You & Yours Expanding in East Village and Adding Canned Cocktails

Launched last year in the East Village, You & Yours Distilling Co. has been embraced by the local bar industry and received acclaim for its in-house cocktail program. Its 26-year-old owner and head distiller, Laura Johnson, is getting national notice too, making Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 list and being named as a Eater Young Guns 2018 semifinalist. Now, the urban distillery is prepping to begin production on a line of canned cocktails, entering a growing market that few other craft distilleries have yet to venture into, though San Diego-based Cutwater Spirits commands a large share of the current space.

Its flagship spirits — Sunday Gin and Y&Y Vodka — are the base for three core cocktails, an aromatic Gin & Tonic, a gently-tart Vodka Cranberry, and a Vodka Mule made with peach bitters that echos a popular drink served at its tasting room, with other seasonal releases to follow. The drinks will have a slightly higher ABV than other canned cocktails but are still designed to be sessionable.

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Scheduled to debut by late summer, the canned cocktails will also help the local distillery expand its presence across the country, says co-founder and CMO Luke Mahoney, who posits that the cans will help pave the way for larger distribution of its bottled spirits.

You & Yours just signed the lease on a 5,000-square-foot warehouse at 367 15th Street, just a few blocks from its distillery and tasting room. This location will be command central for its canned cocktail production, also providing storage space for barrels filled with whiskey for eventual release as well as room for offices and other retail components. The founders, who have several products in the pipeline including Y&Y Summer Citrus Vodka created in partnership with Loews Coronado Bay Resort, more gin varieties, and an Italian liqueur, also tell Eater that they’re hoping to turn a large outdoor plot at the new location into a beer and wine garden that would open in Summer 2019.