The 12 Cocktail Trends Of 2024 That Are Worth Keeping In 2025

The new year is a great time for reinvention. Shedding old styles, habits, and trends is a great way to begin 2025 with a clean slate. But there are some things we aren't ready to say goodbye to, especially regarding food and drinks. Admittedly, some trends may have reached their peak. For example, putting truffle oil on everything is a food trend Gordon Ramsay hates, which we may see becoming less prevalent. But 2024 also gave us some incredible chef-favorite meals that are too good not to enjoy in 2025.

2024 also saw a lot of wonderful developments in the cocktail world. Bartenders put inventive twists on old favorites, perfected techniques, and introduced new ingredients that we can't get enough of. If you haven't had a chance to try some of these popular drinks yet, don't worry they won't be going anywhere in the new year. You can still order these amazing cocktail trends and try out the new variations that mixologists are sure to create in 2025. Just remember to stay clear of common ordering mistakes that will confuse your bartender when buying these drinks. These cocktail trends are worth keeping around in 2025.

Market research shows a surprising increase in young people opting out of alcohol consumption. Nightlife culture is starting to transform as many young people are choosing to live more sober or sober-curious lives. According to The Food Institute, Gen Z consumes approximately 20% less alcohol than their millennial counterparts. To accommodate this growing trend, bars and restaurants have adjusted their menus to include more non-alcoholic options. This is where the mocktail trend has really taken off. In 2024, we saw bar menus with extensive and impressive mocktail options, as well as trends like the sleepy girl mocktail gaining traction on social media.

Instead of bland and basic options, many bars are putting effort into creating thoughtful and delicious non-alcoholic drinks. "It's now a non-negotiable that bars and restaurants have non-alcoholic options on the menu — not just juices or fountain sodas, but elevated and crafted alcohol-free cocktails. If they lack these options, they're leaving money on the table," Michelle Houston, founder of To Be Honest Beverage Company, said.

This is one of the drink trends we don't see going anywhere in 2025. A good mocktail menu is a great idea for clubs and bars wanting to maintain their customer base and tap into a new market of people who want to go out and socialize but not consume alcohol.

Another trend we saw on the rise in 2024 is a return to basics. While over-the-top cocktail with a laundry list of exotic ingredients have their place in some moments, more and more patrons are interested in high-quality, simple drinks. Minimalist cocktails, including around three ingredients, have been making a comeback. Rather than shocking guests with innovation and a diverse array of ingredients, more mixologists are focused on crafting basic, well-made drinks that allow you to taste every element instead of being overwhelmed by too much in your drink.

This may be due in part to consumers becoming more informed. Many people learned to mix drinks themselves during the pandemic and, as a consequence, gained a more refined appreciation for a simple but well-made drink. Elon Soddu, owner and manager of Amaro, discussed this shift with Foodism. "Years ago, guests were after theatre, showmanship, and eccentricity," Soddu said. "I had guests who ordered the most 'Instagrammable' cocktail instead of reading the menu and seeking suitable flavors, only to send the drink back after realizing it wasn't what they liked. Today, excessive mixes and presentations have been replaced by minimal sophistication and classicism." This return to the basics is also more economical, making minimalism a great trend for consumers and bars alike. The move towards simple drinks has led to a return to long-time favorites like the vodka cranberry cocktail. 

With the return to the basics in 2024, we also saw a resurgence of old-school cocktails that had gone out of style for a few decades. Drinks like the cosmopolitan, espresso martini, and daiquiri made a big splash during the '90s but were considered dated during the 2000s and 2010s. In the past four years, the delightful cocktails made a comeback in a big way. With '90s fashion and '90s TV shows trending, it's no surprise to see consumers also returning to drinks from the era. Nylon reported that everyone was drinking cosmopolitans at 2024's New York Fashion Week, showing they were truly back in vogue. Harper's Bazaar social editor Faith Brown said, "They're fun and flirty, and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel a bit like Carrie Bradshaw. But I also feel a lot like my mother — which is even better." 

The 1990s drinks are defined by simple (often fruity) flavors and aesthetic appeal. Drinks like cosmos and martinis perfectly straddle the line between elegance and fun. They're excellent for a photo opportunity, but they aren't too complicated, and they don't sacrifice taste for visual appeal. Instead of being seen as outdated, many people are leaning into nostalgia and will likely be sipping these '90s-inspired drinks in 2025 as well.

The New York Times predicted that "sipping your supper" would be one of the biggest trends in drinks for 2024, meaning drinks that taste like savory dishes would be on the rise. A look at many cocktail bar menus today has proved them to be correct. Although there are still plenty of sweet, botanical, and sour flavors to be found, drink-makers have been experimenting and perfecting drinks with savory, salty, and umami cocktails. Some of the surprising ingredients you may stumble upon include curry, dill, mushrooms, tzatziki, and more.

