Annual Coast-to-Coast Findings Revealed
MIAMI and DALLAS, September 12, 2022—Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits (Southern Glazer’s) — the world’s preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol — as we speak unveiled the outcomes of its 2022 Liquid Insights Tour, a coast-to-coast academic initiative designed to discover and establish the newest tendencies in cocktails and wine.
The Liquid Insights Tour kicked off in Houston in February, and included stops in Kansas Metropolis, New York, Las Vegas, Chicago and Los Angeles. Over the course of 111 days, Brian Masilionis, Director, On-Premise Business Technique & Nationwide Accounts for Southern Glazer’s, led a crew of its industry-leading mixologists to pattern over 400 drinks in 83 of the most well liked eating places, bars and resorts, compiling their insights to find rising cocktail and wine tendencies throughout the U.S.
Analyzing {industry} information and gathering insights throughout the beverage {industry} has lengthy been a apply of Southern Glazer’s, the place it’s used for inside schooling and coaching of the corporate’s gross sales pressure and their accounts. Now, by means of the Liquid Insights Tour, Southern Glazer’s is sharing its findings extra broadly to assist a hospitality {industry} nonetheless reeling from the consequences of the pandemic, and to excite customers about wine and cocktail innovation being pushed by a brand new technology of numerous bartenders, sommeliers and beverage professionals.
“Our driving function for conducting the Liquid Insights Tour was to uncover progressive beverage tendencies and experiences throughout the nation to make sure Southern Glazer’s continues to have probably the most educated gross sales consultants within the {industry},” mentioned Masilionis. “All through the tour, we evaluated the entire on-premise expertise by analyzing product choices, pricing, promotional method, folks, service and course of.”
Bridget Albert, Senior Nationwide Director of Training for Southern Glazer’s, added, “I consider Liquid Insights is a beneficial program that offers its reader a uncommon behind-the-scenes look into profitable working bars by means of the eyes of {industry} execs.”
Prime 10 Tendencies Revealed
Evaluation of the findings of the Liquid Insights Tour revealed that prime tendencies fell into three distinct classes:
- Cocktail innovation
- Wine tendencies
- Execution and presentation tendencies
Prime cocktail insights:
- Unusual Mixtures: Bartenders had been mixing spirits not generally used collectively to create new and attention-grabbing cocktail taste profiles. Artistic combos included a cocktail in Houston that mixed Scotch and corn liqueur, one from Kansas Metropolis that blended rum and cognac, one other in Chicago utilizing gin and mezcal, and a drink in Las Vegas that mixed bourbon and añejo tequila.
- Past Primary Balancers: The crew discovered many cocktails that had been made utilizing an progressive number of strategies or modifiers to steadiness the drink or add layers of taste. These included:
- Using acids, similar to Meyer lemon, lime, blood orange, grapefruit, verjus (also called verjuice) or acid powder;
- Utilizing sugars and syrups, similar to burnt sugar, uncooked or unrefined sugar merchandise (e.g., Turbinado, Demerara or black sugar), native honey, and in-house flavored syrups utilizing elements like lavender, chamomile and even cola;
- Incorporating salt, similar to Black Lava, Himalayan, tajin, hibiscus, corn, gusano, Yukari or smoked salt to raise flavors (and calling out the usage of salt within the drink menu descriptions);
- Herbs, espresso, tea and spices, together with natural or spice-based liqueurs similar to Chartreuse, Campari or Falernum; incorporating espresso or tea similar to chamomile, inexperienced tea, espresso and chilly brew; utilizing peppers and spices similar to Espelette, jalapeno, chili, Kashmiri, ginger and galangal; or incorporating a wide range of bitters similar to Angostura, and Amaros similar to Nonino, Averna or Fernet;
- Using fat past animal fat, similar to clarified milk, egg whites or complete egg, butter, coconut and olive oil and different plant-based fat, so as to add an expensive smoothness or creaminess to cocktails;
- Using ice and warmth similar to stamped, flavored and smoked ice; the usage of numerous types of ice similar to shaved and blended ice; and the usage of flame, chilled vapor and warmth in mixology.
- Caffeinated Comeback: As soon as the darling of the 90s bar scene, the Espresso Martini took heart stage because the standout cocktail of the tour. Across the nation, mixologists are giving new life into this traditional, incorporating a wide range of inventive elements similar to amaro and low liqueurs or brandy with espresso or chilly brew.
- Refined and Spirit-Free: Non-alcoholic choices on the nation’s prime bars, eating places and resorts at the moment are simply as elevated, scrumptious, and expensive as their alcoholic counterparts, that includes related elements, flavors and displays simply with out alcohol.
