- Taco Bell is serving frosé - frozen rosé wine - at two Cantina locations, the chain announced on Wednesday.
- The frosé combines frozen rosé features blended with berry flavors, creating a sweet and sippable boozy drink.
- Taco Bell started serving booze at upscale Cantina locations in 2015.
Taco Bell is serving frosé - that is, frozen rosé wine.
On Wednesday, the fast-food chain announced that it is testing Berry Frosé Twisted Freeze at two Taco Bell Cantina locations in Newport Beach, California, and Chicago.
The drink combines frozen rosé features blended with berry flavors, creating a sweet and sippable alcoholic treat. The frozé will cost $7.99 at the Newport Beach Cantina and $5.49 at the Chicago location.
Taco Bell
Taco Bell started serving booze at certain upscale Cantina locations in 2015. There are roughly a dozen Cantina locations across the United States, featuring trendy decor, DJs blasting music, and tapas-style appetizers.
When Taco Bell leaders were spitballing about potential innovations prior to launching the sit-down-centric Cantina brand in 2015 and someone mentioned serving booze, one executive said it was an easy choice because many customers were already "customizing" their drinks.
"People would come through on drive-thru and say, 'Could you please leave a little off the top,'" Taco Bell COO Mike Grams told Business Insider in 2017. "And we'd know exactly what they meant."
It makes sense that Taco Bell is now dabbling in rosé wine. The wine has exploded in popularity in the past five years, especially among millennial drinkers - Taco Bell's target customer.
"The truth is, 20 years ago you couldn't get people to drink rosé," Master sommelier Alpana Singh told Business Insider. Wine drinkers "thought it was like White Zinfandel, very uncouth, not very classy or sophisticated."
Instagram and rosé's "pretty pink" hue are also reasons behind its popularity, Singh said.
"'RoseAllDay' is not just a hashtag, it's a cultural movement sparked by Instagram."