The Abridged version
- Popular midtown Sacramento spot Kupros Craft House sells more Long Drink than any other California bar.
- Made with gin and grapefruit soda, the canned drinks have become popular at many Northern California bars.
- Long Drink is modeled after a ubiquitous Finnish beverage and has a slew of celebrity investors.
Stop by a Sacramento bar during the summer, and you’re likely to see someone cracking open a Long Drink. The sky blue cans have flooded dives and cocktail lounges over the past few years, plying sweaty locals with crisp, fruity refreshment.
No bar in Sacramento — or even statewide — loves Long Drink like Kupros Craft House, though. The two-story midtown favorite at 1217 21st St. sells more Long Drink than any California restaurant or bar, according to the Indiana-based, Finland-inspired beverage company.
Kupros has sold 374 cases of Long Drink since the start of the year. At 24 cans to a case, that’s roughly 9,000 cans sold total, or about 1,000 per month. It’s become a signature drink for Kupros, co-owner and general manager Keegan Currey said.
An ‘approachable’ beverage in seven flavors
“It sells, apparently, like hotcakes,” Currey said. “It’s very refreshing, it goes down easy, it’s not too sweet … it’s just a very approachable beverage. And it being gin-based, I don’t think people enjoy gin as much as they realize they could. So I think it’s kind of a good entry-level for a spirit that’s underappreciated.”
It’s easy to see why Sacramentans have embraced Long Drink. The traditional citrus flavor blends gin and grapefruit soda into 5.5% ABV cans, creating an easy-drinker that’s gluten-free and nicely balanced. Like seltzers and White Linens, they’re enjoyable year-round but particularly soothing in the summer sun.
There are peach and cranberry versions as well, plus an 8.5% ABV traditional citrus version for those that want a bit more of a tipple. Sugar-free takes on citrus, peach and pineapple Long Drinks (pineapple has been discontinued as a normal-sugar option) are a mere 99 calories apiece. Kupros carries all seven.
Kupros caught the wave early
The bar began selling Long Drink in 2019, years before the cans took off statewide. Currey noticed Kupros’ sales of Long Drink starting to rise about a year ago, he said, and they’ve remained solid throughout 2025 no matter the season.
Centrally located in a refurbished 1910 craftsman home, Kupros is one of midtown Sacramento’s most popular pubs, particularly during its happy hour and Wednesday trivia nights. Yet it’s a bit head-scratching why this bar, which has a full liquor license and carries no other canned cocktails, sells more Long Drink than anyone else.
There are no Long Drink promotions, no bucket deals, no advertising for the brand other than some social media posts. It’s a testament to the strength of word-of-mouth, said Long Drink field sales manager Tiffany Kohrummel.
“The number always blows me away. It really does not cease to astound me how much product they go through,” Kohrummel said. “(It’s) just people coming in off the streets, ordering the stuff. They know that they carry it, they know that they’ve got everything that we’ve got and they are just drinking it up.”
‘Lonkerot’ flowed from 1952 Helsinki Olympics
The first Finnish long drinks, or lonkerot (lonkero is singular), were commissioned by the government in 1952 to quickly serve crowds at the Summer Olympics in Helsinki. They’ve since become a popular class of drinks across the Nordic country, with gin-based versions on tap in many bars and cans readily available in grocery stores.
Long Drink, the company, was born when Indiana native Evan Burns traveled to Finland with three Finnish co-founders. Inspired by long drinks he tasted on that trip, he and the others launched their brand in 2018.
Celebrities boost Long Drink brand
Actor Miles Teller stumbled across Long Drink at a New York City bodega sampling the next year, and loved it enough to buy in. Teller and other celebrity investors such as Norwegian DJ Kygo and pro golfer Rickie Fowler helped Long Drink raise $25 million in 2021, sparking a distribution expansion and leading to rapper Jay-Z’s investment in 2024.
Chico took to Long Drink at about the same time as Teller, said Kassidi Johnson, the company’s manager for Northern California and Washington. Sacramento followed in time – Kupros’ neighbor The Cabin has gone through 187 cases this year, and Haggin Oaks Golf Complex has sold 271 cases. Channel 24, the city’s hottest new music venue, has dished out 105 cases of Long Drink since opening in April.
It’s a fan favorite in Reno as well, and Michigan sells more Long Drink than any state, Kohrummel said. For whatever reason, Southern California hasn’t latched on to Long Drink the same way as the state’s northern half despite its population hubs.
“In the liquor industry, SoCal is usually the hub,” Johnson said. “It does the most business, and NorCal is kind of like the little brother. But with Long Drink, it’s been the opposite, where NorCal does so much volume and SoCal is catching up to us right now.”
Benjy Egel is the senior food editor at Abridged. Born and raised in the Sacramento region, he has covered its local restaurants and bars since 2018. He also writes and edits Abridged’s weekly food and drink newsletter, City of Treats.
