Keeping Up with Kylie Jenner’s New Canned Cocktail, Sprinter

Kylie Jenner is the latest celebrity to enter the red hot ready-to-drink category. 

Today the 26-year-old entrepreneur introduces Sprinter, a line of colorfully packaged canned vodka sodas now available in four flavors, including black cherry, peach, grapefruit, and lime. Food & Wine scored an advance taste of the crisp and quaffable 4.5%-ABV cocktails. But first we asked the superstar why she went with this sort of spirit to begin with. 

“At this point, I feel like everyone knows I love tequila — 818, obviously — but I also love vodka,” she says, referring to her sister Kendall’s already successful booze brand. “It’s smooth, it’s versatile, and I love a refreshing vodka soda for a pregame or by the pool on a hot day.” 

It’s not as though she’d have to work too hard to make the case to her Instagram audience (which clocks in at just over 400 million followers). The branding behind the product is sleek, and the liquid utilizes real juice and no added sugar to deliver a gluten-free, fruit-forward sipper in a 355-ml can. Nevertheless, she made the sales pitch simpler by enlisting the help of Chandra Richter, a beverage development expert with a PhD in molecular biology — and over two decades worth of experience in beverage alcohol. 

“We held numerous tastings over the past year to ensure each of our four flavors are as natural and true-to-fruit as possible,” Chandra explains of her work with Jenner. Neither would disclose the exact type of vodka used in the final blend, only that “Sprinter uses premium vodka of the highest grade, produced domestically.” 

It’s important to note that they even incorporated actual spirit at all as opposed to, say, flavored malt. While that once-dominant fermented alternative continues to fall out favor amongst consumers, spirit-based ready-to-drink cocktails are surging in their stead. According to the latest data from the Distilled Spirits Council, RTD sales were up 26.8% year-over-year in 2023, setting them apart as the fastest-growing spirits category by revenue. 

Of course that also presents Jenner and co. with the challenge of setting their specific offering apart on shelves, which are exceedingly crowded with cans. They believe they’re arriving with something uniquely qualified for the task. 

“Sprinter is different in a lot of ways, but primarily in its taste profile,” Jenner tells Food and Wine. “It’s formulated so that its flavors reflect the actual fruit juice used in its formulation — something that was really important to me. Beyond the taste, Sprinter has a brand personality that separates it from other brands in the cold box. It’s bold, on-the-go and vibrantly branded, and it gives you the vibe of the feeling of fun with your best friends.” All 400 million of them.

You can “like” Sprinter on Instagram, where Jenner just teased the launch of the nascent brand. Or you can sip it yourself from 8-can variety packs, now on shelves. 

For those wondering, peach is Jenner’s current flavor of choice. “It’s the best-tasting vodka soda I’ve ever tried,” she adds. “And I’ve tried a lot.”