I’ve been asked about the “tinnification” of drinks pretty much everywhere else, so it feels only apt to talk about it here, too, because producers are putting just about everything they can in a can these days. Obviously, canned drinks aren’t anything new – the first canned beer went on sale in 1935, when post-prohibition America saw Krueger’s Finest Beer punted to drinkers in Virginia. Similar attempts had been made many years earlier, but it wasn’t until after two years of testing that the boffins finally developed a special coating that prevented the beer from reacting with the tin can.
And it’s not just beer that’s getting the aluminium treatment. Canned cocktails and canned wine are now going from strength to strength, too (and irrespective of whether you view the latter as a marvel of modern science or a vinous abomination) . Time was when only Provençal rosé and New Zealand sauvignon blanc got the tinned treatment, but now everything from orange wine to English sparkling is getting tinnified.
The reasons for this are many, and all are inescapably tied to modern drinking habits. The Silicon Valley Bank’s 2025 state of the US wine industry report recorded a rise of 29.3% in the uptake of so-called ready-to-drink (RTD) products, citing convenience and cost as two of the main factors for that increase. I mean, yeah, we’re all broke right now (although you don’t need me to tell you that – you need only look at the emergence of the £7 pint). And although we might end up drinking a bottle of tequila over the space of a couple of months, a £3 pre-mixed can is far more appealing to the wallet than a £30 bottle.
It doesn’t just cost less; there’s less liquid, too. Well, obviously – but at least that means it’s easier to track how much you’ve had, particularly for RTD cocktails. And, for the mental and physical health-conscious drinker, it’s much easier to quantify the units in three cans of spritz than it is to eyeball a bottle of Campari to work out the same metric. There are many new brands that, effectively, have been launched to meet this purpose, but there are also plenty of existing brands that have pivoted to meet demand.
But does tinnification affect the drinking experience, and does it affect the liquid itself? New Zealand wine producer Villa Maria, known for its supermarket sauvignon, started putting its stuff in cans a couple of months ago. They’ve kept dissolved oxygen levels below 0.5 parts per million to protect aroma and flavour, and they claim this was noticeable during a six-month comparative trial between canned and bottled wines.
David Roper, the group’s winemaker, also notes the reduced ecological impact of cans over bottles, because they’re lighter, infinitely recyclable and have a lower carbon footprint than glass, so benefit both the producer and the consumer. It seems the age of aluminium is only just beginning: better make room in your fridge.
Four cans to keep in the fridge
Fever-Tree & Papa Salt Blood Orange Gin Spritz £3 (250ml) Waitrose, 5%. A Sicilian orange tipple featuring my new favourite saline gin.
Vinca Organic Rosé £3 (187ml) Tesco, 12.5%. 100% syrah from west Sicily made in a pale Provence style.
Whitebox Freezer Martini £5.80 (100ml) Delli, 34.4%. A punch in the face at that ABV, and an excellent freezer standby.
El Rayo Tequila Tonic £39 (12 x 250ml, or £3.25 a can) El Rayo, 7%. El Rayo’s Plata teamed with Indian tonic water: clean, citrussy, crisp.