Phreshly is a two-SKU line of premium RTD cocktails that are marketed as being made with “no BS ingredients.” The products are 6% ABV and the company behind it is proudly black-owned.

Phreshly’s two initial flavors are Bay Lemonade, which has a bourbon base, and G’ddem, which uses pineapple rum. Both are made with fruit juice/purée as well as natural flavors and vegetable juice for coloring. The products are designed to be poured over ice, although they certainly can be consumed straight from the can as well.

No matter how you consume Phreshly, the liquid is quite enjoyable. We really appreciate that they’ve created original formulations rather than translating a popular or classic cocktail. Starting with the Bay Lemonade, you’ll find a fruit-forward mix of strawberry, lavender and lemon that has been combined with bourbon to create something that tastes like a riff on a bourbon sour. The G’iddem, on the other hand, has a more complex fruit flavor thanks to the use of blueberry juice and pineapple rum. It’s tart and sweet and we really like the note of spice (from nutmeg, according to the label) at the finish. 

Both of these products have successfully created fresh tasting flavors that were clearly made with high quality, thoughtfully curated ingredients. This is not something that we can say about every shelf stable beverage that’s marketed as a ready to drink cocktail right now and Phreshly is definitely something that’s immediately top tier. Really the only noticeable difference between this and a real cocktail is that Phreshly is slightly lower ABV, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Moving on to the packaging, Phreshly features a label that is divided into a large white section at the top and a smaller band of color that occupies the lower third of the front panel (and wraps the entire can). The color varies between the two SKUs to help give an additional visual indicator for each flavor.

The Phreshly logo, which is a small black logo that utilizes a style that’s reminiscent of a Roman style typeface, sits in the middle and is the label’s dominant element. Below it is the brand’s tagline, “cheers to life,” and there are watercolor images of the hero ingredients, which definitely helps whet the palate. 

The color band on the lower portion of the label is where you’ll find the name of the SKU and list of key ingredients. This is also the only place on the label where it says “cocktail.” In addition, they’ve numbered each SKU (“01” for G’iddem and “02” for Bay Lemonade), which feels like a nice convention as they expand the line.

The packaging is definitely clean and simple, which ties back nicely to the liquid inside the can. However, it’s not a product that screams “RTD cocktail” at you, which could, as the brand goes into retail, be something that they need to state more directly or integrate into the brand (e.g. “Phreshly Cocktails”) so that it is clear what it is.  On that same note, it might not be a bad idea to call more attention to the use of premium spirits considering both how many products are in the RTD cocktail space and the still relatively low number of pure spirits-based offerings. It’s definitely a marketable differentiator.

Ultimately, we’re really pleased with what Phreshly has created for their initial lineup. These RTDs showcase the brand’s ability to create high quality and original formulations and there are some interesting components to the branding itself.  We’d love to see how Phreshly builds out the lineup, but we definitely see potential here.