Canned cocktails, despite the inherit oxymoron, are on the rise. I have friends ask me which ones they should get, if any — I also have friends and family give me a good amount.
In general: they are all bad. There are exactly two exceptions: Tiptop Cocktails and Straightaway Cocktails. Both of these are delicious, well-packaged, and a gift that a cocktail-lover will probably not hate. (They are not as good as "the real thing", but they pass the bar of "can be drunk by someone who likes cocktails without that person having a conniption", which is more than can be said of Via Carota et al.)
If you really want to get a cocktail-themed gift, though, I'd recommend stuff in the following genres:
- An amaro. Nobody has enough amari, they last forever, and they look nice on a bar.
- Dasher bottles. (Or interesting glassware in general. Avoid bar "equipment", with the exception of dasher bottles because they're small.)
- Bitters.
