Wine in a pouch

[msjprincess]

Well speaking as someone who's raised 2 teenagers, I don't think wine is the first choice for most kids trying to sneak booze. Usually it's quantity over quality such as everyone pooling their dollar bills together to buy a 30 pack of Busch Light. College kids play beer pong, not wine pong. I've let both my older daughters have wine with meals before they were 21 but neither of them liked it at all, it's usually an aquired taste.

ITA

As a teen I sneaked a lot of beer and liquor never crossed my mind to take any wine.

 

[FredinFL]

When we were kids, the boys would raid their parents liquor cabinets and pour several different kinds of alcohol into a large peanutbutter jar. Then we'd go hang out and drink it. It tasted awful, but did the trick. We could have cared less if the Peterpan label was still on or if it was off. lol

Completely ruined gin and whiskey for me.

 

[LuvOrlando]

When we were kids, the boys would raid their parents liquor cabinets and pour several different kinds of alcohol into a large peanutbutter jar. Then we'd go hang out and drink it. It tasted awful, but did the trick. We could have cared less if the Peterpan label was still on or if it was off. lol

Completely ruined gin and whiskey for me.

 

[Scurvy]

I don't know what sorts of teens you all were but I was the naughty sort and in order to see the draw for a kid you need to think like one. For me, NOT having bottles to deal with would have been a huge draw. Bottles crack and make noise, they don't travel well on school ski trips and can be a pain to hide from nosy parents & the popo. These sippy things things, when empty can be dumped in any old garbage can without raising the slightest suspicion. You could fold them flat, roll them into a empty Doritos bag and toss it in your family trash in the kitchen. Also, what I was drinking was way less important than the fact I was drinking, if you think kids will turn their nose up you never were one of the sorts looking. Wine is only the beginning, mark my words there will be mudslides and daiquiris next. Why? because people will want them.

PS- I don't drink any more, here & there I guess but not like I did when I was young. Now I'm concerned with keeping my kids out of trouble not finding my own.

Mudslides and things like that have been available in pouches for several years already, and I haven't heard of a rise in alcohol on school trips as a result. Kids can't buy these in stores any more than they can buy alcohol in normal bottles, which means that if they are going to take them on school trips they have to be getting them from adults. I don't think having the drinks available in pouches is going to make it any more likely that the kids are going to be able to get it to begin with, so it shouldn't matter that it might be easier to smuggle on trips. Honestly, I'd think most kids would rather sneak a few of those airline sized bottles of stronger liquor than a pouch of wine if they were going to bother with it, and those are just as easy to hide as a pouch would be.

 

[FredinFL]

Scurvy, I was suggesting that the adults would take them on class trips for themselves, not to give them out to any kids.

 

[Scurvy]

Scurvy, I was suggesting that the adults would take them on class trips for themselves, not to give them out to any kids.

Having chaperoned far too many school trips, I can believe that! But actually I was responding to LuvOrlando's comment that bottles don't travel well on school ski trips, and her implication that the pouches would work better for that.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Didn't you guys drink Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill wine when you were kids? I swear that the first thing everyone in my neighborhood got drunk on back in the 70's. The second thing was blackberry brandy.

Then if you weren't completely turned off by alcohol after getting sick on those two drinks, you'd move on to beer that was usually Michelob nips.

 

[gillep]

This is not a new thing around here I have been able to get small cartons of wine (like the ones in the target link) at the grocery stores in Northern Virginia since I moved here about 4 years ago. Some are good, some are bad and you can usually find them next to the six packs of the tiny glass bottles of wine. I was told that the only caveat was that they are not allowed to be sold with straws attached (like children's juice boxes). I really don't think that this has been a problem especially since they are pretty expensive given the small containers. As a teenage if I was looking to drink these would not even be on my radar, if I had wanted to drink wine back then (didn't start until I was 22) I would have much rather smuggled the large bottles of Arbor Mist for much cheaper, hey maybe I would have enjoyed the extreme sweetness of them back then.

 

[Magpie]

I don't know what sorts of teens you all were but I was the naughty sort and in order to see the draw for a kid you need to think like one. For me, NOT having bottles to deal with would have been a huge draw. Bottles crack and make noise, they don't travel well on school ski trips and can be a pain to hide from nosy parents & the popo. These sippy things things, when empty can be dumped in any old garbage can without raising the slightest suspicion. You could fold them flat, roll them into a empty Doritos bag and toss it in your family trash in the kitchen. Also, what I was drinking was way less important than the fact I was drinking, if you think kids will turn their nose up you never were one of the sorts looking. Wine is only the beginning, mark my words there will be mudslides and daiquiris next. Why? because people will want them.

PS- I don't drink any more, here & there I guess but not like I did when I was young. Now I'm concerned with keeping my kids out of trouble not finding my own.

This isn't new! Boxed wine and liquor have been available for years up here, and I haven't heard of any kind of sudden increase in teen drinking due to it. And yes... I've see daiquiris sold in boxes, too. The only concern I saw on the news was about those fruity little vodka coolers (but those come in bottles).

The boxes can be flattened and put in paper recycling. The plastic pouches can be returned to the liquor store for a refund.

If a kid really wants to smuggle a bottle of wine onto a ski trip, what's to stop him from pouring it OUT of the bottle (or box) and into an innocent looking thermos?

After all, that's what WE did, when we were kids! No one EVER suspects the thermos!

Hang on... My best friend just commented that none of the kids she knew ever bothered to hide their booze (wine, beer, etc...). They didn't care. I'm guessing she ran with a tougher crowd! (Me, I went to private school.)

 

[LuvOrlando]

Having chaperoned far too many school trips, I can believe that! But actually I was responding to LuvOrlando's comment that bottles don't travel well on school ski trips, and her implication that the pouches would work better for that.

