The cheapest way to get drinks on tap: ditch the premix cans and mix your own

Premixed drinks are quietly one of the worst value buys at the bottle shop. You're paying a premium for someone to mix a spirit and a mixer, water it down, and put it in a can. Strip away the can and the convenience tax and the same drink costs a fraction of the price — and it tastes better fresh, too.

Here's how to cut your premix bill right down, mix your own batches at home, and pour them on tap from a Tipzey mini keg so they stay cold and carbonated all afternoon.

A four-pack of premix cans is mostly mixer, with a standard pour of spirit per can. Compared to buying the bottle and the mixer separately, you're often paying several times more per standard drink. The maths is simple: a 700ml bottle of spirits gives you around 22 standard drinks. Add your own mixers and you're pouring each one for a fraction of what the same drink costs in a can.

You also control the strength. Premix cans are built to a standard that suits the brewer's margin, not your night. Mix your own and you pour it exactly how you like it.

You don't need a wall of bottles. A solid starter lineup is a base spirit or two (vodka, gin or white rum all mix with almost anything), a couple of mixers you'll actually use (soda water, cola, ginger beer, tonic, fruit juice), some fresh citrus, and ice. That covers the vast majority of premixed drinks people buy, for a fraction of the cost.

Buy bigger formats where you can. A 1-litre bottle of spirits costs less per standard drink than a 700ml, and a big bottle of mixer is cheaper per litre than the small ones. The savings compound fast once you're mixing batches instead of opening cans.

The reason most people reach for premix cans is convenience — pop one open and drink. You can match that convenience for a whole party by pre-batching your drinks and pouring them from a Tipzey Mini Keg. Mix your recipe into the 2-litre keg, screw in the included 16g CO2 cartridge, and it pours a cold, carbonated, bar-style drink straight from the stainless steel tap — no power, no fridge on the table.

Two litres is roughly ten cocktail pours per fill, and the single wall stainless steel body keeps your pre-chilled batch cold for up to 12 hours. So one batch covers a session, and each pour costs you the bottle-and-mixer price instead of the premix-can price.

Vodka lime soda: 2 parts vodka, a good splash of fresh lime, top with soda water. Cheap, clean, and endlessly drinkable.

Dark and dry: white or dark rum with ginger beer and a squeeze of lime. Tastes better than the canned version every time.

Gin spritz: gin, tonic, a splash of elderflower or fruit cordial and citrus. A batch of this on tap feels far fancier than it costs.

Scale each to your 2L keg, chill it before you fill, and pour from the tap as you go. Refill and rebatch for the next session — the keg cleans out in minutes.

Across a summer of parties, the gap adds up. Mixing your own batches from bottle-plus-mixer typically costs a fraction per drink compared to buying the equivalent in premix cans — and you're pouring fresher, stronger-to-taste drinks from a tap instead of cracking warm cans out of an esky.

Add a one-time keg that lasts for life (Tipzey is backed by a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects) and the per-drink cost keeps falling the more you use it. It pays for itself in saved premix spend sooner than most people expect.

Is making your own premixes cheaper than buying cans? Yes — buying the spirit and mixer separately and batching your own typically costs a fraction per standard drink compared to premixed cans.

Do I need a keg to do this? You can mix by the glass, but batching into a Tipzey mini keg gives you the same grab-and-pour convenience as a premix can, cold and on tap for up to 12 hours.

How much does a Tipzey Mini Keg hold? Two litres — about six pints or ten cocktail pours per fill.

Will the drink stay fizzy in the keg? Yes. The included 16g CO2 cartridge keeps your batch carbonated and provides pour pressure, so each pour comes out of the stainless steel tap with a proper head.

How much is the keg? $249.99 AUD (down from $299.99), with free shipping over $150, a 30-day money-back guarantee, and a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects.