Cocktails can serve as the foundation of a friendly gathering or the cherry on top of a fun and fabulous celebration. In 2025, cocktail trends have been all about merging the old with the new and finding more mindful, continental and creative ways of enjoying classic concoctions.
What’s the buzz: Top cocktail trends in 2025
This year’s leading mixology movements blended craft, culture and conscientiousness. With Tastewise reporting over 8% YoY growth in social media discussion about cocktails, it’s fair to say it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse of this ultra trendy topic.
Here are some of the most popular cocktail trends to keep an eye on as we round out 2025 and move forward into a new year:
- Low- and no-ABV drinks: According to recent research, over 40% of Americans are trying to drink less alcohol. As a result, low-ABV and alcohol free cocktails are making major waves in the food and beverage space.
- Global fusion: Building on popular margarita and tequila trends, many current cocktail trends are incorporating global flavors like yuzu, lychee and matcha, as well as unexpected liquors like cachaça and pisco.
- Smoky and savory profiles: Many popular cocktail trends embrace savory and smoky flavors. Mezcal, charred citrus and umami infusions are appearing in a wide variety of cocktail recipes and delivering rich and complex flavor profiles.
- Clarified cocktails: Milk-washed drinks with crystal-clear presentations are showing up in a growing number of viral videos and on an increasing number of upscale bar menus.
- Functional ingredients: Building on the sober-curious movement, many brands are rolling out adaptogenic alcohol alternatives as well as seltzers infused with CBD, THC and other mood-boosting ingredients.
- Dessert cocktails: Classic espresso martinis reigned supreme in 2025 and inspired a variety of other dessert cocktail trends like spiked affogatos, frozen espresso martinis and liquor-enhanced hot chocolates.
- Sustainable sips: To meet the needs of eco-conscious consumers, many brands have rolled out more sustainable beverage products like easy-to-recycle canned cocktails.
All of these trends tell a clear story about what today’s drinkers value most. For many U.S. consumers, happy hour is about more than just getting a quick buzz. Rather, it’s a flavor-forward experience intended to tickle the tastebuds and spark engaging conversation.
Trending summer cocktails 2025
Over the summer, we saw cocktail trends that incorporated fresh and fruity ingredients with sparkling and flavorful wines and liquors. Some of the biggest and most viral hits were the Paloma spritz, Hugo spritz, mango mojito, spicy margarita, cucumber gin fizz and passionfruit caipirinha. As you can see, these drinks combined fruity and even tropical flavors with dynamic and international liquor choices to capitalize on global food and beverage trends.
Trending cocktails among young adults in the UK
Thanks to its geographic positioning, the UK is the perfect spot for cocktail trends to marry multiple international cultures and flavor profiles. Italian ingredients like prosecco, amaro and Aperol often appeal in UK cocktail recipes, but more home-grown ingredients like Irish whiskey and Irish cream also drive trends. Negroni, Aperol spritzes, espresso martinis, Irish coffees and negroni sbagliatos all deliver cross-cultural appeal to the young people of the United Kingdom.
Fall cocktail trends
Unlike the summer’s trending temptations, fall 2025 has been all about spiced, smoked and savory. Spiced and barrel-aged cocktails dominate menus like apple butter old fashioneds, smoked cinnamon whisky sours and chai espresso martinis are bridging the gap as temperatures drop and giving amateur and professional bartenders ample opportunities to incorporate seasonal ingredients into their beverage rituals.
TikTok cocktail trends
As with other food and beverage trends, TikTok heavily influences what’s popular among cocktail-lovers. Some recent TikTok cocktail trends have included sparkling cotton candy drinks, clarified milk punches, color-changing butterfly pea flower refreshes and whipped espresso martinis. What do all of these drinks have in common? Visual appeal and dynamic presentation. Fun and interactive elements coupled with vibey aesthetics are non-negotiables for anyone looking to curate a viral-worthy cocktail.
Trending tequila cocktails
Tequila is still sitting pretty in 2025, with margaritas leading the charge in person and online. New this year was the growing demand for spicy and smoky beverages like jalapeno-infused margaritas, mezcal palomas and Tajin-rimmed tequila sours. Many celebrities have recently rolled out their own tequila offerings in response to growing public interest in premium tequilas that come in aesthetically appealing bottles that add some p’zazz to any bar spread.
Trending vodka cocktails
Some things never go out of style, and vodka is one of them. Vodka’s versatility makes it a staple spirit, and it managed to stay in the spotlight thanks to many of 2025’s trending cocktails. Spritzes, espresso martinis and olive-saturated dirty vodka martinis were major players in the global beverage market this year, sparking a sort of renaissance period for this cross-cultural staple.
2026 outlook: What are we shaking up next?
Heading into 2026, the global cocktail scene will continue to depend on changing consumer preferences. While some classic cocktails have remained at the forefront or managed to generate renewed interest in 2025, the future may rely on more innovation than tradition. We can expect to see AI-driven recipe development on the one hand, but we may even see a rise in AI-powered cocktail experiences in the months ahead.
For example, robot bartenders may become mainstream and give consumers unprecedented control over how their favorite drinks get shaken (or stirred) up. We will probably also see ongoing technological innovation driving the development of satisfactory ABV-free liquor alternatives as well as influencing sustainable sourcing and production practices. In all of these ways, technology will continue to shape cocktail culture and inspire a new generation of popular beverage trends.
Final thoughts
2025’s alcohol trends have been more experiential and creative than perhaps they’ve ever been before. By building on popular wine trends and liquor trends, this year’s cocktail sensations merged creativity with health and climate-consciousness and encouraged brands, bartenders and consumers to think outside the box.
To keep up with the ever-changing demands of today’s innovative consumers, restaurants and CPG brands will need to keep their eyes and ears open for the latest trends and consumer insights so they can stay one step ahead of delivering the products and experiences customers love.
FAQs about cocktail trends
Gen Z loves visually engaging, palate-surprising drinks spritzes, spicy margaritas and flavored espresso martinis, but they’re also one of the most sober-curious generations in American history. As a result, many young drinkers are seeking out alcohol-free liquor alternatives or indulging in low-ABV, flavor-forward mocktails.
Mocktail trends like virgin mojitos, grapefruit spritzes and adaptogenic botanical tonics are becoming staples in restaurants, bars and cafes.
Yes. Big-batch cocktails like punches and freezer-door cocktails are viral hits because they make entertaining more seamless and convenient. Clarified milk punches have also made major waves on social media and have begun to appear on local bar menus across the nation.
Inspired by barrel-aged bourbon and wine trends, barrel-aged cocktails have come to provide the ideal combination of complexity and smoothness for avid cocktail consumers. Crowd-favorite flavor notes like oak, smoke, leather and vanilla all provide an elevated, sophisticated vibe that can easily be tailored to accommodate seasonal trends.
