The Best Cocktail Kits

Check out the best cocktail kits to buy as a gift or order for yourself! These monthly subscriptions offer a way to have happy hour at home with ingredients received in the mail. You never know — you might discover your new favorite cocktail!

bar tools and a cardboard subscription box

Disclosure: I received free products in exchange for my honest opinions. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Feast + West.

Cocktail kits are one of the coolest things to come out of the boom in monthly subscription box companies over the last several years.

They make the perfect gift for all kinds of people:

  • anyone who likes to entertain
  • cocktail enthusiast
  • whiskey lovers (replace “whiskey” with rum, tequila, gin, etc!)
  • newlyweds (or any couple)
  • anyone turning 21

You could also simply treat yourself to delicious homemade cocktails made from the comfort of your own home each month! Making the perfect cocktail with a partner is a great way to have a date night at home.

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What is a cocktail kit?

Cocktail kits are subscription boxes containing the ingredients for craft cocktails, mailed right to your door.

Each box contains recipe cards to follow, and sometimes there are links to video tutorials you can follow. All you need to provide is the ice, glassware and bar tools!

One important note: In most cases, you will need to provide the alcohol as well.

All of the ones listed below offer recurring subscriptions and most of them offer single-purchase boxes if you’re merely interested in trying one out. Some companies offer a mix of both types depending on availability.

Usually, the boxes come with a bunch of premium ingredients like syrups, bitters, sodas and sometimes even dehydrated or fresh fruit. Some of the individual cocktail kits even come with cocktail umbrellas or bamboo skewers for garnishes.

Know a travel lover? Give them a DIY airplane cocktail kit.

a cocktail on top of an orange and blue cardboard box

Do cocktail kits contain alcohol?

Most cocktail kits don’t include alcohol because liquor laws vary by state. However, some do but will only ship booze to states where it’s allowed.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing! Here’s why:

  • Price: Not including alcohol keeps the prices of the subscription down so you can choose the best alcohol brand for your budget.
  • Shipping: Without a heavy bottle of booze inside, shipping costs for each box are lower.
  • Legal reasons: A few states do not allow the shipment of alcohol, so by not including alcohol they can ship subscriptions to any state.
  • Convenience: Without alcohol in the box, a person 21+ years of age does not have to be present to sign for the package.

If you end up with a cocktail kit that doesn’t contain alcohol, I recommend picking up your spirit of choice, the best bottle you can afford. You could also pick up mini bottles in a few different brands to find a new one you like. Most of the subscription services offer brand recommendations from the bartenders who created the drinks.

Still not sure what to buy? Check out my 101 guides:
Bourbon | Gin | Mezcal | Rum | Tequila | Vodka | Whiskey

The best cocktail kits

I sampled some of the top cocktail kits for you! It was very hard work. *wink*

I hope these cocktail kit reviews help you find the right gift for someone you love (or a special treat for yourself!).

For each one, I highlighted the difficulty, the number of recipes included and how many cocktails you can make with each one, delivery frequency and whether or not they contain alcohol.


rosemary pear Moscow mule in a copper mug

Mouth Cocktail Kits

Difficulty: Easy
Number of cocktails included: Varies
Delivery frequency: Pre-paid memberships or single-purchase boxes
Includes alcohol? No

Mouth sells all kinds of foodie subscriptions, from snacks to hot sauce to cheese to cocktails. I have long loved their shop to find gifts for my foodie friends.

The Mouth cocktail kits include small-batch cocktail mixers such as sour mix and simple syrups that you can use to craft cocktails at home on your own. These are simpler cocktail kits than some of the others listed here, but no less delicious!

These subscriptions would be great for someone just starting out with home cocktails or who likes to sample new flavors but doesn’t have a ton of time to whip up premium cocktails.

mouth spring mule kit
Mouth Cocktail Kit

I tried their Spring Mule box to sample a trio of flavored Moscow Mule cocktails. The box included a sample pack of three flavored syrups to mix with lime juice and ginger beer (or ginger ale).

With the mixers, you can make a pineapple mule, a rosemary pear mule and a raspberry mule. Each one was a delicious cocktail!

Mouth carries a number of one-off kits, too. Some are single cocktail themes, like a margarita kit or a Bloody Mary kit, and others are centered around a particular spirit such as bourbon, which might come with related ingredients such as cocktail cherries and bitters.


bardega cocktail kit with a drink

Bardega Cocktail Club

Difficulty: Easy to intermediate
Number of cocktails included: 3 recipes, enough ingredients to make 4 servings
Delivery frequency: Choice of month-to-month; pre-paid memberships; single-purchase boxes
Includes alcohol? No

The Bardega Cocktail Club has unique cocktail kit themes that really won me over. They also carry a number of seasonal cocktail boxes as well, including a margarita box and a champagne cocktail kit.

