The Top 20 Drink Trends of 2024

Celebrated by few and loathed by many, licorice is one of the most divisive flavors, being listed in an Instacart poll as America’s second-most hated food after anchovies. In the past year, however, adventurous bartenders and baristas have been working to reclaim the ingredient with cocktail and coffee offerings. Beverage professionals have been using it as an accent to add depth and intrigue to a range of drinks, via bitter liqueurs that incorporate licorice-like flavors or incorporating anise and fennel in other ways.

Whether consumers are willing to put aside their preconceived notions to give this trend staying power is yet to be seen, but with more top establishments like New Orleans’ Cure and Los Angeles’ Dayglow Coffee doubling down on the ingredient, we haven’t seen the last of licorice drinks.

Non-alcoholic drinks — or those, specifically, which aim to emulate known alcoholic counterparts — have been on the rise for the past few years. But no cocktail has been dealcoholized and riffed on as much as the Negroni. A new wave of Italian-style red bitter aperitifs, sans alcohol, have hit the market, and St. Agrestis’ Phony Negroni ready-to-drink bottled cocktail has become a staple of bar programs around the U.S. While popular swings towards nonalcoholic drinking show no signs of slowing down, the trend of bitter-forward flavor profiles is keeping pace, with aperitif-style drinks leading innovation in the category.

Barrel-aged drinks are nothing new, and barrels have long been the driving force behind everything from spirits like whiskey and brandy to a wide range of wines and certain styles of beer. Now, a wave of producers putting spirits like vodka, gin, and shochu into oak casks is blurring the lines between how we used to view “brown” and “clear” spirits. While the results can create interesting results, it also begs the question of when barrel-aging is truly helpful, and how best to employ the time-honored technique going forward.

The world of soft drinks has remained largely unchanged for the past century, with a handful of major players dominating the space since the start of the industrial era. But as consumers grow more conscious about what they put into their bodies, along with an appetite for new flavor combinations that go beyond old standards, a new wave of sodas has started to take on the big producers, and are winning. Whether faux cocktails like Ghia or wellness-oriented canned drinks like Olipop, craft sodas are claiming a large segment of the market, and the hearts of drink lovers everywhere.

Few styles of wine evoke such love-it-or-hate-it relationships as Lambrusco. Past eras of subpar bottlings of this sparkling red wine from Italy’s Emilia Romagna region have left a negative impression on many consumers. But modern producers are crafting top-tier wines that fall right in the sweet spot of quality and affordability. With rosé fatigue setting in during the later summer months, Lambrusco has emerged as a new, but classic, pick for adventurous wine lovers seeking a full-bodied sparkling that still refreshes.

Home to three locations on this year’s World’s 50 Best Bars list, including taking the number one spot, Mexico City has become one of the top cocktail destinations on the planet. Local ingredients and tradition are being utilized by innovative bartenders and spirits producers to create an unrivaled international drinks scene and a must-visit destination for culinary-minded travelers. With Mexico’s established renown in agave spirits, and a wealth of new bars and restaurants making their mark, it’s never been a better time to plan a visit.

This past year, it’s been impossible to escape the drumbeat of artificial intelligence. While some of AI’s purported innovations have turned out to be little more than flashy gimmicks or products yet to be fully realized, AI’s effects on the wine industry are hard to deny. AI tools are being used in crop analysis, managing yield estimates, and becoming an integral tool for farmers to mitigate the effects of climate change. The ability to analyze compounds, tannins, and antioxidants is also changing the perception of what we deem high-quality, or premium wine before it goes into the bottle.

While it may be hard to fully take in the effects these technologies are having on winemaking at the vineyard level, there’s no denying you’ll be tasting their influence in every pour for years to come.

Before “brat” became the word of the summer, low-effort, accessible drinks were already on the rise. Cue the return of the Lemon Drop, a once-maligned sugary shooter that’s either been reimagined in recent years or returned to its roots, depending on who you ask. Though nostalgia is certainly at play here, the classic combination of spirit, citrus, and sugar has been the mainstay of cocktail creation for over a century. This mix of vodka, triple sec, and lemon is simply a stripped-down version of a template that has worked for everything from the Margarita to the classic Gimlet.

Though the Lemon Drop was undeniably the biggest beneficiary of this cocktail movement, it’s really just indicative of a larger trend in which the stigma attached to certain drinks has finally given way to what really matters: its taste.

Spanish sparkling wine has long been dominated by one category: Cava. This style of traditional-method sparkling wine has roots in Penedès, one of the oldest winemaking regions in Europe, and the crown jewel of the Catalonia region.

Recently, Catalan producers are branching out from established practices, going beyond the traditional Cava grapes of Parellada, Macabeo, and Xarel-lo, and incorporating local varieties like Trepat and Sumoll, to great effect. Champagne-like bubbles are also giving way to offbeat sparkling styles like pétillant natural, as the region’s wine scene keeps its sights trained on the future while respecting the past.

Moderation remained a key part of drinking culture this past year, with low-alcohol options becoming established as a worldwide movement rather than a short-lived trend. Amid this, the diminutive half-bottle, once a novelty in the wine world, has taken on a new life as retail shops and restaurant beverage programs lean into the versatility of small-format wines. Allowing guests more room to experiment with different styles and producers over the course of a meal, or simply combining the convenience of a by-the-glass program with the variety of bottle service, the pivot to half-bottles has been a boon for guests and hospitality professionals alike.

Over the past decade, it was hard to escape the fanfare of craft distilleries. Every year seemed to herald the launch of dozens of new products, artisan producers, and small-batch offerings. Then, in 2024, the pendulum began to swing in the opposite direction.

