Celebrate the Fourth With Onda, the Sparking Tequila Shay Mitchell Loves

Hand-crafted cocktails have always been my drink of choice over store-bought varieties, but somedays I would rather grab a drink from the fridge than mix a Paloma myself. After trying out many different ready-made cocktails I finally found one that tastes high-quality, refreshing, and delicious: Onda.

Onda is a vegan and gluten-free sparkling tequila in a bright orange can that is made with Blanco tequila, sparkling water, and all-natural ingredients. Onda has only 100 calories, no added sugar, and is 5 percent alcoholic beverage per volume, which is about the same as a beer. (Wine, by comparison, is about 12 percent alcohol by volume.) You may have seen Onda featured prominently on actress and entrepreneur Shay Mitchell's social media platforms since she is a co-founder of the label and its Chief Brand Officer. Mitchell has provided her followers with a behind-the-scenes look into where the tequila is sourced, who is behind it, and why she decided to get involved with launching a tequila company.

In the video, Mitchell visits Jalisco, Mexico, and the woman-owned distillery, Casa Maestri, where Onda sources its Blanco tequila. Shay explains that she has always wanted to go into the alcohol business and that she is eager to change the typically male-driven industry. Mitchell wrote in her caption: "I Iove tequila AND I love Mexico, so when the opportunity arose for me to start Onda, my sparkling tequila company while traveling to Mexico I was IN."

Before Onda hit the market, The Beet team got a sneak peek of it during its infancy stage, since the same investors that backed our launch also invested in Onda (a venture studio in New York called 25Madison). The taste test left us more than a little excited for Onda's retail launch. But I hadn’t been able to get my hands on Onda again in my home state of New Jersey. Then I saw it in Wawa, in Florida. I grabbed a four-pack of the grapefruit flavor to bring to the beach and after my whole family decided to try it, we even went back for more. Now the company has expanded to offer four flavors and it's available at retailers across the country and to find a store near you, you can check their website.

Onda’s vibrant, fun, and sophisticated packaging is what you want to sip on while relaxing by the ocean or the pool. It tastes light, clean, and refreshing, and tastes like it could have been made by a mixologist, or as if you mixed up the perfect balance of tequila, sparkling water and grapefruit. The grapefruit flavor reminds me of a Paloma, one of my favorite drinks.

Onda has been a hit since the brand debuted its Lime and Grapefruit flavors in 2020, and the company recently released two more, Watermelon and Blood Orange. “We had so much fun working directly with our Onda Beach Club community of fans to develop these delicious new flavors, which were by far the most requested,” says Noah Gray, Onda's co-founder and CEO. “We looked to the traditional tequila sunrise and watermelon margarita for inspiration, but then gave each Onda flavor our own refreshing twist.”

Onda comes in four packs (sold for $10.99) and you can also find it in a Classic Collection Variety Pack of eight cans (sold for $18.99) which includes Watermelon and Blood Orange, as well as the original Lime and Grapefruit Onda. You can find Onda in select stores throughout 19 states including California, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey and New York.

To find Onda near you, click here and to order online, click here.