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© History Oasis
Discontinued: 1920s
Anheuser-Busch made Bevo by boiling the alcohol out of beer. The Czech word for beer inspired the name. After launching in 1916, it sold 2.2 million cases in six months. The company spent $10 million building the world's largest bottling facility, which opened in 1918. Then Prohibition hit. Bootleggers flooded speakeasies with real beer, and nobody wanted the alcohol-free version anymore.
Discontinued: 2021
Anheuser-Busch killed this celebrity-backed seltzer within months. The company stopped "all production and brand development" after what they called careful evaluation. No major brand in recent memory has died faster.
Discontinued: November 2010
One can of the original Four Loko packed 12% alcohol, caffeine, guarana, taurine, wormwood, and sugar. Drinking it meant consuming five or six beers plus two cups of coffee at once. People called it "blackout in a can." On November 16, 2010, the FDA forced Phusion Projects to strip out all stimulants. The company released a caffeine-free version in January 2011.
Discontinued: Before the end of 1978
President Jimmy Carter's brother Billy teamed up with Falls City Brewing Company in the summer of 1977. The marketing relied entirely on Billy's fame. But the beer was discontinued before 1978 ended. You can still find unopened cans on eBay, though drinking 40-year-old beer sounds like a bad idea. A planned 2010 revival for military charities never happened.
Discontinued: 1986
James Bond ordered this aperitif wine in his Vesper Martini in Casino Royale. In 1986, the makers cut so much quinine that they dropped "Kina" (French for quinine) from the name and called it Lillet Blanc. The new version lost the original's bitter edge. Bond fans hunting for the authentic cocktail need to find vintage bottles. Lillet Blanc still exists, but it tastes different.
Discontinued in U.S.: 2009
Bright colors, heartburn, high alcohol, and sugar. That was Aftershock. It became the party drink of the 1990s. When caffeinated alcohol hit the market, Aftershock vanished from American bars in 2009. A rumor spread that it could get you drunk twice through some "crystallization effect" in your stomach. The UK still sells it, though some flavors are extinct.
Discontinued in U.S.: October 2008
Zima launched in 1993 as an alternative to beer. The name means "winter" in Slavic languages. It rode the 1990s "clear craze" alongside Crystal Pepsi and Tab Clear. Sales hit 1.2 million barrels in 1994 and never climbed back. MillerCoors killed U.S. production in October 2008 after market share dropped to 0.5%. Japan kept making it until COVID-19 lockdowns crushed sales in 2021.
Discontinued: Around 2009
Anheuser-Busch wanted to grab some of Corona's market when they launched Tequiza in 1997. They mixed tequila, lime, and agave into a beer. Americans didn't bite. The company propped it up for over a decade before Bud Light Lime finally delivered the lime beer success they wanted.
Discontinued: December 2009
This British cider combined apple flavor, high alcohol content, and rock-bottom prices. People bought it, but the brand became linked to alcoholism and underage drinking. Heineken ended production in December 2009. Inch's Cider launched a successor in 2021, but the new version lacks the punch and cheap price of the original.
Discontinued: 2021 (second time)
This vodka-based drink launched in 1964 as Vodka Sling, then became Vodka Cup. Diageo discontinued it twice. After the second death in 2021, fans Angus Campbell and Alistair Troughton started The Real Pimm's campaign group. They'd already organized once in 2014 when they couldn't find it in stores. The drink kept attracting loyal fans despite getting axed repeatedly.
Discontinued: Early 2020s
Diageo built this almond milk liqueur as a dairy-free, vegan Baileys. They aimed it at vegans and people who can't digest dairy. The targeted strategy didn't work. They killed it anyway.
Discontinued: Mid-2000s
Miller Brewing Company dressed up a malt beverage in packaging that looked like Skyy Blue Vodka. They ran aggressive ads pitching it to twenty-somethings as the cool new drink. Nobody fell for it. The vodka impostor flopped.
Discontinued: 2021
Bacardi announced in 2021 it would stop making this coffee liqueur to focus on core Patrón tequilas: silver, reposado, and añejo. One customer posted on Twitter: "I'm not being dramatic when I say this is the worst day of my life." Some people thought Bacardi wanted distance from XO Café's party reputation. The company brought it back for a limited run in 2024.
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