Bartenders are only getting more creative with the savory flavor blends they introduce. "It's almost a requirement to have a savory or spicy drink on your menu these days," Braden Williams, the bar manager of Noko Nashville told Food & Wine. "Just a few years ago, it would be bold to put something vegetal, salty, spicy, or savory on a menu, but like art, music, or film, what we're drinking is always evolving." In New York City, the top-rated cocktail bar and restaurant Double Chicken Please offers a beetroot salad-inspired cocktail, and the West Village spot Angel's Share uses soy sauce powder in some of its drinks. The popularity of savory drinks has opened a whole new world of options for mixologists to explore, and there are still so many more flavor combinations to discover. We'll likely be seeing more and more savory inventions in the new year.

An up-and-coming technique to achieve a delicious flavor infusion is fat-washing drinks. Fat-washing is a process used to flavor spirits and make cocktails more robust and flavorful. Fat-washing is similar to a classic drink infusion. All you have to do is add a little bit of fat, such as oil, melted butter, or bacon grease, to your spirit. Mix well to combine the flavorful fat and liquor, then put the mixture in your fridge or freezer. The cold temperature will harden the fat so you can remove it from the drink, leaving a rich taste and velvety smooth texture without the heavy fat in the mixture. Some of the most popular mixtures created by this method include butter rum and bacon-infused bourbon.

Fat-washing is an excellent technique used by bartenders, but many people have also adopted it as a DIY method. A quick search online will yield hundreds of videos explaining how to master this method at home and use it for your own mixed drinks. With savory cocktails continuing to trend, fat-washing is an excellent way to infuse cocktails with rich, full flavor that we'll likely still see in 2025.

In the United States, some liquors, such as vodka, rum, and gin, are considered standard options at any bar. Recently, we've seen many establishments broadening this list to include spirits from around the globe. In 2024, mixologists created delicious and innovative cocktail blends with popular Asian liquors such as Japanese shōchū, Korean soju, and Chinese baijiu. All of these spirits have a unique flavor profile, creating new opportunities for creative and delicious blends.

Soju, in particular, has seen a surge in popularity. Although still not the most common item, its prevalence on U.S. menus has grown 31% between 2020 and 2024, according to Nation's Restaurant News. The colorless alcohol is made from fermented grains, usually rice. It's not as strong as other spirits, making it an excellent alcohol choice for a time when many young people are opting for alcohol-free or low-alcohol options. As more consumers become accustomed to soju's taste, there will likely be an increased demand for it. Similarly, baijiu's global appeal is predicted to continue growing until 2032 as more international bartenders incorporate the spirit into cocktails (via Custom Market Insights). With the growing popularity of Asian spirits, we'll likely see many new flavor mixes in the coming years. 

Another spirit that got a lot of attention in 2024 was sotol. Many people mistakenly believe it is an agave spirit, but sotol is a Mexican liquor distilled from the spiky desert plants of the genus Dasylirion. The spirit has a bright, slightly grassy taste, making it a unique flavor base for cocktail recipes, which many bartenders are beginning to experiment with.

Although sotol has yet to become as well-known as mezcal or tequila, it is making waves in the drink industry and widening its market. This year, the drink became more prevalent in the U.S. than it had been in the past, but we likely haven't seen its peak in popularity. "I foresee sotol as the third wave of Mexican spirits, following tequila and mezcal," Ricardo Pico, partner and global sotol educator for Nocheluna Sotol, told Forbes. "I strongly believe that in five years, every top bar and restaurant in the U.S. will include at least one sotol cocktail on its menu." If Pico is correct, then 2024 is just the beginning of sotol's rise and the drink will only become more common next year.

Hearing about milk punch, you might think of a creamy eggnog-like mixture, but milk punch is actually a clear drink. A clarified milk punch is made by combining milk, a spirit, and acid. Once the mixture curdles, it's strained to produce a clear, richly flavored punch. The clarified milk punch can be a drink on its own or used as a building block for a delicious cocktail. This method for preparing the mysterious drink has been around for centuries but has gained popularity with bartenders again in recent years. 

Darren Leany, a bartender and the creator of tiramisu milk punch at the Melbourne cocktail bar Capitano, explained why he and other drink lovers have been obsessed with this technique. "There's something magical and very cool (or maybe I'm just very simple!) about taking this absolute mess of a liquid and through the clarification/milk-washing process ending up with a silky and plush liquid that can be a finished drink or an ingredient in another drink," he told Bartender. "It's also an easy way to wow your guests, even in this age where people are more educated than ever, milk still seems to conjure up cloudiness rather than clarity in the mind's eye. Add to this the ability to be able to riff on beloved desserts and present the same flavors in a new format there is a solid hit of nostalgia that adds another layer to the drink and the guest experience." It's no wonder that milk punches have been showing up at cocktail bars across the country. There's even a new bar in New York City called Jelas that only serves clarified cocktails with a milk punch base.

