The best ready-to-drink cocktails this fall are not another hard seltzer — they are warm mugs, barrel-aged bottled classics and moonshine-strength cans you just pour over ice. Del Mesa Liquor, a family-owned store in San Diego, California, stocks a short, strong cocktails shelf built exactly for cooler evenings, and every pick below is in stock and available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.
Just add hot water: the Cutwater Heaters
San Diego's own Cutwater Spirits makes its Heaters line as concentrated hot-cocktail bottles — measure a dose over hot water and the drink is built. One 375mL bottle makes 8 cocktails.
- Cutwater Spirits Heaters Whiskey Hot Buttered Rum — $19.99 (1 in stock). Cutwater's signature rum with butter, vanilla, cinnamon and clove at 40% ABV — a Gold winner at the Bartender Spirits Awards, and the definitive fireside mug. Only one bottle on the shelf.
- Cutwater Spirits Heaters Whiskey Vodka Apple Pie — $19.99 (4 in stock). Built on Cutwater's Double Gold-winning vodka with tart apple and cinnamon in a warm, buttery sip — hot apple pie, no baking required.
Barrel-aged and ready to pour
- High West The Barreled Boulevardier Liqueur — $199.99 (1 in stock). The collector of the shelf: straight bourbon, Vya sweet vermouth and Gran Classico bitter amaro married 90 to 120 days in used American oak barrels in Park City, Utah, bottled at 36% ABV with no chill filtration. Pour over a big cube and it is a finished boulevardier.
- Whistlepig Ginger Fashioned Cocktail To-Go — $39.99 (1 in stock). A pre-batched, barrel-aged old fashioned from WhistlePig Farm in Vermont: 6-year-old PiggyBack 100% rye whiskey plus maple syrup infused with raw ginger, at 35% ABV in a 375mL bottle. Just add ice.
Moonshine-strength cans
- Sip Shine Razz-Berry Shineade — $19.99 (5 in stock). A moonshine-based RTD from Grand Rapids, Michigan — raspberry, strawberry, black cherry and muscadine lemonade at a full 20% ABV, in a 4-pack of 200mL cans. Nothing like a seltzer.
- Sip Shine Shine Berry Sweet Tea — $19.99 (1 in stock). Sun-soaked sweet tea with a raspberry finish, same 20% ABV moonshine base, 4-pack of 200mL cans. Pour over ice.
Frequently asked questions
What is a ready-to-drink cocktail?
A ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktail is a finished drink sold ready to serve — canned cocktails like the Sip Shine 4-packs, bottled batched cocktails like the WhistlePig Ginger Fashioned, and concentrated warm-drink bottles like the Cutwater Heaters that finish with hot water.
Are RTD cocktails as strong as bar cocktails?
The good ones are. The Sip Shine cans are 20% ABV, the WhistlePig Ginger Fashioned is 35% ABV, and the High West Barreled Boulevardier is 36% ABV — real spirit strength, not flavored malt drinks.
How do Cutwater Heaters work?
Heaters are concentrated 40% ABV cocktail bases in 375mL bottles. You measure a dose into a mug, add hot water, and the drink is complete — one bottle makes 8 cocktails, which makes them the easiest hot drink on this list for a crowd.
Where can I buy RTD cocktails in San Diego?
At Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, California, in store or online — the full range is on our cocktails collection page, and questions are covered in our FAQs.
Round out the home bar from the cocktails collection, browse the story of the store on about our store, and keep an eye on the Del Mesa blog — last week's Fortaleza tequila guide is the other end of the effort spectrum.