The Recent History of Wine RTDs - Quench Report Issue #28

Plus: The "Summer of Blueberry", Hot Jobs, and More

Author

Matt Rice
February 23, 2026

Welcome to Issue #28 of The Quench Report, the newsletter that raises a glass and delivers the latest and greatest in Beverage Alcohol and the broader Beverage category.

What’s on tap for today:

  • 🍷 The Recent History of Wine RTDs

  • 🆕 Is This Summer “The Summer of Blueberry”?

  • 🔥 Hot Jobs Worth Applying To

 🍷 THE RECENT HISTORY OF WINE RTDS - THE BEATBOX RUNAWAY FREIGHT TRAIN

Wine RTDs don't get the same buzz as their spirits-based counterparts, but don't overlook them. Recent trends show Wine RTDs are the 2nd fastest segment of growth in Bev Alc.

It wasn't long ago that the category was mostly Daily's Frozen Cocktails, with Beatbox and Buzzballz as secondary players. That has changed dramatically. Check out the evolution below 👇️ 

🧠 Thoughts on Wine RTDs:

  • The 15 Year Overnight Success: Beatbox launched in 2011 and barely registered nationally until 2019. People see the explosive growth and the brand's recent acquisition and forget the decade of near-zero growth that preceded it.

  • It’s not too late: Every 5 years you could have asked "is it too late to enter the category?" and every 5 years another emerging brand proved otherwise with explosive growth. It is rarely too late to launch a truly differentiated concept.

🆕 THE SUMMER OF BLUEBERRY?

Within about 12 hours of each other, both Surfside and Sun Cruiser announced upcoming launches of Blueberry Lemonade. Check them out 👇️ 

Here are the details:

  • Sun Cruiser - 4.5% ABV, 100 calories, 1g of sugar, and no bubbles.

  • Surfside - 4.5% ABV, 100 calories, 2g of sugar and zero bubbles.

🧠 Our Thoughts:

  • It's unfortunate timing that both brands announced virtually identical innovations simultaneously. Both are likely hearing the same signals from the same buyers and flavor houses, but the collision limits the upside for each. Retailers are unlikely to stock both as single flavors, which means this becomes a scale and relationship game.

  • The low-carbonation positioning continues to be a defining differentiator for spirits RTDs, and it's a strategy other Bev Alc categories should be paying closer attention to.

THIS WEEK’S HOT JOBS IN BEVERAGES

These roles came to us via personal recommendations (not public job boards). Want your open role featured? Email: [email protected] 👇️ 

THANKS FOR READING

The Quench Report is a free weekly newsletter from Thirsty Insights, a beverage alcohol consulting company that serves top clients in data, strategy, insights, and analytics.

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