Top 10 UK cocktail trends

The cocktail boom is echoing across the globe and, in particular, the roar of the shaker can be heard most clearly in the UK, where an innovative cocktail culture thrives. With this in mind, here’s a look at the top 10 UK cocktail trends.

Vintage spirits, pre-mix packs and low calorie serves are all included in Cellar Trends’ top 10 UK cocktail trends

According to UK drinks distributor Cellar Trends, this boom has been “seriously underestimated” by data agency CGA Strategy, which stated spirits used in cocktails account for only 3% of the entire category.

The drinks company, whose brand portfolio includes Patrón Tequila and Chase Vodka, recently said that according to their own research, this figure actually stands at 6% due to the country’s growing penchant for cocktails.

From the simple to the extravagant, vintage to the cutting edge, a diverse range of cocktail trends permeates the spirits industry, providing ample opportunities for market growth. In fact, Cellar Trends estimated that the volume of spirits liqueurs, syrups and bitters used in cocktails would rise 10% this coming year and 50% over the next five years.

Terry Barker, director of marketing at Cellar Trends, said: “The size and growth of cocktails has been seriously underestimated. Cocktails are now asked for and served in pubs up and down the land where previously it would have been thought too sophisticated. Cocktails have opened opportunities for pubs to find new drinks income.”

The report went on to forecast a number of cocktail trends in the UK for the coming year – including pre-mixed simple serves and high-end retro recreations.

Click through the following pages to see Cellar Trends’ top 10 UK cocktail trends.  

Vintage and premium spirits

Brand ambassadors from across the Cellar Trends portfolio have estimated that vintage and premium spirits will usurp the prominence of  house spirits in cocktail making over the coming months.

A resurgence of the popularity of pre-war flapper fashion has meant that vintage cocktails such as the Old Fashioned, Gin Rickey and Whisky Sour have become de rigueur drinks choices among trendy London crowds.

High-end and experimental cocktail bars popping up all around the city see patrons pay increasingly more attention to the base spirits of their choice cocktail – usually opting for high-end brands.

Bitter flavours

The trend of bitter cocktails that make use of herbs, spices and sours is quickly replacing the widespread fondness of sickly sweet mixes.

Bitter cocktails are generally seen as old-fashioned, but bars across the country are increasingly seeking to recreate such drinks with a demonstrably modern twist.

While classic bitter cocktails such as the Negroni, Gin Martini and Campari Spritz have seen a renewed popularity over recent years, other more modern mixes that include rosemary, basil or thyme, have also found a keen market.

 Vegetable juice

As consumers continue to count the calories in their drinks, bartenders have seen a steady rise in the number of cocktail requests where vegetable juice replaces sugary fruit juice.

While the archetypal vegetable juice cocktail, the Bloody Mary (yes, we know the tomato is technically a fruit), has experienced a renaissance of late, as has its gin-based sister the Red Snapper, other vegetable juice cocktails appeal to the health-conscious modern cocktail drinkers who enjoy a lunchtime tipple.

Creative ice

Cellar trends identified theatricality as a part of the UK cocktail scene’s growing appeal, with bars striving to put on a show for enthusiastic patrons who want their drinks garnished with showmanship.

James Chase, brand ambassador for Chase Vodka and William Gin, said: “When people are paying for a cocktail they expect to be entertained as well. It is the theatre of making a cocktail that separates it from just a spirit and mixer.”

Finding creative uses for ice has been identified as a way bartenders will be looking to demonstrate their theatrical cocktail-making skills and also as something which can add to the aestheticism of a serve.

Ready-made mixes

In a bid to cash-in on the cocktail boom, hotels, restaurants and traditional pubs that might have not considered serving cocktails before due to the associated cost and training, have been increasingly looking towards pre-mix cocktails.

This route into market has been identified by Cellar Trends’ marketing insight team as something which will enable mainstream establishments to make good margins, appeal to a broader consumer-base, and not save time and money on ingredients and training.

Finest Call is one company which provides an array of pre-mix bottles to make classic cocktails such as the Bloody Mary, Mojito and Pina Colada.

Cellar Trends has estimated that the on-trade’s desire to serve “simple and consistent” cocktails will drive sales of pre-mix cocktails by 15% every year for the next five years.

Skinny cocktails

As cocktails become more commonplace and less of a rare treat, Cellar Trends experts believe consumers will be looking to healthier choices in the near future.

It is thought bars will move away from dairy-heavy, sweet and fruity mixes and adopt lighter serves that are less calorific.

Popular low-calorie cocktails thought to explode in the marketplace over the next year include the Vodka Cranberry Fizz, Mai Tai and Cosmopolitan – as well as those combined with diet mixers, of course.

Simplicity

The Cellar trends insight team also forecasts significant growth in the on-trade sale of simple cocktails that use fewer ingredients.

Not only would this allow establishments taking their first steps into the cocktail market to err on the side of caution, first mastering the mixology basics with a simple menu, simplicity is increasingly viewed as a refreshing change from the extravagant mixes pervasive in the cocktail market.

As more cocktail enthusiasts understand the importance of the base spirit in mixes, simple serves that do not mar its flavours are gaining in popularity – such as the Martini and Old Fashioned.  

Small cocktails, better quality

Following-on from the previous page, greater consumer in interest in the base spirit of their choice serve means that premium brands are becoming more popular in cocktails.

The old cliché “less is more” is particularly relevant in the cocktail industry at the moment as the days of tall colourful cocktails adorned with every garnish and paper umbrella imaginable are quickly diminishing.

Smaller serves with high-quality ingredients are becoming more popular and cocktails such as the Negroni are expected to surge in demand over the coming months. 

Pitchers

Although an increase in quality cocktails that use super-premium spirits is anticipated, experts at Cellar Trends also acknowledge the variation between different cocktail-serving establishments.

While members of the high-end on-trade will offer small cocktails, focusing on the quality of the ingredients, Cellar Trends forecasts that some mainstream outlets will continue to seek solid profit margins through pitcher serves – saving on time and money.

It seems that big batches of Woo Woos and Margaritas will continue to scatter across high street bars for the foreseeable future … 

Aged cocktails

This is one of our own choices here at The Spirits Business HQ. The trend of barrel-aged cocktails has been adopted in high-end bars over the past couple of years, but the technique is now becoming increasingly more mainstream.

Early adopters are now thinking of innovative ways of advancing the trend – with leather-aging replacing barrel-aging in some maverick establishments.

For more information about what expert bartenders think makes an incredible, or diabolical, aged cocktail, see the October issue of The Spirits Business.