You can disagree all you want but I still stand behind what I said and I don't need anyone to agree with me.

I didn't realize the pouches aren't new, goes to show how infrequently I visit liquor stores these days

People who don't think substances are ever marketed to kids and I see the world very differently on the issue and won't ever meet up in the middle. Anyone who thinks businesses won't do something because of morality... well I just don't now what to say to that. Do you really not think its suspicious that the generation raised on juice boxes is coming of age just as they are showing up with booze? No hint of sentimentality to tap into? Me, I see it plain as day. It's brilliant, completely morally corrupt but brilliant.

 

[AndreaDM]

Wine can easily be poured from any container into a travel mug. Or so I hear

 

[jdisnut]

Am I the only person thinking this is a bit troubling? The packaging sounds like its being marketed to kids in the same vein as that cartoonish camel character. Come do this, look how harmless I am.... nope I don't like the idea of it at all.

Yes, you, as you almost always are, are the only one.

 

[Magpie]

You know, I think the main motivation is cost savings.

Boxes are much cheaper to ship than bottles, because they're lighter and you can pack more into a crate. They're less likely to break during transit. And may even be less expensive to manufacture than glass bottles.

It's always possible that the marketers felt a generation raised on box drinks might be more open to switching to boxes, versus older folks who might cling to tradition - but those kids are adults now, and have been for decades! I'm turning forty, and I was raised on juice boxes.

And as for the current generation of teenagers - since there's been box wine in the house as long as they can remember, their reaction to it is pretty much a big yawn. Box or bag or bottle - they really don't seem to care. They do seem entertained by the labels, though. (Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush Sauvignon Blanc - sold in a bottle, and hilarious!)

 

[Scurvy]

You can disagree all you want but I still stand behind what I said and I don't need anyone to agree with me.

I didn't realize the pouches aren't new, goes to show how infrequently I visit liquor stores these days

People who don't think substances are ever marketed to kids and I see the world very differently on the issue and won't ever meet up in the middle. Anyone who thinks businesses won't do something because of morality... well I just don't now what to say to that. Do you really not think its suspicious that the generation raised on juice boxes is coming of age just as they are showing up with booze? No hint of sentimentality to tap into? Me, I see it plain as day. It's brilliant, completely morally corrupt but brilliant.

Those pouches are sold in grocery stores in my area, usually on an endcap so even though I've never bought one I see them just about every time I go to the store. I can see you feel strongly about this, and if they were really being marketed to children then I would absolutely agree that it was terrible. But I haven't seen any indication that anyone is marketing tham that way. I grew up drinking Capri Sun in little pouches constantly (as part of the first generation raised on juice pouches in the US, I believe) so I guess I would have been a prime target for these pouches if that's the group they are trying to attract but it never crossed my mind to think of them even being similar. They aren't the same size, they don't have straws and they don't have patterns on them that would be particularly appealing to kids.

The move to sell Margaritas and that sort of thing in pouches makes perfect sense, and it has nothing to do with children. They have the drink mix and alcohol already in them, and are designed to be frozen in the pouch and then poured into glasses. That way people don't have to use other pitchers to mix their drinks and they don't have to use a blender to mix them with ice. It's all about convenience, just like so many other things these days. The same with the wine in single serve cans or boxes - you don't need a glass with those, they travel better and are allowed by swimming pools that don't allow glass containers. Again, I think the convenience factor is the reason for the packaging.

Things like wine in pouches and boxes are cheaper to ship than wine in glass bottles because they don't weigh as much, so I imagine that's part of the appeal now that gas prices are so high. Those containers are also more airtight than a glass bottle with a bad cork, which is why some wine snobs are even supporting the trend to move toward different packaging. If the containers were covered with cartoony characters, I'd be concerned that they were marketed toward children. A new form of packaging doesn't make me think that at all. Even if somehow the packages did look similar to something like Capri Sun or a kid's juice box, it wouldn't really bother me since children can't buy them. They would have to get them from adults and I don't think an adults would be any more likely to give the kids these than any other alcoholic beverage.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Yes, you, as you almost always are, are the only one.

And you point would be what? Am I supposed to be interested, because that would be a no. I'm not going to withdraw something I think because its different.

 

[FredinFL]

I'm not sure the box, or bag, or bottle makes the wine. Maddog 20/20 anyone? or am I the only one that drank that hooch back in the day?

That and Thunderbird (white with fish!) are absolute rotgutly terrible...I doubt a bag with a sippie straw would make them worse, but as least you wouldn't have to cover the label with that brown bag!

 

[Kae]

I'm not sure the box, or bag, or bottle makes the wine. Maddog 20/20 anyone? or am I the only one that drank that hooch back in the day?

That and Thunderbird (white with fish!) are absolute rotgutly terrible...I doubt a bag with a sippie straw would make them worse, but as least you wouldn't have to cover the label with that brown bag!

TJ Swann. And to the other poster yep Boone's Farm. and what about Richards Wild Irish Rose. Triple Peach even. And Little Kings small bottles.

Kae

 

[FredinFL]

Compadre! Remember Old Grandad and Jeremiah Weed? LOL

 

[U2_rocks!]

I'm still trying to get my husband on board with screw top wine bottles - he says they are "unromantic" - I can't imagine his reaction to these! I like the convenience, and as long as I did enough research to be sure in my mind that the wine inside is no different, I'd be Ok with it. However, it's still hard to beat wine served in a proper wine glass though.

 

[Free4Life11]

Wine can easily be poured from any container into a travel mug. Or so I hear

My favorite was a Starbucks venti iced coffee cup. That way I could walk around drinking "tea."