Drinkworks, the 'Keurig for cocktails', shut a year after going national, giving no reason

Drinkworks was a partnership between Anheuser-Busch and Keurig Dr Pepper that let consumers make cocktails such as an Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour, Cosmopolitan or mojito from pods in under 60 seconds. It entered 2020 in nearly two dozen states, then fast-tracked national expansion in mid-2020 as lockdowns shifted drinking habits to the home. In the autumn of 2021, it said total sales had doubled in the 12 months since it went national, and it rolled out a smaller, easier second-generation machine.

In mid-December 2021, only a few months after promoting that new platform, Drinkworks said it was shuttering the platform and stopping sales of its machines immediately. CEO Nathaniel Davis said customers had until 28 February 2022 to apply for reimbursement for their system, while pods, carbon dioxide cartridges and accessories stayed on sale until 31 March 2022 or while supplies lasted. A spokesperson declined to give further details.

Food Dive noted the timing was unusual: sales to bars and hotels had been hit by COVID-19, but home use had reportedly risen. Drinkworks gave no reason for the closure, and the outlet could only speculate: funding from its backers may have ended, too few consumers may have adopted the machine, or its price may have put them off. The new machine cost $300 and each drink about $4 to $5.

Machine owners had until 28 February 2022 to claim reimbursement; no financial figures for the venture were disclosed.

Drinkworks did not explain the shutdown, so the cause is unconfirmed.

Food Dive pointed to the price as one possible factor: a $300 machine and roughly $4 to $5 a drink.

Food Dive also suggested that one type of drink drove much of sales, leaving too few offerings to hold users.

The company had pushed national expansion and a second machine during a pandemic-era home-drinking boost, then closed within months of promoting the new platform.

A razor-and-blades product asks customers to commit to a machine. If you may close it, the shutdown plan, refunds and pod supply promises matter as much as the launch.

Consumers were left to switch to competitors after the immediate stop to machine sales. Food Dive noted it was the second time a Keurig-associated machine had been withdrawn: Keurig Green Mountain discontinued its Keurig Kold chilled-soda appliance in 2016.