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.
Simpler cocktails
This is a customer-driven change, explains Chauncey Jenkins, general manager of Brun Lounge in Richmond, Va.: “I've found many guests prefer cocktails they can understand, with three to four ingredients. The more unfamiliar ingredients in the drink, the less likely they are to order it unless the service team can passionately speak to each ingredient in a manner that can disarm the guest. So you're more likely to have a guest order a cocktail with gin, citrus, and some herbal or floral component than a 12-step cocktail.”
Guests also are interested in simple drinks they can make at home, like highballs, The Spirits Business reports.
Lighter, dryer drinks
Aperitifs and spritzes began rising in popularity several years ago. Now, as people are becoming more attuned to health and alcohol consumption, low-ABV drinks have proven to be a long-lasting trend. Expect cocktails to be less sweet, too, and to incorporate more fruits and vegetables.
Premium everything
Mindfulness isn’t just about drinking less alcohol; it also means paying attention to the drinks you consume. As a result, guests are more often opting for premium or artisan spirits. “There’s a sense of missed moments post-lockdown, and for consumers in many markets, 2021 has been about making up for those lost moments in time,” says Jacob Briars, global advocacy director for Bacardi.
Nostalgic cocktails
Old-fashioneds, martinis and Negronis have been riding a wave of popularity for years, but now bartenders are reaching into the more recent past. The espresso martini, which was born in 1983 and became a mainstay of the 1990s, is coming back in a big way. So is the Cosmopolitan, the iconic “Sex and the City” drink made with vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice and lime.
Read more: The New Wave of Creative Coffee Cocktails
Flavor-focused liquors
One of the most coveted — and unexpected — unicorn bottles of 2021 was Crown Royal Peach, which was first introduced as a seasonal offering in 2019. Last year, liquor store owners in the United States reported people driving to multiple stores and even changing their outfits to get around one-per-customer rules.
VinePair sees Crown Royal Peach as the harbinger of a 2022 cocktail trend: drinks driven by strong food flavors. One new release is Jameson Orange, a not-too-sweet citrus version of the classic whiskey. Another example is Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey. This unusual concoction was developed by Steven Yeng, who tasted peanut butter for the first time after immigrating to the U.S. as a refugee from Cambodia. Years later, he developed a hit peanut butter-whiskey cocktail at his bar and restaurant in Ocean View, Calif.
Pre-made and to-go cocktails
Are people tired of having their drinks at home? Or are to-go cocktails a convenience we don’t want to give up? The experts are divided on this one.
"We saw the demand for (to-go cocktails) tank almost instantly when restaurants started opening back up. But we have noticed a great interest in cocktail classes that demonstrate tricks on how to have a great home bar,” Erin Scala, beverage director of Birdie's and Common House in Richmond, tells Food & Wine.
Elsewhere, the trend is picking up steam: “I think in Vancouver at least, to-go cocktails are starting to have their heyday,” Andrew Wong, bartender at H Tasting Lounge at The Westin Bayshore, says in The Alchemist.
Read more: Crafting To-Go Cocktails for Fun and Profit
Tequila, tequila, tequila
“2022 could be the year that tequila outsells vodka,” reports alcohol e-commerce platform Drizly. Nearly 80% of retailers plan to carry more tequila next year, its research found.
Bartenders applaud the new interest in craft tequilas. “As companies are winning awards that showcase exceptional reposados and anejo tequilas, whiskey drinkers are paying more attention to how complex and rich tequila as a sipping spirit can be. … It's one of the most culturally rich heritages of spirits in the entire world and I'm constantly awed by it,” says Matt Ray, experience team leader at The Sazerac House in New Orleans.
