Celery Stick Not Included

Here's another bag-in-box option for holiday entertaining - cocktails in a box! I first saw this new item last fall, but now, in this season of holiday brunches, this Bloody Mary box looks like just the thing. Next summer, I'd like to try the Margarita for no-glass enjoyment by the pool, or the Mangotini on the beach.

Daily's Launches The First Ready-to-Drink Bloody Mary in a Bag-in-Box

Daily’s, America’s premium brand of fruit mixers and now, ready-to-drink cocktails, hits the market this September with the industry’s first Ready-to-Drink Bloody Mary in a convenient new Bag-in-Box format.

Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) July 26, 2006 -- Daily’s, America’s premium brand of fruit mixers and now, ready-to-drink cocktails, hits the market this September with the industry’s first Ready-to-Drink Bloody Mary in a convenient new Bag-in-Box format.

Daily’s Ready-to-Drink Bloody Mary is the latest addition to the company’s line of innovative, chilled cocktails including Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Mangotini and Appletini that are available in an easy-to-use 1.75 liter bag-in-box size that is perfect for enjoying at home or anywhere.

“The Bloody Mary is at the top of the list of most popular cocktails,” notes Tim Barr, Director of Marketing for Daily’s, “but it is not an easy cocktail for consumers to make. We have made it easy by developing a high quality, delicious premixed Bloody Mary in a compact, tote-anywhere box. Now consumers can tap into great tasting Bloody Marys from the fridge, the cooler on game day, the picnic table, the patio – anywhere – at the push of a button without work or waiting.” Barr continues, “And what better time than the fall tailgating season, the most popular season for hearty, flavorful Bloody Marys.”

To support the launch of the Bloody Mary Bag-in-Box, Daily’s is planning a “Get into the Red Zone” promotional display program and consumer sweepstakes program. The promotion includes POS and cross merchandising materials that help create tailgating themed displays at retail by tying Daily’s Ready-to-Drink Bloody Mary’s with other popular game day party items such as snack foods and grilling accessories. The sweepstakes program offers chances to win a trip to the Ultimate Red Zone in Miami – for the big game on February 4, 2007. Sweepstakes entry will be available at point of sale or at www.dailysreadytodrink.com. In addition, local advertising including sporting event program books will help create awareness and drive consumers to the microsite and the sweepstakes program.

Daily’s Ready-to-Drink products and Fruit Mixers are manufactured by American Beverage Corporation. ABC, a diversified non-carbonated beverage company, is part of the multi-billion dollar Dutch food group Royal Wessanen.

Daily's Launches The First Ready-to-Drink Bloody Mary in a Bag-in-Box

technorati tags: box, boxed, bag-in-box, cocktail, bloody, mary, margarita, cosmopolitan, Daily's

Boxed Wine - NOT - This Is Hard Cider In a Box

I am a hard cider fan. I have been, ever since I first tried hard cider in Canada 15 years ago. At that time there were no good hard ciders available in the US as far as I could tell. Our local liquor and wine store stocked Woodpecker, which is perfectly vile stuff. Fortunately there are now a number of quite tasty hard ciders available in the US, some imports, some homegrown. Too bad the US is not so forward looking as Britain on packaging.

A few days back I posted about Buffy's traditional ale in a box. Britain is also home to a hard cider in a box. H. Weston & Sons is located in Herefordshire. They offer a six of their ciders in 20L boxes, and two in a 3L package.

1st Quality Cider 3 Litre (4 x 3L boxes per case) Smooth, well-balanced fruity flavour with a clean apple finish. Unlike the cloudy scrumpies this is filtered to be clear and bright. Suitable for vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs. Alc 5.0% Vol 4 x 3L bag-in-box Still Cider

H Weston & Sons Limited

Organic Draught Vintage Cider 3 Litre (4 x 3L boxes per case) Highly Commended at the Organic Food Awards 2003. Produced from specially selected top quality organic cider apples from a single year's crop. Suitable for vegetarians, vegans and coeliacs. Alc 7.3% Vol Still Cider 4 x 3 Litre Bag-in-Box

H Weston & Sons Limited

I would love to try this, but the Weston's web store says they do not ship internationally at this time. Attention US hard cider makers: I would love to have something like this in my fridge.

technorati tags: bag-in-box, hard+cider

This Is No Boxed Wine - It's Just Twisted!

