In a report in October, the IWSR named the category a “beacon of hope”, outpacing total beverage alcohol growth in eight of the top 10 global markets.

London-based Black Lines is a ready-to-serve cocktail brand created out of the realities of operating a pre-batch program in a high volume cocktail bar – it was while working as group bar manager at Soho House that co-founder Casey Sorenson dreamt up the initial idea for a draught cocktail brand.

Later in 2018, Sorenson partnered with Kuleen Khimasia and Black Lines was born, initially as a producer of premium draught cocktails and later in bottle format for both venues and consumers. Almost a decade later, the brand is growing as fast as ever, Drinks International caught up with Khimasia to find out about how ready-to-drink cocktails are thriving in the on-trade.

DI: In-venue ready-to-serve cocktails are becoming an increasingly familiar sight. Where do you think this appetite has come from?

KK: When we started 9 years ago, the closest thing to an RTD cocktail was a Bacardi Breezer. A lot has changed since. For us, it’s been step by step, refining process, ingredients, sourcing one piece at a time to ensure we’re delivering cocktails that earn their place in great venues and represent real, marked improvement to what has gone before.

More generally, perceptions and expectations of what RTDs can be have changed wildly. Covid-19 did plenty to accelerate that shift with new bottled format shifts forced on great bars, but it has been gradual and consistent. The appetite continues to evolve and while there are certainly approaches that still besmirch the concept, there are plenty of purposeful players driving to make it a product category and have real impact moving forward.

On the flip side, venues are being asked to do more with less. Fewer staff, tighter margins, higher guest expectations and drinkers are more informed than ever - they know what a Negroni should taste like, and they know when a shortcut’s been taken. Well-built RTDs can be a great solution to that tension. When done right, they can deliver quality, consistency, speed, and margin control without asking guests to lower their standards. When the liquid is right, the format becomes a strength rather than a compromise.

For us, the shift isn’t towards convenience for its own sake. It’s towards truly consistent quality. Guests want the same great drink every time. Operators want to serve it without friction.

DI: In 2025, Black Lines grew by 35%; what has driven this increase, and where can it go from here?

KK: Growth has come from a mix of focus and creativity. We’re clear in what we are and what we can deliver and have resisted chasing trends or throwing money at brand growth. Instead, we’ve refined the range, remained creative in our brand approach, built relationships with the right venues and retailers and stayed disciplined around quality. 2025 was about execution. Better production approach. Stronger trade partnerships. Clearer communication of what Black Lines is and what it isn’t. But there’s plenty more to come, and 35% is far from satisfying for our team.

From here, the opportunity scales with restraint. Growing distribution without diluting standards. Expanding formats and moments, not endlessly expanding SKUs.

DI: In terms of channels, how does the off-trade bottled cocktail arm compare to the on-trade tap serves? Do you see one angle having more potential than the other?

We still see plenty of potential for growth across both on- and off-trade channels. The on-trade channel is characterised by a combination of kegs and bottles, depending on need, while the off-trade is all bottle. 

The on-trade has been our bread and butter since day one. It’s where we built credibility, honed our liquid and processes and developed our range. It continues to be a priority for us and represents some of our most memorable work to date - as such, it will forever be a priority far more so than it might for other pre-batched cocktail brands. On the flip side, the off-trade has been a relatively recent introduction, but it was always the long-term goal to activate. 

Success looks like nurturing relationships in both channels and creating a brand that the thrives in both worlds. We’ve done some good work but there are plenty more lessons to learn and improvements to make.

The goal remains the same. Make brilliant cocktails. Remove friction. Don’t compromise.