Beverage

Can you have a successful cocktail bar with no — or less — alcohol? It’s an experiment that’s increasingly seeing success.

IWSR Drinks Market Analysis forecasts that in 10 core global markets, the compound annual growth rate in no- and low-alcohol volume will rise by more than 8% between 2021 and 2025, outpacing alcohol volume growth.

What’s driving this sustained interest in no-and-low drinks? It’s not strict teetotaling; rather, “moderation is the most common reason for the consumption of no-and-low products,” The Spirits Business reports. About 43% of adults in IWSR’s survey said they used no-and-low drinks as substitutes for alcoholic drinks for certain occasions, rather than abstaining altogether.

We’re witnessing a major upheaval in the world of spirits: People are turning away from vodka and raising a glass of tequila. In 2021, sales of tequila and mezcal shot up more than 30% in the United States. This made agave-based spirits the second-fastest growing category, behind pre-mixed cocktails.

Measured by revenue, agave spirits are selling more than any other liquor category except for vodka, which has reigned supreme in the U.S. since the 1970s. In fact, tequila was the main driver of growth for the entire spirits industry, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) reports.

It seems like everyone is drinking tequila, according to Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes, whose company owns Don Julio and Casamigos: “It has crossed over. The multicultural growth is very strong. It cuts across age segments, it cuts across gender, it cuts across dayparts, the occasion and the nature of drinks. It’s not just shots and margaritas as it used to be many years ago.”

After the long, dark days of Drynuary, we all ask ourselves: What are we drinking this year?

The question is especially poignant after an up-and-down 2021, when many guests celebrated the return to cocktail bars and then found themselves stuck at home again. Here’s a bar’s-eye view of the cocktail trends of 2022.

Hong Kong’s Penicillin, winner of the 2021 Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award, is more than green. It’s a new shade of super-ultra-green.

On the menu, you’ll find vodka infused with scrap bread, rum flavored with used tea leaves, and the One Penicillin, One Tree cocktail, which funds the planting of a Mallotus muticus tree in Borneo. The bar’s tables were built with tropical storm debris, and even the lights were salvaged.

Does it all sound a little… fussy? Here’s the kicker: Penicillin owners Agung Prabowo and Roman Ghale also operate a traditional dive bar, Dead&, that serves cocktails on tap and canned beers. Dead& provides ingredient sourcing for Penicillin, Agung tells 50 Best — for instance, Dead&’s discarded paper cups are recycled to make coasters, menus and labels for Penicillin.

The moral of the story: Whether you run an upscale cocktail bar or a neighborhood watering hole, sustainability is within reach. All it takes is creativity and collaboration.

Dessert or a drink? How about both in one glass?

There’s something delightful about a frozen drink that’s as pretty, palate-pleasing and carefully constructed as a fancy dessert. They don’t have to be overly sweet. The key difference is thoughtfulness: “taking something basic that everyone understands and building it out to a memorable experience. In this case, sometimes less is more, but a balanced recipe, great ingredients,

 elevated glassware, and creative presentation tells a story in itself,” Andrew Pollard, Beverage Innovation Director at Monin,tells Bar Business.

Bartenders are creating sophisticated new takes on frozen cocktails that incorporate fresh, plant-based and housemade ingredients. A high-performance commercial blender is the last ingredient you need to craft frozen dessert drinks with the perfect consistency: no grainy texture or chunks of ice. Consider putting your own spin on a few of these drinks and adding them to your menu.

Smoothies will never grow old.

They’re always being reinvented: as an afternoon pick-me-up, a pre-workout booster, a post-workout reward, a meal replacer, a refreshing breakfast, or an indulgent dessert. Consumer tastes have evolved right along with them, as smoothie fans continually ask more from their drink. What do on-trend smoothies look like right now?  

Is coffee really good for you? The consensus, according to research, is yes. Studies show that drinking 3 to 5 cups each day is associated with a lower risk of premature death, and that coffee can decrease the drinker’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, liver cancer and other conditions.

It goes without saying that loading up coffee with syrup, cream and sugar makes it less healthful. But customers are now going the other way, seeking out coffee drinks that add extra benefits.

Here’s a look at some coffee trends that promise a health boost.

How do you redesign an icon?

Keep everything that makes it great. Then, make it more powerful, more efficient, and more durable than ever.

That’s what we did to the classic Hamilton Beach Commercial® blenders: the 908® Bar Blender, the Rio®, the Tango® (shown here), and the EXPEDITOR™510 and EXPEDITOR™510S, part of our family of culinary blenders.

Hamilton Beach Commercial amped up the motor on all of these new models, doubling the horsepower for each. The newly redesigned jar clutch design is easier to replace, too. The stainless-steel jar has a new design that’s engineered for better blend performance, plus a triple-seal lid.

We also added some other major upgrades — read on to discover more.

The global craft-cocktail movement was reaching ever-loftier heights, with more and more creative, fanciful and expensive concoctions — and then, suddenly, the bars went dark.

From Los Angeles to New York and beyond, restaurant and bar operators have turned to takeout cocktails to bring in much-needed revenue. And it seems to be working! But before you start batching drinks by the barrel, you need a plan.

The espresso martini was born in a scene right out of Ab Fab. In 1983, an actress or model (depending on who’s telling the story) walked into London’s Soho Brasserie and asked for a drink that would “wake me up and [mess] me up.” Bartender Dick Bradsell crafted a high-octane cocktail that would become legendary: espresso, vodka, Tia Maria, Kahlua and sugar syrup. 

The drink became a symbol of ‘90s bar culture, growing sweeter and stickier until it fell out of favor. Now, bartenders are getting excited about coffee cocktails once more. 

“As we continue the third generation coffee movement in the U.S., I expect to see a celebration of specialty coffee in cocktail bars. … Breathing new life to old caffeinated cocktails is an easy pivot that the large majority of Americans can get excited about,” Stephen Kurpinksy, president of the United States Bartenders Guild San Diego Chapter, tells VinePair. Here’s a look at some of the exciting trends we’re seeing in coffee specialty drinks.