No bartender required: Premixed Jack Daniels and Coke going on sale

It's a Jack and Coke with no bartender required.

Coca-Cola Co says it is partnering with Brown-Forman Corp, the maker of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, to sell premixed cocktails. The canned Jack and Coke will be sold globally after a launch in Mexico late this year. A zero-sugar version will also be available.

"This relationship brings together two classic American icons to deliver consumers a taste experience they love in a way that is consistent, convenient, and portable," said Brown-Forman president and CEO Lawson Whiting.

The move comes amid strong global sales of ready-to-drink alcoholic blends, including hard seltzers like White Claw. Global consumption of ready-to-drink beverages jumped 26 per cent in 2020 and 14 per cent last year, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, an alcohol market research firm. For comparison, global consumption of all alcohols was up 3 per cent.

Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman has been making ready-to-drink cocktails since 1994, when it launched spiked lemonade, cola and apple juice in Australia.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, by contrast, has been slower to add alcoholic drinks to its portfolio of 200 brands ever since selling off a California winery it owned in the early 1980s.

Coke launched Lemon-Dou, its first ready-to-drink alcoholic beverage, in 2018 in Japan. More recently, it has launched Topo Chico Hard Seltzer, Simply Spiked Lemonade and Fresca Mixed.

"We are strategically experimenting and learning in alcohol," said Khalil Younes, Coke's president of emerging categories. "We are excited about the opportunities, but we also know it will require effort and patience."

The new product comes shortly after Coca-Cola announced it was replacing Coke Zero and Coke No Sugar in NZ.

The new drink will be known as Coke Zero Sugar and Coca-Cola says that fans won't be disappointed with the new taste.

Coca-Cola says the product will hit shelves this month and said it plans to market the drink by asking Kiwis if it is the "best Coke ever".

The confirmation comes after signage advertising the change started to appear in stores and quickly found its way to social media, where users discussed the proposed changes.

Many wondered whether the new product would have the flavour of Coke Zero, Coke No Sugar, or something entirely different.

Debate raged in the comments over which of the two soon-to-be replaced sugar-free options was superior, with opinions divided.

Some preferred Coke No Sugar because they believed it tasted closer to original Coca-Cola, while others said they liked Coke Zero precisely because of its different taste.

Coca-Cola has promised the taste will be "as close as possible to Coca-Cola Classic".