I sampled their “Get Lucky” box, the March box with a St. Patrick’s Day theme. I was pleasantly surprised with their creative takes on St. Patrick’s Day cocktails with Irish whiskey.

bardega cocktail kit ingredients
Bardega Cocktail Club

The March box included the “Not Your Dad’s Irish Coffee” with vanilla syrup and pineapple juice. It was truly unlike any Irish coffee I’ve ever had! But so very good.

It also included “Padraig’s Cooler,” a fruity, tingly drink similar to a bourbon and ginger ale cocktail. Lastly was the “Jamo’ N Ginger Old-Fashioned” with ginger demerara syrup and ginger bitters.

From what I’ve seen of the other monthly boxes, their spins on classic cocktails are innovative and delicious.

Each box includes fresh ingredients (including fresh citrus and garnishes), Bardega Cocktails brand craft simple syrups and tinctures as well as some brand-name products. Subscribers can tune into Bardega’s virtual cocktail classes to learn how to make the included cocktails.


huckleberry old-fashioned with a cocktail courier box

Cocktail Courier

Difficulty: Easy to intermediate
Number of cocktails included: 1 recipe, with enough ingredients to make 6 drinks
Delivery frequency: Choice of weekly, biweekly or monthly shipments
Includes alcohol? Yes, with the “Classic Size” subscription

Cocktail Courier’s boxes each include one cocktail, but depending on your subscription choices you can add on more to expand your palate.

Subscribers set their own spirit preferences to get a box tailored to them each month. (In other words, the gin haters will never get a gin cocktail).

Cocktail Courier does include alcohol if you get the “Classic Size” subscription. They will ship three months’ worth of booze in one box separately from the monthly boxes of recipe ingredients.

cocktail courier ingredients
Cocktail Courier

I picked the “I’m Your Huckleberry”, which is a fruity spin on the classic old-fashioned. The box came with passionfruit tea bags to infuse in your favorite bourbon, basil simple syrup and balsamic vinegar. They even included a garnish of bamboo skewers and dried huckleberries.

The cocktail ingredients were a mix of brand names and Cocktail Courier-branded ingredients. Depending on your location and availability, subscriptions can also include alcohol.


saloon box light & breezy cocktail

SaloonBox

Difficulty: Intermediate
Number of cocktails included: 2 recipes, enough ingredients to make 4 cocktails
Delivery frequency: Choice of month-to-month or pre-paid memberships
Includes alcohol? Yes, with certain pre-paid memberships if you live in certain states

SaloonBox sends the same box to each subscriber, each including two cocktails.

You can choose between a box with alcohol — if you live in certain states and are willing to commit to a subscription — or the “Everything But The Booze” box, which you can order month-to-month or as a subscription.

saloon box ingredients
SaloonBox

I received the May box which included two cocktails. The first was the “Fig and Honey 75,” which is a figgy French 75 made with gin, lemon, fig jam and lavender bitters and a garnish of dried lemons.

The other was the “Light & Breezy,” a lighter twist on the Dark & Stormy with rum, ginger-lime syrup, lime, seltzer and candied ginger.

SaloonBox includes a few name-brand and small-batch makers — it’s a great way to get to know new brands you might want to try again.


shaker and spoon box with a cocktail

Shaker & Spoon

Difficulty: Intermediate to advanced
Number of cocktails included: 3 recipes, enough ingredients for 4 cocktails
Delivery frequency: Choice of month-to-month or pre-paid memberships
Includes alcohol? No

Shaker & Spoon’s subscription includes a multitude of recipes centered around one spirit.

Because they give you enough ingredients to make all four recipes three times, you can purchase one 750ml bottle to make all the cocktails in your kit. I love this because it keeps costs down for the subscriber.

shaker and spoon subscription box ingredients
Shaker & Spoon

The box I sampled was the “Bring on the Bourbon” box, which contained three bourbon cocktails. The “Is it Summer Yet?” cocktail featured bourbon, strawberry-rhubarb syrup and honey pear soda, with a spritz of white sage hydrosol. This is a more advanced ingredient you might see at cocktail bars, made accessible by bringing it into the home bar.

“The Caloosahatchee” cocktail featured a lemongrass-ginger-lemon syrup, smoked orange bitters and a French sparkling soda. The last cocktail, the “Choco Facto,” was similar to a coffee old-fashioned, made with bourbon, Oaxacan chocolate syrup, coffee bitters and a pinch of chili threads.

Something I really appreciated about this subscription is they included a lot of history behind each cocktail on the included recipe card. They added diagrams and a glossary of terms with the kit, but also have resources online if you’d like to watch a video of someone making the cocktails.

Another thing I loved about this one was the number of craft cocktail brands included for sodas and bitters and a number of ingredients for the advanced bartender like hydrosol and chili threads.


I would love to know which one you try and think is the best cocktail kit!

decorative icon of a beer stein.

The Golden Ratio Guide:

Mix the perfect cocktail, every time

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