With the emphasis on simplicity and quality ingredients in drinks, it should be no surprise that clarified cocktails were a big hit in 2024. Clarified cocktails (of which milk punch is one subcategory) are drinks put through a clarification process to remove impurities and create a crystal-clear liquid. There are also other clarifying techniques, including agar clarification and centrifugation. The resulting clear appearance is one benefit of this process, but many people will tell you that clarified cocktails also have a better taste. The process gives the drink a smoother flavor and mouthfeel for an enhanced drinking experience. Because of these benefits, clarifying classic drink mixes became a big trend in 2024.

Clarified drinks also have a particular appeal because they're hard to replicate. While many consumers may have learned to mix drinks and are likely to stay home and save money rather than going out, clarified cocktails are harder to create yourself and worth paying restaurant prices to get. "It's still a technique that people don't do at home, so there is an elusiveness to a cocktail like this," Liana Oster, director of Nomad London, told Club Oenologique. "It requires a lot of preparation and skill to pull off." Because of this, clarified cocktails are an excellent option for bars and restaurants to keep on the list in the coming year. 

2024 saw the resurgence of many classic cocktails, and that includes the martini. A standard vodka or gin martini is about as old-school as a cocktail can get, and while those versions have never gone out of style, this year, many other versions of the drink started to take off. Notably, the espresso martini, which has been on the rise for a few years, was hugely popular throughout 2024. We also saw many other unique versions of the drink as bars created their own signature martinis. 

"Due to the constantly evolving cocktail trends, bars and bartenders find themselves challenged to find new approaches to create their own versions of martinis that have their signature twists," Simon Sebbah, beverage director at Grand Tour Hospitality, told Forbes. "I think the trend really took off when Covid was over, when people began to realize that simple classics are often the best options," he said. Creating a signature martini allows establishments to harness the classic appeal of the nostalgic drink while adding their own spin to keep patrons coming back. By introducing new ingredients, mixologists have infused new life into the classic drink. In Los Angeles, for example, you can get an apple martini made with pear eau de vie from Accomplice, one made with pickled romanesco and black garlic oil from La Dolce Vita, or Lawry's Meat & Potato Martini at The Prime Rib, made with vodka and garnished with a prime-rib-and-horseradish-stuffed olive. We can't imagine the martini going out of style, especially when it's being reinvented in so many interesting ways.

Many people are more health-conscious about their food and drink choices today. When it comes to the cocktail industry, this trend has led to the rise of no-alcohol and low-alcohol drinks. It also means people are looking for low-calorie or low-sugar drinks as well as other health benefits from their cocktail orders. Healthful cocktail blends that include beneficial ingredients like fresh herbs and botanicals, teas, real fruit juice, and ginger have been highly sought-after this year.

"I do believe that consumers are leaning more into health-conscious consumption, and the information available through the internet and knowledgeable bartenders is shifting the industry toward a more health-conscious lifestyle," said Miranda Densford, beverage director at Barn8 Farm Restaurant & Bourbon Bar, in an interview with Market Watch Magazine. This trend will likely only grow as consumers become more educated and bartenders adapt recipes to cater to health-concerned customers. Especially in the new year, as many people make goals and resolutions about living a more healthy lifestyle, this kind of drink will only become more prevalent.

Based on the growing knowledge base of consumers and the further attention to high-quality cocktail ingredients, it follows that customers have been drawn to cocktails with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Both health-conscious drinkers and those focused on overall taste benefit from cocktail mixes that use locally sourced, fresh, seasonal ingredients. Instead of using prepackaged mixes or highly processed juices, more and more vendors are focused on using the best-quality ingredients to meet the market's demands. 

Brian DuBois, assistant general manager of Charlotte, North Carolina, cocktail bar Billy Sunday, has noticed this shift in the industry. "The emphasis on fresh ingredients is sweeping the cocktail world — the number of bars using sour mix is dwindling by the day," he told Market Watch Magazine. Using seasonal ingredients also opens up possibilities for a changing cocktail menu, with offerings changing to match the time of year, which also adds variety and excitement to the drinkers. Top cocktail destinations, like Penicillin in Hong Kong and Ugly Butterfly in Cornwall, England, even strive to use local or foraged ingredients so that their cocktails reflect the environment they're sourced from. This is a shift we don't see going anywhere in 2025.