Ready-to-Serve vs. Ready-to-Drink: What’s the Difference?

What is Ready-to-Drink (RTD)?

• Format: Usually found in cans or small bottles.
• ABV: Typically lower in alcohol (often 4–12%).
• Ingredients: Mass-produced, commonly using artificial flavors, sweeteners, or preservatives to extend shelf life.
• Experience: Convenient for casual occasions, but often lacks the depth and flavor complexity of a true craft cocktail.

What is Ready-to-Serve (RTS)?

• Format: Bottled in larger glass bottles—like Brody’s 375ml size.
• ABV: Higher alcohol content (Brody’s ranges from 16% to 25% ABV), matching what you’d expect from a freshly made cocktail.
• Ingredients: Crafted with premium spirits and all-natural ingredients, with no artificial flavors or preservatives.
• Experience: Simply chill, pour, and enjoy—no mixology skills required. RTS cocktails are meant to be served over ice and savored, just like you’d get at your favorite bar.

Why Brody’s is Proudly Ready-to-Serve

• Award-winning recipes: Each Brody’s cocktail is developed by expert mixologists and has earned industry recognition for taste and quality.
• All-natural everything: We use natural flavors, botanicals, and premium spirits—never artificial flavors or colors.
• Sophisticated ABV: Our cocktails are bottled at the ideal strength for a true bar experience at home.
• Perfect for entertaining: Our 375ml bottles are designed for sharing, making it easy to elevate any gathering.

Why the Difference Matters

• RTD: Great for quick convenience, but often falls short on quality and complexity.
• RTS (Brody’s): Delivers the bold, balanced flavor and sophisticated taste you expect from a handcrafted cocktail—simply served.

Experience the Brody’s Difference

The Numbers Don't Lie: Consumers Are Choosing Quality

The shift from RTD to RTS isn't just a trend — it's a market-wide reckoning. According to the Distilled Spirits Council's 2025 Annual Economic Briefing, spirits-based ready-to-drink cocktails grew 16.4% in 2025 — making them one of the only growing segments in the entire beverage alcohol category. Since 2021, spirits-based RTDs have more than doubled their market share, gaining 11 percentage points. Over the same period, malt-based seltzers dropped 14 points.

The takeaway is clear: shoppers have tried the convenient-but-cheap options and are trading up. They want real spirits, real ingredients, and a real cocktail experience — and they want it without having to tend a full bar.

The Flavor Quality Gap

Here's what the labels don't always tell you. Most canned RTD cocktails are built on a malt or sugar base — not actual spirits — which means the "whiskey sour" or "margarita" you're drinking may contain zero whiskey or tequila. Flavoring agents, artificial sweeteners, and CO2 do the heavy lifting instead.

Ready-to-serve products like Brody's start with the real thing: premium vodka, bourbon, rum, or gin, blended with natural flavors, botanicals, and zero artificial additives. The 16%–25% ABV range reflects genuine spirit content — not a watered-down approximation. When you pour a Minted Mule Vodka Cocktail over ice, you're getting vodka, lime, ginger, and fresh mint. Full stop.

Which One Is Right for Your Occasion?

Both formats have a place depending on what you need:

• RTD cans: Best for a quick, cold grab-and-go — a beach cooler, a ballgame, a casual backyard hang where nobody's paying close attention to what's in the glass.
• RTS bottles (Brody's): Best when the drink is part of the occasion — a dinner party, a date night, a celebration where the quality of what's in the glass actually matters. Pour over ice, add a garnish, and let it speak for itself.

The most important thing is knowing what you're buying. If the label says "cocktail-flavored beverage" or lists maltose, dextrose, or "natural flavors" before any spirit — it's RTD. If it lists a real spirit first and reads like a cocktail recipe, you're looking at RTS.

Explore the full Brody's lineup

RTD vs. RTS: Side-by-Side Comparison

How to Serve Ready-to-Serve Cocktails: On the Rocks or Straight Up?

One of the most common questions about RTS bottled cocktails is how to serve them. The short answer: it depends on the cocktail, and both options are valid.

On the rocks (over ice) is the most common approach — it chills the cocktail, dilutes it slightly as the ice melts, and lets the flavors evolve through the glass. Most of Brody's lineup is designed for this. The Minted Mule over fresh ice, the Classic Mai Tai shaken and poured on the rocks, the Leading Role bourbon cocktail over a single large cube — each one opens up differently as it chills.

Straight up (chilled, no ice) suits spirit-forward styles. The Black Orchid — a vodka martini style cocktail — works well in a chilled coupe or martini glass with no ice. The French 75 can be served the same way, or poured over ice with a champagne float if you want bubbles.

The practical rule: lighter, citrus-forward cocktails (Minted Mule, French 75, Air Mail) drink best on the rocks. Spirit-forward, darker cocktails (Leading Role, Black Orchid) can go either way depending on your preference.

Brody's Crafted Cocktails — Full ABV and Serving Reference

For anyone comparing ready-to-serve options, here's the complete Brody's lineup with ABV, base spirit, and recommended serve:

Every bottle ships to 36 states and is available at Whole Foods Market and 1,000+ retail locations.

For specific recommendations on which bottled cocktails deliver bar-quality flavor, see our guide to the best RTD cocktails in 2026, or browse the full Brody's lineup.

Ready to try a ready-to-serve cocktail?

Now that you know the difference, explore Brody's full lineup of best premixed cocktails — all made with real spirits and all-natural ingredients. If you're new to full-strength RTS cocktails, the award-winning Classic Mai Tai (Double Gold, SF World Spirits Competition) is the perfect place to start. Or try the Leading Role bourbon cocktail — the only premium premixed bourbon in its class.

Want to know more about what sets Brody's apart? Read what to look for in all-natural cocktail brands.