Adult alcoholic popsicles are on the shelves this summer, here’s how they measure up – Sentinel and Enterprise

Hard Seltzer rocked the beverage market in 2019, causing an explosion of brands to flood store and bar shelves. Even beer makers like Bud Light, Coors and Corona jumped into the action, releasing cans of the fruity sparkling and alcoholic beverage.

This summer, the party store’s new find is alcoholic popsicles: iced wine, seltzer or cocktails in a plastic pouch like the childhood Fla-Vor-Ice, but this time with an AVB on it. ‘label.

Many have been around for a season or two, but this summer we are seeing stores inundated with a wide variety. Many come from the same brands that brought us hard seltzer.

Some claim to be low in calories, which can be misleading considering that there are only a few ounces of actual drink in each soft drink, around 3.4 ounces. A pop is going to rock you as much as a big sip of chardonnay, which may be what you are looking for as low-alcohol drinks are definitely all the rage.

Another thing to note is that these are generally sold unfrozen. So if you are planning on buying some for a party, first make sure they have time to freeze.

Here’s how some of the most widely available brands of alcoholic soft drinks measure up.

Cutwater Cocktail Pops: Manufacturer of award-winning spirits, canned cocktails, mixers and now soft drinks, the flavors of Cutwater are bold. The San Diego-based company’s frozen soft drinks contain no artificial sweeteners and are available in all-natural flavors like lime margarita, rum and cola, gin melon, and vodka mule. You can really taste the ginger in the mule, and the gin melon has a natural watermelon flavor. These cost around $ 22 to $ 25 for a 12 pack. 7% ABV. 80 calories. Available from Kroger and other markets.

Lemonade Ice Cream Pops: These are, really, great flavors for the summer. A trusted name in hard seltzer, Truly’s new adult frozen treats come in Original Lemonade, Mango Lemonade, and Strawberry Lemonade. Frozen seltzers are sweeter than hot and sell for around $ 20 for a pack of 12.5% ​​ABV. 80 calories. Widely available.

Slim Chillers Skinny Freezers: This company makes ice pops with wine and spirits. I think their best product is the peach mango bellini cocktail and orange mimosa. You can taste the wine and the experience is more like a real frozen drink than a popsicle. To qualify as “skinny,” these and the vodka versions boast a bit high of 100-114 calories. Skinny Threezer pops are three layers of frozen drink, two with a tangy fruit flavor and a third with a cream center, giving it more of a mixer drink vibe. However, the three layers seem to separate and do not always blend together. At 160 calories per three ounces, they’re not exactly “skinny” either. Sold in a pack of 8 for $ 18.99. All versions are 8% ABV and the cream in Threezers is 11% ABV. Widely available.

Poptails of the day: You may have seen other frozen cocktail products from this brand before; they’re not new to this game. Their wine-infused poptails come in strawberry, green apple and watermelon. At $ 14.99 for a 12 pack, they’re the thriftiest of the bunch and taste like wine coolers. 6.8% approx. 90 calories. Available at Target and other stores.

Bud Light Seltzer frozen ice cubes: Barely released last month, these pops come in a lime with cherries, blue raspberry and summer ice cream. They’re Bud Light branded, but they’re frozen seltzer, not beer. Apparently available only for a limited time, they were difficult to spot in stores. Bud Light Seltzer frozen ice cubes are smaller than others at just 2 ounces. 5% ABV. 100 calories.