5 cottage-themed canned cocktails for summer sipping

Black flies and cottages go hand-in-hand, but it’s not so bad when the Black Fly is delicious. Whatever your cocktail preference — gin, vodka, whisky, rum or tequila — Black Fly Spirit Beverages, which is based in London, Ontario, has a “not too sweet” cooler for your particular tastebuds. Using pure fruit juices (not sticky syrups) and sweetened with cane sugar (not high-fructose corn syrup), Black Fly offers a variety of familiar cocktails, including rum punch, margaritas, Long Island iced tea, and whisky sours, as well as a number of other vodka- and gin-based drinks. Their grapefruit gin and lemon-lime vodka fizzes are new this year.

Cottage Springs Distillery gets right down to basics with its Muskoka-inspired vodka sodas: with only natural flavours and no sweeteners, no sugar and no gluten, their drinks are nicely frill-free. Available in peach and lemon-lime flavours, their light (and, at 99 calories, pretty much guilt-free) soda is a perfect thirst-quencher on a stinking hot day on the lake. If you’re in the Gravenhurst, Ontario area anytime this summer, pop by their beer garden on Steamship Bay Rd., where they’re serving Vodka Sodas and, for the craft beer enthusiasts, Lake of Bays beer.

Just because you’re drinking alcohol that's no reason to sacrifice being healthy. Developed by pharmaceutical scientist and alternative health advocate Greg Gilliland, Calgary-based Crafty Elk combines the best of both worlds in its organic hard juices, using organic fruit grown from non-GMO seeds and a variety of ingredients with serious health benefits, including açai, turmeric, prickly pear and goji berries. With three fruity flavours — Tri-Berry, Mango and Honey and Kiwi and Apple — Crafty Elk lets you have your vitamins and drink them, too.

This beachy-themed line of canned cocktails, including the Vodka Greyhound (a vodka-grapefruit mixture), the Cucumber Gin and Tonic (a refreshing variation on the classic G and T) and the Moscow Mule (spicy ginger beer, lime and vodka) is perfect for when you feel like a cocktail but don’t want to bring your muddler to the cottage. While you’re certainly welcome to drink these straight from the can, they gain a little more sophistication when served over ice in a glass. (If you’re feeling really ambitious, add a garnish!)

Georgian Bay Spirit Co. has deep roots in the area around southern Georgian Bay, Ontario — its signature gin includes juniper hand picked in the area, and its vodka uses spring water from Elmvale, just a short drive from the long sandy beaches of Wasaga Beach. If you’re looking for a pre-mixed cocktail that combines craft gin or vodka with fragrant botanicals and a not-too-sweet citrus flavour, try their Georgian Bay Gin Smash (available in the original citrus flavour and, in Ontario, in cranberry) or Georgian Bay Vodka Smash.