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Millennials shun beer and wine for spirits

Millennial drinkers in the US showing a greater penchant for spirits compared to beer and wine, according to a new survey.

Millennials are showing a trend of moving away from wine and beer, and towards spirits

Technology company Morning Consultant surveyed more than 2,000 adults in the US and discovered that “a plurality of Americans prefer liquor drinks”.

While 32% of respondents said they preferred beer, 11% said they would rather drink straight spirits, 28% said they preferred mixed drinks or cocktails and 25% said they preferred wine. The remaining 5% said they had no preference.

Analysing the results further, and the figures showed that beer was the most popular alcoholic beverage among men (45%), and cocktails or mixed drinks were most popular among women (37%).

Millennials also favoured spirits in cocktails or with mixers (29%) over other alcoholic options. Of those questioned, a further 21% of millennials said they favoured spirits neat, while 25% opted for beer and 22% chose wine.

Generation X also showed more of a preference for spirits over other categories, with 30% choosing spirits in cocktails or with mixers, and 11% preferring spirits neat. This generation showed more of a thirst for beer (30%) compared to millennials, but wine was just as popular across both demographics (22%).

David Ozgo, chief economist of the Distilled Spirits Council, said: “The spirits sector has seen impressive growth driven by innovative products, the revival of cocktail culture and a fascination with premiumisation across all spirits categories.

“Adult consumers, particularly millennials of legal drinking age, continue to gravitate toward the vast array of spirits products a companies create excitement in the marketplace with new products and experiences.”

Vodka was shown to be the most popular spirit, with 31% of respondents saying they would be “very likely” to buy vodka and 31% saying they would be “somewhat likely”.

Tequila came second, with 25% saying they would be “very likely” to purchase Tequila and 30% saying they would be “somewhat likely”.

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