Cringe cocktails, caviar martinis… but no vodka: these are the drink trends for 2023

Bar professionals, beverage manufacturers and importers and restaurateurs predict what the new year will bring. Here are some of the most frequently mentioned developments and trends:

White Claw and company have reached their peak. No, not because people are drinking more beer again, but because RTDs (Rfinished TO Dice cocktails) from a can are becoming increasingly popular. Blackberry Bramble, Piña Colada, Mojito, Gimlet – everything is available in a can. And the choice will expand.

Europe celebrates its cultural heritage: there are some things that are a bit dusty, but traditional liqueur or vermouth brands being rediscovered and successfully relaunched. If you want to make Grandfather Digestivo Braulio, just one example, tasty for a younger audience, then the label “Bormio dal 1875” is not a disadvantage, but an advertising claim. Product design is not necessary; more than a century of branding has done just that. The only new thing is that the venerable distillates are not only drunk neat, but also used as ingredients for fine drinks. So prepare for a comeback from Suze, Ramazotti, Frangelico and co. Hey, Aperol did it years ago.

Spirit manufacturers have long recognized the value of tourism and have joined forces. That’s why there are now curated itineraries like the Kentucky Bourbon trail there or the Malt Whiskey Trail In Scotland. Or – closer – the hiking trails Trail d’Absinthe in the Val-de-Travers or the Appenzell Whiskey Trek. Visiting such a venerable traditional distillery is quite entertaining. But younger brands also rely on the visitor experience. There is one in Turicum in Zurich Gin lab, where visitors can make their own gin. Several distilleries now offer bars and/or restaurants on site, some even hostels.

2022 was the year the dry martini made a comeback. Long enough we had seen tattooed mixologists (just that word 🙄) fiddling with fine sieves and Bunsen burners and serving us creatively named cocktails in a can or other non-glass container. Then came the martini, that original classic of all classic cocktails, just in time: gin, a little vermouth, maybe a drop of bitters… sometimes less is more.

Only… not quite. The trend is clearly moving in the right direction dirty martini. If the original version of this drink only called for a splash of vinegar water from the olive glass, it is becoming increasingly popular dirty. Correct dirtyeven: at the Genever in Los Angeles, bar manager Kelso Norris serves hers Datu Puti Martini with garlic powder, fish sauce and 3 cl of the eponymous cane sugar vinegar from the Philippines. You can be really decadent at the Legasea Bar & Grill in New York’s Times Square, where you can MSG martini there, garnished with truffle and caviar stuffed olives. Increasingly, one sees the option of a caviar spoon as a garnish for the dirty martini. It’s the roaring twenties, I think.

Oh yes, regarding dry martinis and co…. Gin is still king. And vodka is drunk less and less. Of course, Otto Normalverbölker continues to drink Moscow Mules – and the trend is down. Something new with vodka, by no means a trend, is not in sight.

Disclosing the production process to the consumer – what speaks against it? In some cases, this information is traditionally encoded, such as the letter code Four Roses uses to indicate the location of distillation, the strain of yeast, whether the bourbon is straight, and so on. More and more are ready the exact origin for each blend. For example, High West specifies the grain recipe and whether the bourbon or rye comes from the major MGP Indiana or Heaven Hill distilleries or is distilled in-house. More and more consumers want this information, and more and more vodka, rum, gin and whiskey distilleries are ready to provide it.

There are now so many beautiful brandies that no one has to forego quality or selection if one also wants to pay attention to sustainability. More and more distilleries only use local, traceable ingredients. Carbon neutral distilleries in Scotland, Australia and the US lead the way with a mix of sustainable energy alternatives, waste and energy reduction and carbon offset. As consumers increasingly shy away from greenwashing, these brands are committed to demonstrable actions that actually have an impact on the environment. Some distilleries even grow their key ingredients themselves. Ireland’s Waterford, for example, sells whiskey blends with ingredients traceable to individual farms – all certified organic. This naturally leads to an increase in the cost of the operation. But in the high-end spirits market segment, consumers are willing to pay for it. Because: the method of the wine industry is used for the traceability of the ingredients. Terroir, cuvée and co send greetings. The corresponding profit margins too.

Long-standing, traditional brands and sustainability in production are hot, but there should also be a bit of fun. It’s so: 2023 is the year of the Cringe cocktailsplayful, fruity drinks that look fun and taste sweet (think cosmopolitans or Porn star martinis). They were already big in the 80s and late 90s, but now they are making a comeback thanks to TikTok in 2023. Let’s look forward to a summer with Banana Daiquiris, Blue Lagoon, Grasshoppers and other cheap classics!