RTD guide: The best ready-to-drink chuhai and highballs in Singapore

Covid-19 lockdowns have accustomed us to getting bar-quality cocktails in a bottle , pre-mixed and ready to pour over ice in a trice. But RTDs – aka ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages, typically canned – have been a staple of convenience stores and supermarket shelves for much longer: think canned highballs, Japanese chūhai, hard seltzers , and more.

Though RTDs get a bad rep for tasting sugary and artificial, the market is booming these days with higher quality options packed with natural ingredients. To help you pick the right ones, we’ve taste-tested and curated the best RTDs to drink in Singapore. But first things first, for the uninitiated: what are RTDs all about?

RTDs: From Chūhai to Hard Seltzers

RTDs are a diverse and loosely defined category, so the offerings you might find at the local corner shop or convenience store in any country will differ wildly. In the likes of Australia and the US, hard seltzers are currently making a splash – we’ve already dedicated a whole guide to this fruity, boozy sparkling water.

Wine spritzers, hard kombucha, and highballs are just some of the RTD trends that have boomed in the last five years.

But if we’re talking trends, it’s the Japanese who’re truly at the forefront. In the last two years, Japan has overtaken the US to become the world’s largest RTD market, thanks to its love affair with chūhai.

Short for ‘shochu-highball’, chūhai (also known as chu-hi) is traditionally a mix of shochu and lemon-flavoured sparkling water, tracing its roots all the way back to post-WWII. Clocking in around 3 per cent to 9per cent ABV, the canned chūhai of today is exploding with flavours – from fruit flavours like peach and Kyoho grape to tea-infused options.

Getting thirsty? We’ve scoured Singapore’s Japanese marts for cheap, chuggable refreshers, and here’s the rundown of our tried-and-tested favourites.

The best RTDs to drink in Singapore

Ryukyu Lemon Sour

The classic lemon sour gets a premium makeover in this 5 per cent ABV-offering from Nanto Sake Brewery. An ode to Okinawan produce, the Ryukyu Lemon Sour is crafted exclusively from local ingredients.

Awamori, a traditional distilled rice liquor, is mixed with juice from shikuwasa, a local lime used in everything from sashimi to awamori, before being sweetened with sugarcane. With 8per cent lime juice and no artificial sweeteners, the result is intensely tangy and effervescent.

Shop Ryukyu Lemon Sour at Don Don Donki Singapore.

Hyvä Apple Sour

If you love your cider, the Hyvä Apple Sour is for you. This shochu-based sour features apple juice made with Aomori Prefecture’s famed apples, along with a spritz of Vitamin C. Clocking in at 5per cent ABV, it’s a crisp, fizzy number that balances nicely between sweet and tart.

Shop Hyvä Apple Sour at Iroha Mart.

Takara Oolong Shochu

A pioneer in canned shochu cocktails, Kyoto-based sake brewery Takara Shuzo offers a popular line of chu-hi mixed with teas. Weighing in at 6 per cent ABV, their Takara Oolong Shochu stars tieguanyin and a dash of vitamin C, with no added sugar or colouring.

This translates deliciously to lemony notes, vegetal oolong flavours, and a tannin-forward finish – it’s an ideal teatime sipper.

Shop Takara Oolong Shochu at Don Don Donki Singapore.

ALSO READ: New study links drinking soda with higher risk of kidney disease

Suntory Strong Zero Triple Peach

Suntory’s -196°C Strong Zero range has been making waves in Japan and beyond. The funky name is a nod to the highballs’ ‘strong’ 9per cent ABV, zero sugar, and their technique of freezing fruits in liquid nitrogen at -196 degree celsius to lock in their flavours. As advertised, the Triple Peach packs a ripe, summery punch without being too sweet  – it goes down easy and gets you buzzed just as quick.

Shop Suntory Strong Zero Triple Peach at Cold Storage.

Tottori Nijisseiki Asian Pear ChuHi

When a chūhai packs an impressive 11 per cent juice ratio, you know you’re in for a treat. As the name suggests, the Tottori Nijisseiki Asian Pear ChuHi stars the juice of Nijisseiki pears (aka 20th-century Asian pears) from Tottori Prefecture, known for their yellow skins and crisp white flesh.

Blended with high fructose corn syrup and brewer’s alcohol, this 4 per cent-ABV chu-hi is clean, fresh, and subtly sweet – no wonder it’s swept gourmet awards in Tottori.

Shop Tottori Nijisseiki Asian Pear ChuHi at Don Don Donki Singapore.

Sapporo Skal White Sour

The Sapporo Ai no Skal White Sour is just what you might expect from a collaboration between Sapporo Beer and carbonated milk soda brand Skal – a milky, cloudy, fizzy tipple with a vodka base. Added sugar gives it a sweet finish, and the 4per cent ABV is barely noticeable on the tongue. Think Calpis sodas, with the tartness taken down a notch.

Shop Sapporo Skal White Sour at Iroha Mart.

Kizakura Matcha Hi-ball

Kyoto-based sake brewery Kizakura is known for getting inventive with their nihonshu – matcha nigori sake, bottled sake highballs, and even Kyoto matcha IPAs are just some of their more experimental creations.

The Kizakura Matcha Hi-ball is their venture into canned offerings, featuring a sake base mixed with matcha, liquid sugar, and concentrated lemon juice. At 5per cent ABV, this highball goes down herbaceous and smooth, with only a light sweetness and no trace of astringency.

Shop Kizakura Matcha Hi-ball at Iroha Mart.

Kirin Hyoketsu Chardonnay Sparkling

Kicking off two decades ago, Kirin’s wildly popular ‘Hyoketsu’ (or ‘frozen’) chu-hi series now spans dozens of fruity flavours, from Kyoho grape to Sicilian lemon.

This particular flavour, the Hyoketsu Chardonnay Sparkling, was discontinued in 2008 but swiftly brought back by popular demand two years later. And we can see why – this vodka-based number is juicy with Chardonnay grapes, with a subtle, saccharine-tinged finish. At 5 per cent ABV, it’s a light alternative to a wine spritzer.

Shop Kirin Hyoketsu Chardonnay Sparkling at Don Don Donki Singapore.

Suntory Jim Beam Highball

In May this year, Jim Beam made waves when it unveiled its Classic Highball and Ginger Highball RTDs in the US. Long before this, though, the bourbon giant had already carved out a name in Japan for its ready-to-drink citrus highballs, launched all the way back in 2015.

Fizzy and bourbon-based, this 5per cent-ABV highball features just a spritz of lemon (0.1per cent juice, to be exact) to replace the classic lemon twist.

Shop Suntory Jim Beam Highball at Don Don Donki Singapore.

Choya Yuzu Soda

Choya is a household name round the world for umeshu, but they also produce a tangy, highly delicious yuzushu made with cane spirits.

Some of that finds its way into the Choya Yuzu Soda – a blend of yuzu liqueur made with yuzu juice from Shikoku and jazzed up with sparkling water. At a featherlight 3per cent ABV, you can down as many cans of this sweet refresher as you please.

Shop Choya Yuzu Soda at Don Don Donki Singapore.

ALSO READ: Drinking more soda and juice tied to increased diabetes risk: Study

This article was first published in City Nomads.