Prime wine insights:
- Bubbly Is Popping: Champagne and glowing wines proceed to climb in reputation on drink menus. All through the tour, extra glowing choices had been obtainable by-the-glass and had a extra distinguished presence on prime wine lists. As well as, bartenders are mixing glowing wine of all types and costs into their cocktails so as to add effervescence, crispness or sweetness to the expertise.
- Wines Chill Out: Chilled choices of crimson and candy wines appeared on menus throughout the U.S. Orange wines additionally appeared extra incessantly than ever earlier than, typically offered on menus in a mixed rosé and orange part.
- Tempting Trial With By-The-Glass & Premium Half-Bottles:
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- Curated by-the-glass (BTG) choices have gotten extra numerous to go well with the shifting preferences of customers trying to strive new wines, with much less duplication of flavors and extra targeted, curated choices general.
- BTG wine choices are additionally extra balanced between home and worldwide choices than up to now, even in Los Angeles, a market identified for its home California-grown wines.
- There’s additionally a rising development in wines priced to promote with good worth in both BTG or by-the-bottle codecs to drive extra orders and never simply excessive margins. Extra of the highest venues at the moment are providing ultra-premium wines in half-bottles, tempting customers to commerce up and style recent, high-end wines on a two-glass foundation.
Prime execution and presentation insights:
- Batching for Velocity and Service: Prime bartenders proceed to innovate round batching their cocktails, together with each partial (batching solely non-perishable gadgets) and full batching, and utilizing citric and/or malic acid to increase freshness and keep citrus taste. The driving pressure behind this development is the necessity for pace and to enhance high quality and consistency in cocktail preparation, which permits for extra time to attach with friends.
- Entertaining Expertise Enhancements: Including “aptitude” to the cocktail expertise with the usage of vapors, “air”, smoke or torch; the usage of distinctive glassware; or the return of communal drinks to be shared; all are creating memorable moments for customers.
- Significant Menu Improvements: Eating places and bars are evolving their menus past being a practical device to enhance the patron expertise. The crew noticed nice storytelling, distinctive categorizations and humorous names paired with detailed drink descriptions. QR codes, which rose in reputation attributable to COVID, at the moment are getting used to ship broader choices and knowledge – from curated, account-specific Spotify playlists to ever-changing allotted spirit choices, all of which might be up to date simply with no need to reprint menus.
Elements Influencing Tendencies
- Backed by {industry} information and Southern Glazer’s inside insights, Masilionis and his crew recognized a number of key components which are influencing these tendencies. These embrace:
Growing old Inhabitants: All through the nation, Gen Xers and Millennials now signify a big proportion of customers in bars, eating places and resorts. - Demographic Diversification: Extra ethnic variety is driving choice shifts by way of flavors and spirit and wine choices. As well as, youthful, extra numerous employees within the hospitality {industry} are placing their stamp on applications whereas higher reflecting the communities the place they work.
- Well being and Wellness Preferences: Amongst youthful customers, 21- to 54-year-olds with greater incomes are altering their alcohol consumption habits. They’re looking for out pure and/or natural choices, and low- or no-alcohol choices.
- Impression of COVID-19: The ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic are nonetheless being felt within the hospitality {industry}. The pandemic necessitated the simplification of operations throughout the phase. As well as, the pandemic additionally elevated the significance of connecting with friends and providing a premium expertise to assist hospitality companies differentiate themselves in a extremely aggressive atmosphere.
“These distinctive insights might be included into any on-premise enterprise to construct better success by means of strategic and progressive beverage applications,” mentioned Masilionis. “Figuring out which insights are related to your small business and methods to incorporate them utilizing inventive themes, highlighting seasonal elements, and tailoring cocktail and wine choices to the demographics of your friends are all sturdy methods. We proceed to see the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic all through this {industry} phase, by way of results on the work pressure and on the customers returning for the on-premise expertise. We’re excited to supply these insights to assist pace the restoration from the pandemic and make this phase stronger and extra consumer-focused than ever.”
For more information go to our Liquid Insights useful resource web page at www.southernglazers.com/Liquid-Insights.
About Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits is the world’s preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol, and proud to be a multi-generational, family-owned firm. The corporate has operations in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Canada. In 2022, Southern Glazer’s was listed as one of many Forbes Greatest Employers for Range. In 2021, Southern Glazer’s was chosen as a U.S. Greatest Managed Firm by Deloitte Personal and TheWall Avenue Journal, in addition to named by Newsweek as a Prime 100 Most Cherished Office. Southern Glazer’s urges all retail clients and grownup customers to market, promote, serve and revel in its merchandise responsibly. For extra data go to www.southernglazers.com. Observe us on Fb, Twitter and Instagram @sgwinespirits.
