Rancho La Gloria Canned Cocktails
Margarita canned drinks are not a drinks category I have spent much time exploring. Rancho La Gloria’s canned cocktails were my first foray into this rapidly maturing category. I never once put on a bikini to write this review.
What is It?
The key product in the company line-up is the Rancho La Gloria margarita. It is a ready to serve margarita, available in six flavors, including Strawberry, Paloma and Original. All are made with agave wine (tequila is derived from the same family of agave as the wine), water, cane sugar and lime juice. The final ingredient, “natural flavors,” is less clear–natural fruit flavors or something else? The Rancho La Gloria margarita comes in a plastic bottle or can, making them easy to use anyplace glass is tricky. The ABV clocks in at 13.9%.
How does it Taste?
A Rancho La Gloria margarita is perhaps best experienced via the Original flavor. While “natural flavors” are included, the spirit of blue agave is intact–a gentler, fresher cousin to tequila’s intense power– and the lime juice punches through just enough to get your mouth watering. Even without a salted rim to add savoriness, the finish expresses a saltiness that feels perfectly in tune with what this canned cocktail wants to be.
Mango, however, won my heart. The mango’s juiciness (via “natural flavors,” presumably) paired so well with the agave wine, I wanted to pour a second glass. Like Original, the savory, saltiness on the finish of each sip comes across like a salted lime wedge after throwing down a tequila shot. With Mango, however, the finish is sweet. Not too sweet. And none of tequila’s burn.
They are a Brand from a Marin-based Company
While it is true that one of my freelance roles is as Dine Editor for Marin Magazine and I write frequently about local brands, I had never heard of Rancho la Gloria or their parent company, MPL Brands, based in Sausalito, until they sent me product to try. And their company headquarters are just a few miles from my house. I guess I just didn’t think of Marin as the home of the margarita canned drink. I am thrilled to be proved wrong by margarita canned drinks. (So wrong.)
*I received a free sample of this product.
