

A spicy margarita in a can is a gamechanger. Unless you’re a bartender making multiples every night, it’s so hard to get the spice level right. And there’s nothing sadder than going to the mammoth effort of making a marg, only to overdo the heat and not be able to drink it. Heartbreaking. Smirnoff Seltzer Cocktail Spicy Margarita has the art perfected *chef’s kiss*. It’s more mellowed than a straight cocktail because it’s “seltzer-fied” with a sparkling water, ultimately making it more refreshing, but just as flavourful. Smirnoff have focused on making a premix that is delicious and refreshing, but not super sweet or high in sugar – this can has less than 3g.
image credits: Charlie Hawks