What was behind the collapse of the craft spirits industry? Multiple factors remain at play, but roadblocks in regulation and distribution remain a thorn in the side of any upstart producer seeking to get off the ground. While it remains to be seen what this bodes for the future, the current impact is inescapable: If you’re a fan of craft whiskey, gin, and other spirits, it may become increasingly hard to find new products that are outside the mega-producer ecosystem.

Asia has long been a hotbed for whisky production, with Japanese bottlings in global demand, and the price of their age-statement bottles rising to astronomical prices. But India has been catching up with a slew of new producers, particularly in the single malt space, making the country a force to be reckoned with. Labels like Amrut, Paul John, Indri, and Rampur have racked up awards and accolades across the international drinks scene, while locally sourced ingredients yield whiskies that can’t be emulated by producers elsewhere. The future looks bright as more distilleries begin to export outside the country, giving single malt fans a whole new world of flavor.

Every passing year it feels like a new trend emerges in bar concepts, from the wood-and-leather heyday of the faux speakeasy to the resurgence of Deco-inspired or Gilded-Age accents. Among these in 2024? Train-themed bars. From Toronto to New York City, Nashville, and Phoenix, Arizona, the golden age of rail travel is making its way into spaces near you, showcasing an era of slower-paced drinking with an emphasis on luxury, style, and destination. It’s also been an interesting use of concept to rethink smaller bars, that still manage to evoke a sense of openness and place, rather than the dark, basement cocktail bars that proliferated over the past decade.

Drinking and sports have long occupied much of the same space. It’s hard to imagine a football or baseball game without iconic advertisements from major beer brands. But with the 2024 U.S. Open, tennis solidified its place as the true spiritual leader of cocktails and alcohol in sports. Nearly half a million Honey Deuce cocktails are now sold at the event each year, with several beverage partners now vying for space in what could be called the most exciting sporting event in booze. New York’s tennis Grand Slam has now reached heights with the drinks community that rival any wine or cocktail festival around the country, and with new collaborations debuting each year, seems only poised to rise.

The 2010s were known for the mainstreaming of craft cocktail culture and Prohibition-era influence bars, in which spirit-forward classic cocktails and boozy drinks like the Manhattan and Old Fashioned reasserted their dominance. Fast forward to 2024, and the biggest trend in bars was arguably the resurgence of the long drink, or highball, in which a spirit or lower-alcohol aperitif is mixed with soda water or other lower-proof carbonated mixer, to dilute and draw out the drinking experience. Part of the broader global shift towards moderation in drinking, it also reflects the public’s desire for new flavor combinations, by devoting just as much time and attention to a cocktail’s mixing components as the alcohol itself.

Even with the hardships experienced by craft distilleries throughout the U.S., all is not lost. The rise of independent bottlers — a tradition that dates to Scotland in the 1850s, in which producers source whiskey components from various distilleries before blending and bottling a unique product — has gained more traction over the past year, as from-scratch distillation faces hurdles. Jumping from its European roots to the U.S. market, bottlers like Lost Lantern, Single Cask Nation, Barrel Craft Spirits, and Proof and Wood are pushing the envelope on what can be created using domestic spirits. The result is a new era of independent bottlers that emphasizes transparency and provenance, as well as accessibility for consumers seeking to expand their tastes.

Originating in the Netherlands and brought to England in the 17th century, gin has since gone global, in part due to its ease of production. A (mostly) unaged spirit in which botanicals, including juniper, have been infused at some point during the distillation process, gin can be made just about anywhere with a minimum of investment. These days it seems as though every region makes its own unique brand of gin, influenced by the ingredients grown in the surrounding area.

It’s these ingredients that have made the newest run of Nordic gins so unique. Aromatic and savory botanicals like rosehips, lingonberries, and arnica channel the terroir of the region in interesting, often savory ways, that pair so well with timeless cocktails like the classic Martini or Gibson. With strong aromas and a brooding intensity, this bolder style has embodied some of the best of this year’s new spirit releases.

In the world of whiskey, whatever’s not forgotten can never truly be gone. This is the case for Scotland’s “ghost distilleries,” or previously mothballed distilleries that ceased production in earlier eras, only to be revived in recent years to be put to work again. Brands like Glenlivit to Ardbeg have revived previously halted production lines, while long-dormant distilleries like Port Ellen, Rosebank, and Brora and risen from disrepair to begin to put out highly sought bottlings once again. In all, 2024 has become a new era for a number of old cult single malt scotches.

Mention mixing coffee creamer into fountain soda, and most reactions either fall into those who cringe at the thought or those who’ve been to a Swig. Originating in St. George, Utah, where it found traction among those seeking interesting new nonalcoholic drink creations, the “dirty soda” trend has since gone nationwide, with outlets of popular chains like Swig, Sodalicious, and Fiiz launched in locales ranging from New York City to Elm Springs, Arkansas. Mirroring the popular trends of highly customized Starbucks or Dunkin’ drink orders and social media virality showcasing new flavor combinations, the era of “dirty” drinks seems to only have just begun.

Is the era of “death before decaf” finally over? If some roasters have their say, people will at least start thinking twice before dismissing decaffeinated coffee. 2024 marked the first year that a decaf brand took the top spot at the U.S. Coffee Championships, and local coffee shops around the country are starting to take notice. It’s also evidence of a broader trend of consumers wanting the flavor of their favorite beverages, like alcohol and coffee, without the physiological side effects.