From my new favourite blue raspberry lemonade to spiked iced tea and a vodka soda that tastes like childhood freezies, these were on repeat all summer.
By Sandy Caetano
If you opened my fridge or cooler at any point this summer, there’s a very good chance you would have found an RTD or two … or five.
I love a good cocktail, but sometimes I just want to grab something cold, head outside and enjoy it. No mixing. No measuring. No figuring out whether I actually have all the ingredients for the cocktail I just saw on Instagram.
So, after a summer of very dedicated taste testing, these are five that earned a spot in my cooler — and since I’m not quite ready to give up patio season, I’ll be drinking them into fall too.
Bonus: they’re all available at the LCBO.
3 Lakes Spirits Co. Blue Raspberry Vodka Lemonade
5% ABV | 355 mL | $3.40
I’m starting with my favourite because… obviously.
I LOVE lemonade, and blue raspberry has always been one of those nostalgic flavours I can’t resist. Put the two together, add vodka and make the drink blue?
Sold.
It’s tart, fruity, refreshing and doesn’t taste overly strong, which makes it very easy to drink on a hot afternoon.
And it matches my hair. Blue hair. Blue drink. It was meant to be.
There’s also a Pink Gin Lemonade with grapefruit and rosemary, plus 0% versions of both flavours.
Snapple Spiked Original Tea
7% ABV | 458 mL | $3.25
If lemonade is one of my summer staples, iced tea isn’t far behind.
Snapple Spiked Original Tea tastes like that familiar tea-and-lemon combination, only this one comes with a 7% ABV.
It’s made in Ontario with real tea leaves and lemon, and I like this one simple: straight from the fridge and really cold.
There are Peach and Strawberry versions too, but sometimes you just can’t beat the original.
Stock & Row Slow & Low + Cold Tea Black Raspberry
Slow & Low: 5% ABV | 355 mL | $3.55
Cold Tea Black Raspberry: 4% ABV | 355 mL | $3.55
My friend Ricky (@yourpalrick) introduced me to Stock & Row, and Ricky knows his drinks, so when he tells me to try something, I listen.
Slow & Low is a dry cider made with 100 per cent Ontario apples. It’s crisp and light without being overly sweet.
Cold Tea Black Raspberry was the more unexpected one for me — cider meets iced tea with black raspberry flavour, zero grams of sugar and around 99 calories per can.
And if you want to try Slow & Low on tap, head to Everyside in Toronto (120 Adelaide St. W.). Maybe Ricky will be there. Tell him I sent you.
Simply Spiked BOLD Cherry Limeade + Signature Lemonade
7% ABV | 473 mL | $3.20 per can or $16.50 per 8-pack
Yes, more lemonade.
I told you I have a type.
Simply Lemonade is already a favourite in our house, although homemade will always win, so I had high hopes for Simply Spiked BOLD.
Cherry Limeade is tart and juicy with cherry and lime, while Signature Lemonade gives you that classic lemon flavour I love. Both are 7% ABV and made with 5% real fruit juice.
Thankfully, there’s a mixer pack with both because choosing is overrated.
Cottage Springs Vodka Soda Freezie Mixed Pack
5% ABV | 355 mL | 0g sugar | 0g carbs | $21.95 per 8-pack
This one is pure nostalgia.
Blue. White. Red. Orange.
If you grew up eating freezies all summer, you already know exactly where this is going.
The best part is that as soon as you crack the can, you can actually smell the freezie. And somehow, every colour tastes like the freezie you remember.
Except now there’s vodka in it.
They’re crisp, lightly carbonated, have zero grams of sugar and carbs and are basically childhood summer memories for grown-ups.
I’m Not Packing the Cooler Away Yet
So there you have it, a little peek inside my summer cooler.
Some were nostalgic, some surprised me and one matched my hair so perfectly it really never stood a chance.
And while everyone else starts talking pumpkin spice, I’ll be over here hanging onto patio season for as long as possible.
Hoodies exist for a reason.
And so do coolers.
