Beverage

Most bar-trend analyses focus on what people are drinking: the spirits that are rising in popularity, the flavors that are in or out.

In 2024, we’re seeing bigger shifts in how people are drinking alcohol, if they’re even imbibing at all.

“Younger, legal-drinking aged Gen Z consumers increasingly enjoy a very different relationship with alcohol versus older age cohorts, exhibiting rising levels of abstention, moderation, experimenting with new categories, and turning away from traditional, high-volume categories,” reports IWSR Drinks Market Analysis.

That’s a lot to unpack. What does this seismic change in Gen-Z drinking habits mean for your business?

The Bartesian Professional Cocktail Machine can make anyone into a great bartender.

With an intuitive interface, this sleek cocktail maker uses mixologist-crafted capsules, spirits and water to make premium cocktails in 30 seconds. Just select the desired drink strength, insert a cocktail capsule, and Bartesian Professional does the rest. It really is that easy!

Get to know Bartesian Professional and discover how this innovative cocktail machine is shaking up the world of high-end cocktails.

Remember when molecular mixology was the hottest (and coldest) thing in cocktails? We’re talking clouds of smoke, color changes, and scientific wizardry designed to make guests ooh and aah.

People are ready to go out, have a drink and let loose. But bars will have to compete for their attention — and their budget.

As consumers grapple with an overall higher cost of living, “enticing people out of their homes and into bars will become the number one priority for venues,” predicts Imbibe Live. Higher costs mean 40% of consumers plan to go out less frequently, CGA by Nielsen data shows, and 20% intend to cut back on the number of drinks they order.

How can bar owners get customers in the door? Entertain them, intrigue them, and delight them. That’s the theme of these bar and cocktail trends for 2023.

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.”

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.

Bartending competitions are incredibly fun to watch, as the most creative mixologists working today execute drinks with poise and flair. But they’re not just entertainment; for bar operators, they’re educational. That’s because the competitors are on the  forefront of global cocktail trends.

We examined the winners of a few competitions to see what we could learn about up-and-coming drinks. And if you have a winning cocktail of your own, why not compete next year? There are dozens of notable competitions all over the world – we’ll tell you about a few.

It’s not last call for cocktails in the United States yet — far from it. The sale of spirits hit a record high in 2017, claiming nearly 37 percent of the total beverage alcohol market share. That’s good news for bar operators — now, the challenge is continuing to surprise and delight savvy consumers.

Take a trip back through all the cocktail trends of the last few years, and the variety is dizzying. Produce-driven cocktails. Revivals of classic cocktails. New twists on classic cocktails. Craft frozen cocktails. Tiki drinks. Even the once-scorned staples of college bars, like the Long Island Iced Tea, have gotten a makeover from modern mixologists.

Is there anything left to try? Oh, yes: The last frontier in cocktails is all about science. Mixologists at places like Washington, D.C.’s barmini and Chicago’s Aviary are adapting the techniques of molecular gastronomy to serve up drinks that change color, fizz and smoke. But there’s a method to this madness. Here are five principles they follow.