Shotpak’s Buzz-a-Rita margarita pouches are a the closest thing I have seen to a party in a pouch. For all those places where bringing alcohol in cans and bottles is unwieldy at best, this yummy drink is perfect. It certainly beats the 3 liter wine bag I tried to shove in my pants last time I went to a concert.
Buzz-a-Ritas are exactly what you want them to be – small, easy to carry easy to drink, and you can drink one or two without feeling much effect. After the eighth or ninth, however, you will be, without any doubt, having the most fun at the party. And, when you are done with the double shot, you can fold the container to the size of a cigarette and recycle it. These are my new official drink for my yearly Mexican Beach Vacation.
Although these are supposed to be marketed to the 25+ market segment, they have gotten in trouble in the UK for making a product too attractive to kids. They were too afraid that the names and image could incite excessive drinking, and more heavy drinking by kids. This implies two things:
1. Teens would be attracted to a buzz-a-Rita more than something stronger and easier to drink lots of, and
2. Teens need an incentive to drink.
Now when I was underage drinking, I would go for the cheapest I could get a drunk on with, or the easiest to manage. After all, I did not really WANT to get noticed walking down the street with a giant bottle of Kamchatka or Popov Vodka in my hands. And while carrying a couple of these pouches is super easy, carrying enough of them to get any serious brain mash would need packaging – which does not work at all. Also, arent these sold in liquor stores? Last time I noticed, I think those places deal with underage kids trying to buy booze all the time, and one more product is not going to make them want to go in and buy more than they already do.
Buzz-a-ritas are soon going to be everywhere (I counted 12 states), but can also be found here.
Packaging: 10
While the caffeinated margarita is unique to the market, the packaging is what makes the drink so amazing. The patented ShotPack pouch is a small metallic squeeze tube, much like a Capri Sun for grownups, minus the straw. This pouch is bendable, neigh unbreakable, easy to drink out of and look great. It is recyclable, and has the lowest carbon dioxide footprint of any container used to package alcohol in the world. The easy-tear opening means there’s little standing in between you and your booze.
Really, This shot package should win some awards for brilliance. The only thing I might change, which might even be against the law in some states, is a listing of how much caffeine is in each wonderful mouthful.
Buzz:8
Unlike the caffeinated vodka they produce, this little 50 ml shot has only 17% Alcohol content, or the same as a red wine. The CEO of the company stated that “We think a cocktail in a pocket fulfills a real niche out there… You can have four of the cocktails, for example, and not be in trouble.”
They did add a nice little buzz to this too, with adding taurine, caffeine AND guarana to the strawberry margarita mix. I did enjoy the energy mix, but I am unsure of adding caffeine to the rowdiest of mixed drinks. I think more bad things have happened to people drinking margaritas than any other drink, minus Jack and Coke. For me, the Margaritas stop pouring when someone finally wants to go to bed, but there is no crashing with this drink – you could just keep drinking and drinking, getting ornery-er and ornery-er.
I am actually glad this comes in small pouches, opposed to liter bottles. Still, an option of one of these pouches with a little more caffeine and a bit stronger would be very nice too.
Taste:7
This is marketed as a premium gold Tequila from Mexico with an authentic golden color and a full pungent aroma with moderate, suave agave intensity. They used California Blue™ Gold Tequila in their margarita mix, which is supposedly pretty good. And it is better than most of the pre-made margaritas out there, easily trumping the Cuervo and Margaritaville Jugs. What this isn’t is a Real, True, Margarita. This is great in a cheap non mixed sort of way – but coming from an ex-bartender, I have a hard time with any Margarita where there is no triple sec flavor, no real strawberry flavor, and the color is a fake food dye. If you are used to margs out of the bottle – this is one of the better ones you will have. But for a tequila snob, I would not try to sell this as a fantastic mixed drink.
I did appreciate that their tequila does actually come from Tequila, Mexico, not to mention you can not even taste any of the energy drink ingredients, which is a huge plus. For a shot in a bendy pouch, I dont think you even want anything better than this. If you did – you would be stuck in the bar or at your counter, as opposed to hanging out by the pool having fun.