We Tried This New, 12-Serving Margarita Party Can. Here's What We Thought.
It's a party in a can.
I love a novelty beverage. Those boxed wine/vending machine snack duos you see in these pages from time to time. Magnum bottles of modestly priced sparkling white wine that undergrads unironically refer to as Champagne. Anything that wouldn’t typically be sold in a can that’s sold in -- surprise! -- a can. All kitsch-adjacent, each is intended to amuse, to delight, and to intoxicate -- literally and figuratively.
If I had a party, for example, and I provided beer, wine, a full complement of liquor for cocktails, a few pitchers of scratch-made margaritas, and the Party Can triple spice margarita, I am sure that the can would prove irresistible to the majority of my guests. Most of my friends already know what an IPA, Sancerre, DIY Manhattan, and Sutherland-Namako house margarita taste like. But the Party Can is, at least for now, more unique than any of those things. And it doesn’t require my husband to squeeze dozens of limes.
The handsomely designed Party Can costs about $30 online and holds 12 “full-sized,” 12.5% alcohol by volume drinks. Measurements and ingredients can vary from home to home and bar to bar, but this tequila/orange liqueur/lime juice/ginger/cinnamon/chili pepper take has a lower ABV than most margaritas you’ll encounter elsewhere -- purportedly “spicy” or otherwise. Evenly distributed, each glass would shake out to just shy of 5 ounces, which is a generous enough looking pour in my coupe glasses.
Your only instructions are to chill, shake, and, ahem, party. The can takes up less space than a box of wine and looks a lot nicer, but it’s just as complicated to open. It took me about as long to get a good grip around its perimeter and hold down a pair of plastic “wings” with one hand and twist the cap off with my other hand as it does to extract and secure the valve from a fine, cardboard-encased sauvignon blanc. Once opened, it poured at a steady, even pace, slaking my TV-trope, comically unscrewed-salt-shaker concerns.
Once decanted, the triple spice margarita has a pale lime hue, similar to when my husband whips up batches with silver tequila and way less vibrant than when I make ‘em with gold. I missed the chest-warming tequila aroma the latter delivers; the Party Can has more of a synthetic, candy nose. It tastes a little like candy, too, with a tangy sweetness that sticks to the back of the palate. My first sip was jarringly evocative of wax bottles -- which I hadn’t thought of in years and had to google “wax candies with juice inside” to confirm were even real. I wasn’t sure whether those supposed spices were real, either, or if I were imagining glancing hints of ginger, cinnamon, and chili due to the label’s lit-match illustration and a suggestible psyche.
I wouldn’t add the Party Can triple spice margarita to my everyday home bar rotation, but I would trod it out at our next barbecue. It’s nicely packaged, it’s a fresh addition to the standard bar cart, and plenty of people love sweeter options. I’d be even quicker to bring it to somebody else’s party. Unless and until it becomes as ubiquitous as a six-pack or a bottle of wine, it’s a little conversation starter that any host is sure to remember you ignited.
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