Published : Monday, 08 Mar 2010

Doug Smith
FOX 13 Investigative reporter

Pocket Shots are marketed as booze in a bag that "goes anywhere." Gina Firth, an associate dean of students at the University of Tampa, is concerned these little bags might go places where alcohol isn’t allowed.

“It makes it way too accessible and easy to bring to place that you're not supposed to be bringing alcohol,” Firth said.

Pocket Shots are sold at liquor stores around the Tampa Bay area and on the Internet. The company says they're for people on the go who are over 21, and since this is a single-serve item, it’s easier to keep track of how much you've consumed.

We wondered how hard it would be for underage kids to get their hands on the product and so did the University of Tampa. The college let us work with Kesha Dorman, who is 21 and in her senior year. Dorman went on the web site. It asked her to put in her date of birth, and then directed her to an online store to make the purchase.

“You just clicked on what you wanted to buy and there was a caution about a tax for buying alcohol but that was about it,” she said.

The student had it mailed to her address on campus.

”I was in between classes, went to pick it up, and they just handed it to me," she recalled.

The box arrived with a sticker on it saying there was alcohol inside and the person who signed for it must be 21. The supervisor in the campus mailroom is over 21, but she also signed for hundreds of packages that day.

“It's a reality that we kind of have to come to grips with,” said Firth, who told us the University of Tampa will use this experience as an educational opportunity and tighten up its mailroom practices.

Firth also plans to share this information with other colleges giving them a better shot at stopping underage and irresponsible consumption of alcohol which, if you read the Pocket Shots web site, is the company’s stated goal as well.

Read more from myfoxtampabay.com

Today is the 75th anniversary of our nation's favorite hangover cure... the Bloody Mary. A French bartender named Ferdinand Petiot created the drink when he came to Manhattan in 1933. If you're in Manhattan today, stop by Times Square at 1552 Broadway, where the city will honor Petiot's granddaughter with a Bloody Mary toast. Thousands of New York bars are running specials on the concoction.

How do you make the perfect bloody Mary?

• 1 1/2 ounces (1 jigger) Pocket Shot Vodka
• 1/2 cup tomato juice
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• Worcestershire sauce to taste
• Tabasco to taste
• 1 celery stick for garnish
• 1 lemon wedge for garnish

Combine the vodka, the tomato juice, the lemon juice, the Worcestershire sauce, the Tabasco, 1 cup ice cubes, and salt and pepper to taste, shake the mixture well, and strain it into a tall glass filled with ice cubes. Garnish the Bloody Mary with the celery stick and the lemon wedge.

The Drink: Pocket Shot Flasks on the Fly

The Price: $2.00 for a 50ml pouch

The Taste

A flask always seemed like the perfect solution to a problem few people have. Sure, it lets you carry alcohol around, but is it so hard to find when you need it? Pocket Shot has introduced a potential improvement on the concept, called Flasks on the Fly. It's basically a plastic pouch that holds 50 milliliters of hooch.

One might think the ad campaign would target partiers: "Tired of carrying around a bulky booze container? Wish you could toss it when you were done? Consider then, your very own personal Pocket Shot of vodka, whiskey, tequila, rum or gin!" Instead, the company is gearing this breakthrough for sporty types. The promotional packages and website suggest that Pocket Shots are perfect if you're out fishing, biking, golfing or even swimming. Swimming? Really?

In taste tests -- not conducted while exercising -- we found the Pocket Shot to be clearly great for chugging. You'd look silly nosing a packet. Chances are flavor is not the key issue. You'll either be downing a packet lukewarm, pulled straight from a jacket pocket -- or ice cold in a cup of Coke or 7-Up procured from a bartender. We sampled a few packets in the office. The plastic tabs are easy to tear off. You can sit on one and not necessarily break it. And the flavors are good enough to not gag: The whiskey is made in Kentucky and aged in charred oak barrels, the rum is imported from the Caribbean, the vodka is triple distilled and filtered three times using American grains, and the tequila is made from blue agave in Jalisco. The gin is just gin. Given the context, though, does it really matter?

It's like sports gel for alcoholics: a generous pour of gin, rum, vodka, whiskey, or tequila in a rip-top, palm-sized plastic pouch that's simple to tote and conceal. What could go wrong? The $2 Pocket Shots are perfect for marathon drinkers, drinking marathoners, world travelers, outdoorsy types, frugal concert goers, or for steadying the nerves on a Tuesday morning. We keep ours in a manila envelope labelled "sources."

DENVER--(Business Wire)-- Pocket Shot has kicked off their national anti youth drinking campaign with key retail partners nationwide to fight underage drinking. Since its inception in 2000, Pocket Shot has recognized that attempts by minors to purchase alcohol as well as adults illegally purchasing alcohol on behalf of minors are persistent problems.

The key components to the campaign are public service announcements, marketing collateral and signage that will be distributed at retail points of purchase. The campaign will commence with press launch events during the week of August 11, 2008 to coordinate with the back to school season and in advance of Labor Day weekend.

The company uses best practices and refrains from marketing practices (including product design, advertising and promotional techniques) that have substantial underage appeal and have taken reasonable precautions in the time, place and manner of placement and promotion to reduce youthful exposure to other alcohol advertising and marketing activities.

Pocket Shot has also taken additional steps to limit access to alcohol by displaying its products behind the counter, creating tamper-proof packaging to reduce theft, creating identifiable age-appropriate packaging, eliminating sales to online retailers and providing anti-drinking materials to retailers at point of purchase.

Underage Drinking Facts

According to a research study by the American Medical Association:

• 80% of teens say it's easy to get alcohol at a party;
• 67% of teens say it's easy to get alcohol from their home (without parents' knowledge);
• 65% of teens say it's easy to get alcohol from relatives or an older sibling who is over 21;
• 40% of teens say it's easy to get alcohol from someone else's parent(s) (not their own);
• 36% of teens say it's easy to get alcohol by using a fake ID;
• and 32% of teens say it's easy to get alcohol from their parents (with their parents' knowledge).

Based on this data, Pocket Shot has created their anti youth drinking campaign, highlighting the points of access to alcohol by underage youth and encouraging parents to play a more active role in keeping alcohol out of the hands of our nation's youth.

About Pocket Shot

Pocket Shot innovated the pouched spirits beverage category and developed an environmentally friendly package consumers with an active lifestyle could enjoy.

Think Responsibly. Drink Responsibly.