On Sunday I went to a huge pig pickin' in downeast Carolina, and saw something quite surprising. A gentleman who drove all the way from New York to attend this annual event showed up with his supply of Twisted Tea in boxes!



I tried some. Not bad, if you are heavily into caffeine with your alcohol. This guy was a caffeine fiend (caffeine seems to be a required drug for computer geeks). He told me he bought the liquor store out in late summer when they told him there would be no more boxes this season, and he said Twisted Tea is discontinuing the boxed product because a few boxes "exploded". Now, I've never heard of that before. I can't imagine how it would happen. I have dropped a wine bag of lemonade from a height of twelve feet with no damage.

Anyway, the box is still pictured on the Twisted Tea website. We will see what next summer brings. The TT loving computer geek says if he can't buy it, he will bag his own, and I told him where he can get the bags!

technorati tags: bag-in-box, Twisted+Tea

Beer in a Box - Buffy's Ales

A group of traditional ales from Buffy's Brewery, a micro-brewery in Norwich, England has for some time been available in bag-in-box packaging. I don't know how long, but I discovered the site about a year ago. They market the box to the home drinker.

Beer Boxes

Whilst Buffy's is available in numerous discerning pubs, the beers have always been available to the home drinker looking for a quality alternative to the mass brands of fizz available in cans or bottles. Buffy's quality ales can be bought in two different sized boxes and are easy to set up and serve. They also make the ideal gift! The beer is contained within a plastic liner complete with its own tap, and is then encased in a rigid cardboard box.

The smallest contains 10 litres, which is roughly 17 pints of drinkable beer, whilst the larger size holds 20 litres which is 34 pints. Being "real ale" the box must be allowed to stand in its serving position for approximately 24 hours, to allow the yeast sediment to drop to the bottom. This yeast though will carry on working gently away, to provide the beer with natural condition without the need for carbonation or preservatives. Once opened the beer will remain fresh and in prime drinking condition for up to 14 days. Storage temperature will play a big part in the life of the beer, so a cool unheated room is the best place in which to store the beer if it is to be kept for any length of time. Most of the beers in the Buffy's range can be supplied in each size and larger quantities can also be arranged. Enjoy!

Buffy's Beers

The box is not just for wine anymore! I have often wondered if bag-in-box would work for anything fizzy, but I understand a traditional ale has nothing like the amount of fizz and pressure of carbonated drinks.

technorati tags: traditional+ale, bag-in-box, boxed+beer, box+beer, boxed+ale, box+ale

Beer in a Box

In Britain traditional ale is now available in a box! In This Is Wiltshire, Charley Morgan reports that a Wiltshire micro-brewery has launched the new product, "Beer in a Box":

The Box Steam Brewery, which brews three different ales made with locally sourced barley and hops, has started to sell their ale in 10 and 20 litre boxes. "Beer in a Box" is the brainchild of 25-year-old Gordon King, who manages the brewery and prices start at £28. Mr King said: "We've done parties, hog roasts, family gatherings and all sorts so far - and we can deliver the boxes to people's houses so it makes it a lot easier. continued... "Unlike the barrels we deliver to pubs, we take the sediment out so it doesn't matter if it's moved about a bit, it will still be ok to drink straight away." The boxes are similar to the ones used for wine with a polypin bag inside them, making it easier to pour the beer out from the small tap at the base of the box. Each one is filled to order from the site of the brewery, in between Box and Colerne, which guarantees the freshness of the beer. And if 10 or 20 litres prove too much to drink, they also produce four-and-a-half pint carrykeg's too.

Beer On Tap From A Box (from This Is Wiltshire)

Actually, this is not the first time I have seen this. I will dig up some stuff I have on another traditional ale, and a hard cider, both in boxes (and both in Britain).

technorati tags: traditional+ale, bag-in-box, boxed+beer, box+beer, boxed+ale, box+ale