COCO Cocktail -- An Idea Whose Time Has Come...for Some.

Years ago, back in my single days, I remember hanging out with some of my besties at my bachelor pad, quaffing some of my homebrews and probably watching a basketball game. The conversation turned, at one point, to different beer flavors.

Now, this was in the days before the craft beer boom -- when now-standard stuff like Sierra Nevada and Sam Adams were considered cocks of the walk. I'd done one of my first attempts at a flavored beer -- a knockoff of Magic Hat #9 that had a nice undertone of apricot -- as well as a slightly boosted alcohol level -- but I digress.

Anyway, I mused about why no one ever made vitamin-enriched beer. It would seem pretty straightforward -- add some baby vitamins before bottling, and a sixer could get you 100% RDA of all your vitamins and minerals. In a merciful turn, I never attempted that little experiment.

Fast forward a sizable chunk of years, and at my door arrives a sample of an interesting new alcoholic beverage called Coco Cocktail #REFRESH -- a concoction declaring itself an "all-natural electrolyte-charged 70% coconut water" which is "a good source of vitamins." As you can see from the nutrition facts, there is actual nutritional value within -- and a 4 pack would get you close to 100% RDA of Vitamins A, C, D, E, B1, and B6. There are also 14g of carbs within and it's gluten free, if you're concerned about such things.

This hashtaggy can of lightly carbonated beverage is labeled as a "wine specialty" -- meaning a flavored fermented beverage made from something other than typical grapes. It stands at 5.6% ABV, so it's in the ballpark of a typical IPA. The "wine specialty" in this case is that the alcohol comes from orange wine, which I assume is not the same version that Poussey produced on Orange in the New Black.

"Enough, dude -- what does it actually taste like?"

I received two cans of the stuff. The first one I had on its own. It's lightly carbonated and not overly heavy bodywise. I expected it to be heavier than it was, but it's not overly cloying. The flavor is strongly citrus and fairly sweet. The Sweet Partner in Crime and I kept trying to nail down what it reminded us of. It seems to be at an intersection of original Gatorade, Fresca, and sour mix, minus any of that aspartame/Nutrasweet aftertaste. If a beverage in that particular flavor range appeals to you -- you'll probably dig this.

It drinks pretty easily. I can see putting one away pretty quickly if you had a mind to do so. It wouldn't be my first choice of alcoholic beverage, unless I were in a situation where I'd crave a sports drink -- like after working in the yard all day or needing a replenish after overindulging the night before. It'd be a good hair-of-the-dog, if you didn't have bloody mary makings handy.

I imagined it would make a decent mixer, so I tested out can #2 in that frame. Honestly, my days of drinking sour mix-based cocktails are largely in the rear view. (Pampero Anniversario on the rocks, please...)  For science, however, I decided to cobble together a couple of drinks using Coco Cocktail #REFRESH as a replacement for sour mix. I made miniature versions of a Tom Collins, a margarita, and an Amaretto sour. The Collins didn't work -- coconut and gin don't shake hands. Since the Coco Cocktail is less sweet than most sour mixes, I thought it improved the other two drinks -- cutting back the sugary edge a bit and smoothing out the mouthfeel.

[Remember -- it's 5.6%, so adjust the alcohol levels accordingly. Or don't.]

I can certainly see the appeal of an alcoholic sports-ish drink or a mixer that could act as a party cocktail amplifier. Back at the bachelor pad, I'd probably have kept a pack of these around my stash of tequila and Grand Marnier for spontaneous margaritas. And we'd have toasted our smarts for drinking healthy.

COCO Cocktail retails for $8.99 for a 4-pack.