Like many a teenage girl in the mid-eighties, my first introduction to drinking came in the form of two liter plastic bottles of wine coolers. We can all be thankful that I’ve since moved on, and now drink normal things.
I’m at the grocery store the other day, and while in the beer aisle, I see the wine cooler section. However, after taking a closer look, all the brands are simply called “Coolers” and are actually designated as “flavored malt beverage.”
So, were wine coolers always just flavored malt beverages? Did they change the content at some point, or did they just change the labels? Or are there still coolers made from actual wine out there somewhere, just not where I shop?
And more importantly … am I running the risk of becoming known as “the chick who asked her first question about ugh WINE COOLERS”?
Wine coolers still exist, but are thankfully not as popular as before. If I remember correctly, wine coolers do have wine in them, i.e Bartles & Jaymes, while the clear malt beverages refer to other drinks such as Zima or Hooch.
Real wine coolers with real wine in them are still out there, but are more expensive. Since it is less expensive to manufacture and market a flavored malt beverage(aka flavored beer), that’s why you see them more often. Check your local liquor store or wine merchant to find the real wine coolers.
As for me, give me a good beer, and I’ll be happy.
Don’t worry about that… Stick around here long enough, and nobody remembers what anyone’s first post was. And if you don’t stick around, then it won’t matter what we think of you, now will it?
Another reason that many “wine” coolers are actually malt beverages is because of state liquor regulation. Many states place greater restrictions on the sale of wines than on beers, and wine based coolers are classed as wines and malt based coolers are classed as beers.
I noticed the other day that the coelacanth of wine coolers, Boone’s Farm, is still alive and well. It seems to have survived that fad unscathed.
Either that or some Safeway stock-boy found a case of it in the back, probably right next to the Boo-Berry and theKoogle.
[note: I fixed a link. -manhattan]
Lordy god, someone worked the missing link of the aquarian world into a thread. ^5 Me, I wanna have a stuffed coelacanth above the mantle, but just can’t seem to score one…
Since when were Boone’s wines MIA? I drank them in high school ('bout 5 or 6 years ago) and have been able to find them whenever I want them (read: never) ever since. Every grocery store in the area carries them. Super One Foods even has a middle-of-the-aisle display. $2.50 a bottle. Can’t beat that!
I live in Pennsylvania, where the only place you can buy anything that is not malt beverages is in a State Liquor Store. Vodka, Whiskey, Rum, Wine; all must be purchased in a State Liquor store. Beer and Wine Coolers can be bought in establishments that have the proper liquor license.
Saying that; wine coolers can be bought almost anywhere, and if you read the label, they say “malt beverage.” The only place that you can buy Bartle’s & Jame’s wine cooler is in the State Liquor stores, so I assume that those actually contain wine and juice, rather than being a flavored malt beverage.
Well, I wouldn’t say almost anywhere, joemill. I grew up in PA. I moved about 3 years ago, and unless things have changed since then, you can’t sell alcohol in grocery stores or convenience stores. IIRC, the only places you could get beer were restaurants, bars, and certain stores that sold mostly beer and soda. Bizarre law, indeed. It was quite a culture shock moving to Lousiana where they have drive through liquor stores! They’ll hand a frozen daquiri with the straw in it, ready to drink, right out the window into a driver’s hand. Something just seems incredibly irresponsible about that…
Thanks everyone for shedding some light on this mystery. Now I know if I ever want to relive my high school years, I can simply head to the liquor store to get some actual wine coolers.
In the meantime, this thread is tempting me to make that wine beverage which is infinitely better than wine coolers … sangria. Mmmm.
I said: "Saying that; wine coolers can be bought almost anywhere, and if you read the label, they say “malt beverage.”
Neutron Star Said: “Well, I wouldn’t say almost anywhere, joemill. I grew up in PA. I moved about 3 years ago, and unless things have changed since then, you can’t sell alcohol in grocery stores or convenience stores.”
You are right, neutron stat. I should have said, “Wine coolers can be bought anywhere where they have a liquor license.”
I used to work in a convienience store. Used to crack me up when cars with out of state licenses used to drive up and ask where the cans of beer are. Like they were going to buy a single can and just drink it while driving… It was amazing to think that in other states you can actually walk in a corner store and buy a single can of beer…
Neutron Star said: “They’ll hand a frozen daquiri with the straw in it, ready to drink, right out the window into a driver’s hand.”
Now that’s scary…
I don’t think it’s all that bad. In just about all 50 states, a driver can easily stop off at the corner tavern and get juiced up pretty quickly then hit the road, maybe just skirting the legal limit. How close to the legal limit can you get with one frozen daquiri? It’s not like you can chug it, and buying 4 of them is only good if you want to take them home and put them in the freezer for later (I used to do this when I was a undergrad at LSU). Can you imagine the sloppy mess if a driver takes 4 frozen daquiris on an extended drive? Major gross.
I realize that any amount of alcohol is not a good thing when driving. I’m just saying that, comparatively speaking, a drive-through daquiri bar may not be as bad as people tend to make it out.
What ever happened to “California Cooler,” anyway? I remember that as being the first TV commercial for the strange new creature known as a “wine cooler.” At least the first that I saw.
I just went to the store to buy a bottle of wine for dinner. Inspired by this thread, I checked the label on a bottle of Bartyls & James. I saw the word “cooler” and the phrase “flavored malt beverage” but absolutely no mention of wine at all. This held true for the 4-5 varieties I checked.
University introduced me to the horrors of fruit-flavoured fortified wine (I’m talking about you here, “Mad Dog 20-20” and “Thunderbird”). I still shudder at the sight of those 500ml glass bottles.
Quote;
“I just went to the store to buy a bottle of wine for dinner. Inspired by this thread, I checked the label on a bottle of Bartyls & James. I saw the word “cooler” and the phrase “flavored malt beverage” but absolutely no mention of wine at all. This held true for the 4-5 varieties I checked.”
Hmmmmmmmm; I stand corrected. Perhaps it is the percentage of alcoholic content? B&J’s being higher than your average “White Mountain”.
Me, I wanna have a stuffed coelacanth above the mantle, but just can’t seem to score one…