We Tested All the Mail-Order Alcohol Services and These Are the 5 Best

Booze-based subscription services are basically a party in a box. But just like mail-order meal services, there are way too many of them.

So we took it upon ourselves to sample wine, beer, spirits, and cocktails from stacks of options (on different nights), decode our notes the day after, and settle on the five that really deliver.

And we found, in our research, that the markers of a great mail-order alcohol service include three primary things:

With our criteria out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff. Here are the five best mail-order alcohol services on the market.

For Beer: Craft Beer Club

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Microbrewing still largely a local phenomenon, so if you live in L. A., it’s hard to score beers from Boulder or Asheville. This company ships rare and coveted releases from small U.S. brewers. Styles rotate, but past 12-packs have included porters from Rad Brewing Co. in Indianapolis, brown ales from Back Forty in Birmingham, and Pilsners from Hinterland in Green Bay. $42/month

For Wine: Winc

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It’s Pandora for vino, taking all the befuddlement out of wine by asking you . . . not about wine. Do a six-question survey (How do you take your coffee?) and Winc ships you four full-sized bottles to sample. It then adjusts its algorithm based on your ratings. So if you favor bold, juicy reds, you might find that you love Spanish Tempranillo and Sicilian Nero d’Avola as much as merlot. From $13/bottle

For Spirits: Flaviar

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To keep your liquor cabinet minimalist, Flaviar sends you only one full bottle of a spirit you enjoy (though from a brand you haven’t tried) and a themed sampler of three 50ml bottles to let you branch out. So a box may have a full bottle of limited-release Madre Mezcal and samples from three boutique cognac distilleries, with three totally different flavor profiles. From $95/quarter

For Cocktails: Saloonbox

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Turn your living room into a speakeasy (hold the suspenders): Pop open one of these boxes, pull together a cocktail from the pre-measured ingredients provided, and repeat with a second cocktail. Sample drinks: the Antidote (spiced rum, pineapple, coconut cream, nutmeg) and the Birdsong (brown-sugar bourbon, elderflower, marionberry, black pepper). From $49/month

Bonus! A Booze Box—Without the Booze: Shaker & Spoon

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Three cocktail recipes from three mixologists, and all the mixers, bitters, and syrups required to make four drinks of each. (You just need to supply the booze.) The box’s ingredients are NA, which means Shaker & Spoon ships to all states. You’ll know in advance which spirit you’ll need, so all you have to do is pick up the alcohol and invite your friends over. From $40/month

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