Beer

The 6 Best Alcohol Subscription Services (& How to Choose the Right One for You)

For wine pros, whisky aficionados, and more.

December 12, 2019
Photo by James Ransom

Drinking preferences are as varied as people: A glass of port by the campfire at sunset, Coronas and limes on the back patio every Saturday night, weekly cocktails with hand-crushed ice from the bar that calls itself a House of Mixology, or no drinks at all.

And more often than not, knowing what your drinking style is—and learning how to navigate the wide world of drinking for yourself—can be confusing. Which cocktail should you master? Which wine is the best wine? What even counts as an artisan brewery? There are just so many options.

Luckily for us and our drinking habits subscriptions services are here to help.

Here are 6 alcohol subscription service (and one non-boozy service) that take the guesswork—and liquor store runs—out of crafting the perfect bar cart:


Best Alcohol Subscription Services

1. Bright Cellars

Why it's unique: Once you've completed their online quiz, they'll run it through an algorithm and send wines that match your way.

Join The Conversation

Top Comment:
“FYI - Crafted Taste sends full-sized bottles of alcohol and mixing ingredients. Their cocktail kits provide enough for 12+ cocktails in each kit, not 2-4. They also sell all their kits individually, without a subscription!”
— Kat R.
Comment

Deeper dive: Launched by two recent MIT graduates, Bright Cellars chooses the wine for you—all you have to do is fill out a seven-question quiz (What type of chocolate is your favorite? How adventurous are you?) and they'll send four different wines per month your way. Every month you're given the option to rate the wines you received, so the more you use it, the more it will adapt to your taste preferences.

Photo by Bitters and Bottles

2. Bitters and Bottles

Why it's unique: Pick your go-to spirit and every quarter, they'll send a one-of-a-kind selection of bottles, limited-edition samples, and even recipes to try.

Deeper dive: Rum fanatic? Or maybe you're more of a whisky connoisseur. With Bitters and Bottles, you can join a club for your favorite spirit (or even Old Fashioneds or Negronis) and every three months, they'll send you a unique selection of new and unique bottlings to try. This way, you'll build an exceptional home bar in no time.

3. Craft Beer Club

Why it's unique: It sends little-known beers from craft breweries to your door, so you can stay in the know without stalking your craft beer store.

Deeper dive: Each month, Craft Beer Club sends twelve beers (four different types, with three bottles of each) to your door from small American breweries (here's a look at some of their most recently featured). Beer party, anyone?

Photo by Mash & Grape

4. Mash & Grape

Why it's unique: They send samples from small-batch, award-winning distilleries that are under-the-radar—before they're cool.

Deeper dive: Every month, Mash & Grape ships a box with three samples (50 milliliters each) of whiskey, gin, rum, vodka, tequila, or liqueur from award-winning distillers so your highly refined palate can taste the good stuff, on the rocks. If you find something you like, they also sell full-sized bottles at a discount to subscribers.

5. Winc

Why it's unique: Each of Winc's wines comes with handy information on the wine, what to pair it with, and how to serve it so you can learn as you drink. Or not.

Deeper dive: Similar to Bright Cellars, Winc chooses the wines they send you by targeting your preferences with a short quiz. Once you receive your wines (they let you see their choices before they ship them), you can learn more about them through their personalized app—which updates to feature the wines shipped to you each month. It's great for the tech-inclined and those who just want to learn more about wine.

6. Crafted Taste

Why it's unique: Every month, they ship you everything you need to make a "modern cocktail"—no Old Fashioneds in sight.

Deeper dive: Every kit contains the ingredients and step-by-step instructions to put together a cocktail invented by some of the "world's best bartenders"—with full bottles, enough for about twelve drinks. Choose from one of their three plans: Premium, Monthly, or Mixers Only or buy each kit individually.

7. Misto Box (For the coffee-lovers out there!)

Why it's unique: If you're more of a coffee drinker than a cocktail drinker, Misto Box delivers artisan coffee to you, according to your personal preferences.

Deeper dive: Whether you're a four-cups-a-day or a casual coffee drinker, Misto Box arranges deliveries to coincide with your consumption habits so you never run out. They source their coffee from 30 artisan coffee roasters, so we're not talking about bodega coffee here, either.


Add These Popular Cocktails to Your List

1. Paper Plane Cocktail

This cool-weather cocktail calls on three different types of alcohol—bourbon, amaro, and Aperol—plus a splash of lemon juice for a wonderfully bitter sipper.

2. Cosmopolitan Cocktail

If you've always thought of the bright-pink Cosmo as cloyingly sweet, give this balanced, bright version a try (we bet it'll change your mind).

3. Bowery Punch

This bubbly gin and citrus bunch is just what you want to serve at the start of a cocktail party or big dinner—it's light, refreshing, and easy to batch up for a crowd.

4. Whiskey Sour

You can't call yourself a cocktail enthusiast without having mastered a classic whisky sour, in all its smooth, mouth-puckering glory.

5. Rosemary-Grapefruit Margarita

This fall-inspired take on a margarita calls on fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and a sprig of smoking rosemary, which adds fresh piney, herbal notes.


Plus, More Subscriptions to Choose From

What are some of your favorite subscription services? What subscription service do you wish existed? Tell us in the comments below!

This article contains products independently selected by our editors, and Food52 may earn an affiliate commission on qualifying purchases.

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See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • Karin Byars
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I eat everything.

5 Comments

Karin B. June 10, 2017
I discovered online wine and liquor sales last fall. Not only do I save at least 40 percent on the product, I also save 7.5 sales tax (there is a shipping charge)and they have stuff I cannot get where I live and could not get when I lived in Washington DC. Also, the Fedex guy is not judgmental, he never gives me the "Hitting the sauce pretty hard" look.
 
Hope June 3, 2017
FYI, I am subscribed to a wine club called Wine + Moxxi--they focus on organic and sustainable wines. The picks have been uniformly interesting and delicious!
 
Kat R. April 19, 2016
FYI - Crafted Taste sends full-sized bottles of alcohol and mixing ingredients. Their cocktail kits provide enough for 12+ cocktails in each kit, not 2-4. They also sell all their kits individually, without a subscription!
 
Leslie S. April 19, 2016
Hi Kat, thank you so much—I've edited the article to reflect the change.
 
JulieQC April 19, 2016
I gave a mistobox subscription to my bil for xmas: he enjoyed it and customer service was great.