Capri Sun Bag

Booze in a Bag

Now that summer is here in full effect, as evidenced by the near triple-digit temperatures affecting half the country this past week, people are hitting the beach and parks in droves. And what's better than a bottle of wine or a few summery cocktails on a fine summery day outdoors, or at least in a in a hot club with only icy cold beverages and impressively skimpy outfits to offer its patrons a chill. Unfortunately, glass bottles are often banned in these kinds of places to reduce the risk of injury to man and beast by glass shards from broken bottles, unintentional and otherwise. Luckily, as with other consumables with portability issues, the answer is to bag it up.

Putting beverages in pouches isn't a new idea by any means. Capri Sun has been sold in the U.S. for more than 30 years along with a host of ambiguously fruity liquids aimed at surviving in lockers and backpacks until lunchtime. The concept is the same for adult beverages – except in this case the pouches are mostly to endure drunken dropsies, overloaded coolers, and evade overzealous park police – all without spilling their precious cargo.

Today everything from margaritas to merlot is available in a convenient pouch, ready to go anywhere at the drop of a hat – it's truly a bagged booze revolution second only to the boxed wine bonanza seen in the early 2000s. And while boxed wine isn't lumped in with great mistakes in drinking history as often as it once was, a pouch full of liquor still sounds suspiciously like a punchline, or at least a hobo's breakfast. So do these Go-Gurts for the over-21 crowd have the flavor necessary to keep a beach bonfire going all night long, or are they destined to be the next Zima?

For the moment at least, here are a few portable potables that may provide an answer:

Pocket Shots – Claiming the dubious honor of creating the “shot in a pouch” category back in 2000 is Pocket Shots. Usually positioned at the checkout counter of the liquor store or toted around clubs by eye candy clad scantily enough to make buying one or more from them seem like a good idea, these are 50mL rip top pouches containing 80 proof liquor ranging from rum to tequila and vodka. They're billed as “perfect for active activities, outdoor adventures, and glass restricting venues,” though one might imagine that mixing shots of high proof liquor with biking, whitewater rafting, hiking, etc. could be considered a bad idea. The pouches are straight liquor, just as in a traditional shot, but the liquid is fairly harsh. The vodka is something of an exercise in endurance, burning more than triple distilled vodka normally would on the way down and the whiskey doesn't have the warm caramel and spice notes most whiskey drinkers would expect. The rum does provide a solid lug of sweetness and molasses, and let's be honest, if someone is looking for “shots on the go” they probably aren't terribly concerned about getting the highest quality hooch.

Caprisun bags & totes the hit of the school!

I was so inspired by your first post that I went out and bought two boxes of capri suns and made my friends drink them all. I tried to sew them but my machine is old and decrepit and I didn’t have the patience to figure out what went wrong. Instead, I used strips of yellow duct tape! It worked perfectly and has help up this entire school year. I get compliments on it everywhere and people are shocked when I tell them I made it myself! thanks!

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