Ready-to-Drink Booze Is Winning the Stay-at-Home Drinking Game
Hard seltzers and canned wines were already on the upswing, but pre-mixed cocktails are the star of the living room bar.
While many Americans continue to live under some measure of quarantine, people have been drinking more at home. With restaurants and bars unlikely to reopen soon (if at all), and a near-guarantee of a second wave of Covid-19 infections, it seems the living room bar is here to stay.
During the third week of March—which for many was the first week of lockdown—U.S. alcoholic beverage sales spiked 55% compared with the same period last year, according to Nielsen. Online sales of alcohol that week rose a tremendous 243%. A month later, web sales had risen a further 26%, and sales in all categories of beer, wine and alcohol continued to climb into May.