News

Oct 23, 2024

This Gaming Accessory Serves Booze Straight From Your Xbox

(Photos: Sazerac) First-person shooter just got a whole new meaning thanks to the spirits giant behind brands like Fireball, Buffalo Trace and Blanton’s. This is a bizarre one, so bear with us as we

(Photos: Sazerac)

First-person shooter just got a whole new meaning thanks to the spirits giant behind brands like Fireball, Buffalo Trace and Blanton’s. This is a bizarre one, so bear with us as we explain the details:

On Tuesday, Sazerac unveiled the aptly named SoConsole, described as the world’s first gaming console device that serves up shots. Decked out in splashy shades of green, yellow and black, the machine slots into an Xbox Series X to dispense servings of Southern Comfort whiskey liqueur to gamers in “the throes of a heated battle.”

The product page adds that Xbox is not affiliated with the program nor Southern Comfort.

Underneath a latched lid, 50-milliliter shooters of alcohol can be loaded into the device like bullets in a revolver magazine. With the press of a button, the machine illuminates its neon “Sour Up!” sign and pops out a shot. The button that triggers the mechanism can reportedly be pressed at a distance of up to 80 yards, though why anyone would take advantage of the feat remains a mystery.

“SoCo wants every experience to be fun and social, and that includes gaming. But listen, we’re a whiskey brand and not a gaming brand, so we focused not on redefining existing tech gamers’ love, but instead on infusing the gaming experience with more excitement,” David Binder, global brand director at Southern Comfort, said in a news release. “Avid players are craving a more interactive and social experience with friends, whether they’re celebrating a hard-fought victory or unwinding after an epic fail. And, what could be better than a SoCo Sour Up before a power up?”

Sazerac is rolling out the SoConsole to commemorate the launch of SoCo Sour, a new liqueur hitting the shelves in Baton Rouge, Tucson, Austin and Cleveland. The company hasn’t given any details on what to expect from the product. In light of the citrus logos plastered across the gaming device, we’d be willing to guess that SoCo Sour includes some combination of lemon or lime flavor.

Those in search of a boozy sidequest can find the SoConsole for sale at $50. The device is slated to launch on Oct. 25 in “very limited quantities.”

Marginal as the connection between gamers and alcohol may be, Southern Comfort is not the first brand to imagine such an outlandish crossover. Last September, Heineken unveiled “TH3 G4M1NG FR1DG3,” a beer cooler and gaming PC wrapped into one that stored over $1,000 worth of high-end hardware. We’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention KFC’s KFConsole, a monstrous PC rig with a built-in chicken warming rack.

The only invention missing from the meal is a controller that dishes out dessert.

Pedro Wolfe is an editor at Bottle Raiders with a specialty in agave spirits. With several years of experience writing for the New York Daily News and the Foothills Business Daily under his belt, Pedro aims to combine quality reviews and recipes with incisive articles on the cutting edge of the spirits world. Pedro has traveled to the heartland of the spirits industry in Tequila, Mexico, and has conducted interviews with agave spirits veterans throughout Mexico, South Africa and California. Through this diverse approach, Bottle Raiders aims to celebrate not only tequila but the rich tapestry of agave spirits that spans mezcal, raicilla, bacanora, pulque and so much more.