Woman goes to Cutwater’s San Diego tasting room. Then a bartender reveals the real reason it’s called that: ‘Boots to the ground journalism’

A woman went to San Diego's Cutwater tasting room and walked out with a truth about the brand. As it turns out, a common assumption about “cutting” the canned cocktail company's drinks with water is dead wrong.

Angel Idowu (@artwithangel_) posted a video that received more than 436,000 views. In it, she captured a video of a bartender at the Cutwater Tasting Room in San Diego, California, who explained that customers are not supposed to cut their drinks with water—they're already cut and ready to drink when they're in store.

The bartender's secret

In Idowu's video, a bartender shared a quick insight about Cutwater, one of America's fastest-growing canned cocktail brands. The employee told her that many people “on the internet” have a running, false belief about the brand. That is, that “It's called Cutwater 'cause you're supposed to cut the cans with water.”

The bartender explained the name's actual meaning.

“The spirits are cut with water,” he said, “So when a spirit comes off a still, it's like 120 proof, 130 proof. It's too strong to actually bottle or use in a canned cocktail, so we have to take that 120-[130] proof spirit, cut it with water, which takes it down to the 80 or 90 proof we can bottle at, and then we'll use that in the canned cocktails.”

Then the bartender made a claim that some viewers found surprising. “So all you would be doing by adding water to a can is just watering down your margarita,” he said.

@artwithangel_ should I do a review of our cutwater tasting room experience? #cutwaterspirits #sandiego #artwithangel #angelsangle #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp ♬ original sound – prettylittlepryncess

Is he correct?

In the comment section, viewers argued that the bartender was wrong about Cutwater. They even claimed the founder of Cutwater created the canned cocktail to be cut.

“But the owner of [Cutwater] said [you're supposed] to cut it with water. Google it,” one viewer said.

However, BroBible reports that the canned cocktails are supposed to be consumed as-is, without any additional cuts or additives.

The publication says, “Cutwater doesn't mention anything about adding water anywhere on its official website. The ready-to-drink cocktails, which include everything from Tequila Palomas to Vodka Mules, are premixed and meant to be consumed as is, either straight from the can or poured over ice.”

This is generally true. Nowhere on Cutwater's website does the canned cocktail company mention cutting the drinks with water.

The bartender's origin story for Cutwater—that the name comes from its distillation—also rings true. Parade, which cites Sandiegoville, says the canned cocktail's name is a reference “to a seabird of the same name,” and to the drink's proofing process.

A brand representative stated, “the name Cutwater is a reference to the Black Skimmer seabird, known for flying low and ‘cutting' into the water with its long beak. The name also ties back to the distillation process—as most spirits are cut with water during the proofing process.”

Buzz News reached out to Idowu via TikTok direct message and Anheuser-Busch, which owns Cutwater, via contact form for comment.