It’s a question we’re asked often: Why don’t you include the alcohol in your cocktail subscription box?!

Well, the honest answer is: for your benefit! We know that sounds like a line but it’s true! There were too many cons to shipping the alcohol and we realized we could create a better product for you without it. Here’s why:

• You can subscribe from anywhere in the US! Quite a few states don’t allow the shipping of alcohol and we couldn’t have shipped our boxes there if the alcohol were included. We didn’t want to leave any of you out!

• No need to wait around for delivery! If there’s alcohol in the box, someone 21+ has to be home to sign for it.

• More cocktails! The 12 cocktails per box we currently offer call for a 750ml bottle of liquor. There’s no way we could ship that plus have room for all of our wonderful ingredients. We would’ve had to scale back and send mini bottles, along with fewer ingredients that would allow you to make maybe 4 cocktails total? We just didn’t have the heart to do it.

• More of the good stuff! By removing the one easiest-to-find ingredient (the liquor), we gave ourselves lots more room to send you the cool stuff—our specialty syrups, bitters, tinctures, mixers, garnishes, and more—that’d be a much bigger pain (or in some cases impossible) for you to go out and find yourself.

• You get to go more in-depth! It’s our great hope that in addition to enjoying our delicious cocktails, you’ll also learn about mixology through this subscription. By asking you to buy just one bottle of liquor and then showing you 3 very different recipes you can make with it, and then letting you make each cocktail 4 times over, we’re teaching you more than we could with just a few drinks total.

• Choose your booze! Instead of deciding the brand for you, we make sure that all of our recipes will work with whichever bottle you opt for (as long as it’s the correct spirit), and you get to tailor the box to your needs by selecting your liquor based on whatever criteria is most important to you. Have a favorite brand? Go for it. Wanna try something new? You got it. Wanna splurge this month? Try the pricier kind. Wanna save some dough? Totally cool. But wait! Feeling adrift in a sea of options? No need to worry because our expert bartenders offer recommendations to help make your decision a cinch. Choose whichever rec speaks to you—or try them all!

• More bang for your buck! If a company includes alcohol in their subscription box, they have to upcharge you for that liquor to make it worth their while. We didn’t want to do that. This way, you can find the liquor store that has the prices you like and deal directly with them without us having to charge you extra.

• Lower shipping cost! If we were to ship that 750ml bottle to allow you to make 12 cocktails, the shipping would be through the roof! Because liquor is super heavy, AND because the delivery person having to check everyone’s IDs costs a lot. Just think of the $20 you’re saving on shipping as extra $$ saved on top of what you’ve already saved on the bottle itself by buying locally 😉

See how many reasons there are to not include the liquor? We certainly think that we made the right decision and we hope you’ll agree! If you’re looking to get as much bang for your buck as you can while really learning to create the kinds of drinks that the topmost bartenders worldwide make, Shaker & Spoon is the box for you!

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to email us at hello@shakerandspoon.com. We really can discuss these things until the cows come home!*

*We are of course referring only to metaphorical cows. Shaker & Spoon does not own or house any cows and is at no time waiting for them to come home.