[MikeSid]

Several years ago there was an article (in Forbes, I think) about the evolution of California Cooler wine coolers. It was a pretty interesting look at the evolution of a small business that started as just a couple of guys from Lodi making a wine based punch for their parent's backyard BBQs. It evolved from there and was ultimately bought out by Gallo - who owned the Bartels and James brand.

The original California Cooler was actually wine based, and like most thing gone corporate, ultimately devolved into a malt based beverage which took the quality way down. Compared to the original California Cooler, White Claw (and all the derivatives) sucks.

California Cooler was originally sold in plastic 2 liter bottles. A friend of a friend, underaged at the time, convinced his mom to regularly buy it for him on grocery store trips, unaware that it contained alcohol.

I'll see if I can find that article.