Cactus Jack Daniels, Hype Claw, etc.

A review of Travis Scott's Cacti Hard Seltzer, and the art of the collab

By now I’m sure we’re all familiar with Travis Scott. Outside of being one of the most prolific rappers of the past two decades, he is also a notorious collabs-man. In fact, there is likely a significant portion of the population that can name more collaborations from our favorite stage diver than they can songs. Some of my favorites include the McDonald’s meal, which I affectionately refer to as the Travy Patty, and the Astroworld Reese’s Puffs that would kill me if I tried to eat them. Now, we’ve been blessed by the consumerism gods with something new. Cacti, an Agave Spiked Seltzer in collaboration with Anheuser-Busch, is the newest offering from the Scott braintrust, and it’s an interesting one.

Starting with the design, it’s nice. The Travis Scott design language is generally one of my least favorite things on the planet, but this looks pretty good compared to most other alcoholic beverages on the market. Speaking of alcoholic beverages, it’s worth mentioning is just how interesting of a choice it was for Travis Scott to put one out. With previous collaborations being aimed at all ages, traditionally skewing a little younger, the decision to put out a 21+ alcoholic beverage feels like a move for the people who might not have been so on board with the previous work. While there was an embarrassing number of white twenty-somethings in line at McDonalds blasting Sicko Mode, the general consensus among adults was that they were relatively uninterested, so this was a good move.

While testing these, I made some notes in my phone regarding taste and just general vibes, with the most prominent of these centering around how embarrassed I was to drink this around women, because if were being honest, on the surface this is some real virgin bro shit. If this were a phenomenal beverage I could get past that pretty easily, but it’s not. There are three flavors in the variety pack, and none of them would be my first choice at the hard seltzery (which unfortunately is a real thing).

Lime: Not great. Lime flavored drinks aren’t really my thing, which is no fault of this beverage, but still a part of my reality. The lime flavor gets lost in the alcohol flavor until the very end of the sip. It could make tequila a bit more bearable, but not much. 6/10

Pineapple: Felt the most cohesive drink wise. Could be fun to do a piña colada type of thing if you’re into that. The thing with all of these flavors is that they kind of suck at first, but the more you drink it the more you get used to it. 7/10

Strawberry: This one has hangover written all over it, which is unfortunate because like the other two flavors, it’s also mid. A slightly better Strawberita with a slightly cooler can. 6.5/10

Like I said, each of these flavors is pretty bad at first. I usually find hard seltzers to either wow me, or leave me feeling nothing, but all of these made me make a face. However, at 7% ABV it gets the job done, and that’s all that really matters. Those who know me personally know that outside of good wine, I’m a cheap beer advocate, and Cacti gives me some of the same feelings as a cheap beer. It gets you where you want to go, regardless of how glamorous the taste is, except when I pull up with a case of these it’ll be kind of funny.

You’re probably asking yourself, “Hey Cliff, why did you dedicate a whole newsletter to this drink that kind of sucks?” The answer is simple, because I want to, but also because I feel like this product is a really good starting point for a discussion about collaborations.

I’m a fan of a good, thoughtful collaboration. Two parties coming together to create something greater than the sum of their parts is the textbook definition of synergy, and this collaboration is a good example of that. For those of you who do not know, this isn’t Anheuser-Busch’s only entry in the hard seltzer world, but it is their first agave spiked seltzer. For Travis Scott, this is his first collaboration not marketed for children, illustrating some growth. More than anything though, this is Travis Scott’s first collaboration without his name plastered all over it, and that’s why I think it’s his best. Almost every other collaboration has been branded with Scott’s name or face in some way, shape, or form. It’s tasteful, something Travis Scott traditionally isn’t, and that is why this is a perfect example of a good collaboration.

Ask yourself about some of your favorite collaborations (please don’t name a Nike shoe) and think about what each of the companies brought to the table, compared to what came out at the end. There are a lot of awful collaborations in the world, it’s become a bit of a standard. However, this isn’t one. If agave spiked seltzers, Travis Scott, or fun drinks are your thing, you’ll probably think this is alright, or maybe even good, but at least not dog shit. But if none of these are your thing, maybe it’s still worth a try.