Perfect Pour Cocktails is a new line of shelf stable ready to pour cocktails that features a patented bottle design with a dual chamber bottle that mixes the ingredients at the time of serving. The product line presently features two flavors, Margarita and Whiskey Sour.

Each 375ml bottle is marketed as “perfectly pours two doubles” (or three standard size pours) and is 16% ABV. According to the company, the reason for the dual chamber approach is to preserve freshness by keeping the spirit and mixer separated. 

Neither the package nor the company’s website lists the ingredients of the mixer, which, for a premium product promoting freshness, was a bit of a disappointment. The product labels refer to “natural lime flavors” for the Margarita and “natural lemon flavor” for the Whiskey Sour. As far as the spirits are concerned, the labels list out the type of spirit but not the brand, which is typical for most RTD cocktails.

The process of opening and pouring the product is quite simple. First, remove the plastic wrap over the cap, then remove the cap, and finally remove the small plastic seal that’s under the cap. What’s left is a small white cap that looks like a strainer. It’s through this that the liquid is poured from both chambers simultaneously and the drink mixes as you pour it. It’s certainly a novel approach and something that mimics pouring a cocktail from a cocktail shaker with a strainer top. 

As far as the flavors are concerned, the Margarita was our favorite of the duo and the one that more closely resembles its namesake cocktail. You can definitely taste the tequila and triple sec while the lime flavor more or less tastes like sour mix with lime and sweetness. While it’s not as good as making one from scratch, it’s a pretty solid substitute. 

The Whiskey Sour largely follows the same format, with the bourbon being mixed with sour mix at the time of pouring. While it is enjoyable, it doesn’t quite have the “fresh” flavor that we were hoping for.  Everything else about the drink is good, including the bourbon and the ratio between the liquor and the other ingredients. 

On the branding front, Perfect Pour is presented in a pretty technical fashion. This starts with the front of the bottle which features an illustration of how the bottle works. While this is definitely helpful, it’s flanked by the brand’s tagline: “freshness is a science.”  Subsequent label copy talks about the packaging as “patent-protected.”  There’s a lot of space dedicated to selling the consumer on the merits of the packaging innovation, but very little that’s trying to appeal to their senses.

In the end, we’re definitely impressed with the packaging innovation that Perfect Pour has created. The user experience is simple and does a nice job of mimicking the experience of pouring from a cocktail shaker. However, we think there’s some work to be done to better showcase the liquid and to persuade the consumer that the juice is worth the squeeze. We think they're on the right track, but they need to make sure that the flavor experience truly screams “fresh” – especially if they want to build a dedicated following.