Drink trends 2023: Potatoes and pickles and slushies, oh my!
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It’s hard to believe, but 2023 is right around the corner. By the time we get used to saying 2023, it’ll be over! So it goes. Food and drink trends move darn fast as well, and it’s part of our job to keep up with them—so we can pass along what we learn to you, dear reader.
So, we’re here today to share what we see as the emerging drink trends 2023 has in store and what they can mean for you.
What new products and flavors can we expect for the next year? Sustainability and wellness will continue to impact all food and beverage conversations, as will the switch to plant-based, well, everything.
With the pandemic over, people are stepping out to bars, so alcohol trends will extend beyond drinking at home, watching Netflix, and chatting on social media with friends. Yay!
Which new craze will burst onto the scene, and which old familiar will return in the coming year? Let’s get to it. We’ll break trends into two categories: non-alcoholic and alcoholic. Get your tequila ready for a drinking game: Have a shot every time we write “and!” (Ok, but please don’t actually do this…)
Non-alcoholic drink trends for 2023
We mentioned above that some of the favorite words in the beverage industry right now are sustainable, plant-based, and wellness-centered. That’s not going to change anytime soon, and the drinks gaining popularity reflect that. The non-alcoholic drink trends 2023 will spotlight will include these concepts too.
Potato milk
Potato milk is gaining popularity, with single-syllable brands stocking shelves with spud juice. Earlier in the year, potato milk was touted as potentially the most sustainable of all the non-milk milks since, for example, almonds take a lot of water to grow. It also offers a leg up on other alternative milks for some additional reasons—we won’t comment on the adverse public relations pea milk has endured due to its name.
We anticipate potato milk to continue to grow in popularity due to its high profit margin, sustainability, and the fact that most people already like potatoes.
The Michelagua
There are beverages at the nexus of wellness and fun, too. The Michelagua, the non-alcoholic cousin of the day-drinking favorite Michelada, is way up in popularity heading into 2023, with searches on Yelp up 62%. Michelaguas use the same preparations and ingredients as a Michelada but replace the beer with an agua fresca—essentially, an unfiltered fruit juice. Michelaguas usually come in three flavor profiles: mango, pineapple and spinach, or cucumber and lime. Since it’s colorful and trendy, it makes for the perfect social media photo. Score!
Mocktails
Venturing farther into the realm of drinking without drinking, mocktails are still gaining popularity. With celebrities like Bella Hadid and Blake Lively creating their own mocktail brands, you can expect to see all sorts of boozeless cocktails on social media this coming year. Dry bars are increasingly popular as well, including New York’s Hekate. It’s a good place to go if you want to socialize with a guarantee of no hangover.
Dirty sodas
Dirty sodas are a drink that falls firmly in the fun category, and we love it. Originating in Utah, dirty sodas are a modern variation on a root beer float. They’re made of soda, cream, and flavored syrup—like an Italian soda from the 1990s but with cream. Dirty soda-specific shops have popped up across the country, especially in the southwest. Nationwide, searches for dirty sodas are up 40%.
Slushies
An additional fun treat is the move of slushies from convenience-store favorite to premium and high-quality. Consider the Frost Factory in Liberty Township, Ohio—a whole establishment dedicated to custom slushies, both boozy and not. It’s a pretty nifty future we live in, no?
Hōjicha
Naturally, we can’t forget our caffeinated friends. In addition to its taste and health benefits, tea is trendy. It goes through phases every year like a teenager, but this one’s not a phase, mom! Check out Hōjicha—a Japanese green tea with a sweet flavor and no bitterness. Hōjicha hails from Kyoto, where it was created by accident in 1920. It looks to be the next in line of many culinary hits discovered thanks to a bit of serendipity.
Alcoholic drink trends 2023 has on tap
So, yes, beer-free Micheladas, mocktails, and more alcohol-free beverages are gaining popularity. That’s true. But alcohol isn’t going out of style. Alcohol never goes out of style. Alcoholic drinks are the common thread running through civilization back to the dawn of Sumer, Egypt, and China.
So what alcohol trends do we see emerging in the market? A return to bars is a big one and one that bar owners and bartenders alike will welcome. Although the cost of living crisis is hitting the industry hard in places, happy hours, cheap drinks, and draught beers will always make for viable business models. Here are some alcoholic drink trends bars and restaurants should consider in 2023.
Slushie cocktails
Slushie drinks are making big waves in the market and expanding beyond the traditional frozen margarita. Bars across the country are looking to make ever-more-creative boozy slushies, and we’re wondering why it hasn’t happened sooner. Consider hits like the frozen Negroni at Los Angeles’s own Capri Club, and you’ll see where this could go. What if every cocktail could be a slushie?
Tequila and mezcal
Premium tequila and mezcal are steadily gaining in popularity, especially as sipping drinks—as they should be. High-quality tequila or mezcal is on the same level of flavor profile complexity as excellent bourbon, scotch, or wine, and consumer demand is close to outstripping supply. Both 2020 and 2021 saw demand so high that there was an agave shortage.
Bars and restaurants can work this trend into their repertoire. Offering flights or tastings of top-notch tequila or mezcal can be a social media hit and get customers in the door. It’s also just a nice change of pace—and that, my friend, is what makes a trend.
Hard seltzers
Hard seltzers aren’t going anywhere. As a Gen Z favorite, they continue to increase in popularity—even though hard seltzers have been around for a long time. And yes, of course, Millennials like them too. However, they only exploded onto the scene a few years ago. So we expect there to be lots of formulation variation and growing interest in this segment of the industry in the upcoming year.
Pickle-flavored drinks
And while you don’t usually want to end an article on a sour note, we’ll make an exception in this case. Pickle-flavored drinks like the pickle martini have jarred market-watchers encumbered by notions of clinging to old-fashioned, bread-and-butter beverages. (Pardon, it’s not often we get to do pickle puns.)
In all seriousness, though, it makes sense that pickle-flavored drinks are getting popular: It tastes good, and it’s fun. What’s not to love? Dive-bar goers will be familiar with the concept of a pickle juice back for whisky shots, so it’s not like the idea crawled up from the briny depths of the sea.
What else is trending? Awesome software
Ok, so we’ve talked a lot about drink trends 2023 may serve up. That’s cool, and we’re pretty excited to see where this goes and how right we are. We also are duty-bound to inform you that software trends are equally important to the industry—because if we didn’t, we’d be only giving you half of the story.
If you’re running a restaurant or a bar, you’ll want to make sure your drinks are on point. Customers will notice that and come back. What they won’t see so much is that your software is helping your front of house run at a full clip without any hassle because it’s running so smoothly.
The software we’re talking about is Yelp Guest Manager. Want to see if it’s right for you? Curious how it can help get customers in the door and make operations smooth as silk? Reach out to us for a free demo, and we’ll show you around. The trend towards better software is here to stay.