Welcome back to the BevNET spirits newsletter. Today we’re transporting you to a college bar, where one brand figured out how to scale the party shot.

Thanks for reading.

-BevNET spirits editor, Ferron Salniker

For years, the green tea shot has been a staple of college bars. Now, Kamoti founder and CEO Dylan Fusco is bottling the party shot – and scaling it into a nationwide brand.

The mix of Irish whiskey, peach schnapps, and sweet-and-sour mix, topped with a small splash lemon-lime soda and shaken until it turns green was brought back into the zeitgeist by millennials. In his early 20s, ordering green tea shots by the round at bars down the Jersey Shore, Fusco watched bartenders keep up with orders. He decided to trim the sugar and calories, and cut the ABV to around 20% for a 750ml ready-to-pour shot. 

That idea came at the right time: 

• More Gen Z drinkers of legal age reported drinking cocktails in the past six months than any other generation (84%), according to drinks research firm the IWSR, and they were the most likely to report drinking beverage alcohol with five or more people on their last occasion (18%).

Gen Z might be more health conscious than past generations, but they’re still social – and guided to drinking rituals via easy flavors.

Read the story

• SpikedAde, the No. 2 ready-to-drink (RTD) vodka + ade/hard sports drink brand was scooped up this week by Constellation Brands for $75M up front with an earnout of up to $278M over five years. That gives Constellation a top brand in a fast-moving segment where the No. 1 player projects 4 million cases to sell in year one.
  Read why Constellation bet on SpikedAde.
  

• Constellation also backed NA social tonic Hiyo last week, re-upping into in an oversubscribed $20.8 million Series B round as it looks to build on its rapidly expanding retail footprint and push deeper into live entertainment and nightlife. Read the story. 

• Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (SGWS) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have settled, announcing a deal that caps the price gap between chains and nearby independents, and orders SGWS to pay retailers directly if it violates the settlement going forward. Read the story. 
  

• That settlement is different from a separate federal resolution, in which SGWS agreed to pay $12.5 million after a probe into a years-long pay-to-play scheme. Lawyers are now warning it could serve as a template for future investigations. 

• U.S. craft distillery closures outpaced openings for the first time, according to the 2026 Craft Spirits Data Project released this week, and craft spirit leaders blamed the losses on shrinking market access, despite strong consumer demand.
  Of note: Super-premium spirits (craft’s closest pricing peer) fell about 3% in volume in 2025, according to IWSR data, compared to craft’s 8% fall. Craft had outperformed the segment in 2024. 

Read the story

Nominate your RTD cocktails, NA spirits, or spirits brand for BevNET's 2026 Spirits Awards. Deadline to submit is November 20.

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