Four Loko branches out from ready-to-drink with latest launch

CHICAGO — Phusion Projects’ Four Loko brand, fresh off the release of its latest ready-to-drink line, Four Loko Bartender Series, is looking to move beyond the flavored malt beverage category with its new launch. Four Loko Shots are the brands first foray into spirits, and the company expects them to provide a baseline for sustained growth.

“Four Loko's unabashed reputation always made the expansion into spirits attractive to us,” Phusion Projects VP sales for wine and spirits Gerry Macchia said. “A Four Loko hard liquor had to be created in a manner authentic to the brand. One example is the use of experience-based names to describe what it feels like to take the shot, as opposed to simply the flavor.”

The line is launching with three varieties — green apple-flavored Green Tornado, lemon drop-flavored Screw Ball and cinnamon apple flavored Dragon’s Breath — each of which is 35% alcohol by volume and come in 750-ml bottles.

“Four Loko needed to win more occasions,” Phusion president Jim Sloan said. “Our audience's appetite for adventurous options doesn't end at the pregame.”