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Study says millennials favour premium gin brands
Millennials are leading the global gin renaissance by choosing “authentic” premium gin brands over vodka, according to a new report by Beefeater Gin.
The report was commissioned to coincide with Desmond Payne’s 50 years in the industry
The report, titled Cocktails: The New Golden Era, by professor Richard E. Ocejo and author Chantal Martineau, was commissioned to coincide with Beefeater’s master distiller Desmond Payne’s 50 years in the industry.
The paper provides a list of causes for the surge in the popularity of cocktails, citing higher benchmarks of quality as a side effect of globalisation, the use of social media to share “knowledge and celebration of beautiful cocktail creations”, and a growth in bartender status and salary in local communities.
It also notes that a part of the millennial generation dubbed “Gineration X” have been responsible for “the huge rise in premium gin sales”, with gin featuring in many popular cocktails.
The report also states that professional bartenders are gaining respect with a career in cocktail bartending being seen as a “viable career option”. According to the report, top bartenders can earn as much as US$230,000, which is the same as the vice president of the United States.
Despite total alcohol consumption falling, global sales of spirits grew by 4.4% in 2016. Communication between different countries has led to a surge in the fashion for cocktails around the world, including in UK, Spain, Belgium, Germany, USA, Mexico, Argentina and Japan.
Ocejo said: “What we found most fascinating was how interconnected cocktail cultures are in these countries. Pretty much no one operates in a vacuum, and sharing and influence are the norm.”
Payne added: “Over the past fifty years I have seen many false starts to a resurgent cocktail scene, but now the wait is finally over and, boy, the wait has been worth it. In every city I visit around the world, in the most unlikely of places, I am being continually surprised by the sheer brilliance, creativity and dedication of cocktail bartenders.”
Last month, SB spoke with Desmond Payne about his 50 years in the industry.