Your intrepid beverage dork was on the road in June, teaching at Bar Convent Brooklyn, also known as BCB. It’s a bar-industry trade show that brings more than 230 brands and thousands of bar professionals to Brooklyn to taste, learn and nerd out over the latest and greatest in the bar world.
This show is a great place to get an idea of what’s trending and exciting in the world of beverages, so I am sharing some of the key takeaways—to keep you on the cutting edge of hip liquids.
So. Much. Tequila.
This trade show had more tequila to taste than any show I have ever been to, in my almost two decades of working in the bar world. Every other booth was a new tequila brand reaching for attention.
Those of you who do not spend your life in the world of bars may not know that the tequila world is experiencing soap-opera levels of drama. In May, a class-action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, accusing one of the world’s largest spirits producers, Diageo, of falsely labeling tequilas as “100% agave.” This is a significant development, as the brands in question, Don Julio and Casamigos, are among the industry’s top-selling brands. Smaller brands see an opportunity, and they are pressing hard to step into the spotlight and capitalize on Diageo’s stumble.
In the coming year, you will see many brands boasting about being “additive-free,” sharing their history, and showcasing their authenticity—but most of this is marketing. Remember that, by law, 100% agave tequilas are allowed up to 1% of additives by total liquid weight. Therefore, finding truly additive-free tequilas can be challenging. Be sure to consult with your local agave experts, such as those at Drams and Smoke, or Craft Wine and Beer, if you’re seeking truly additive-free tequila.
All in on NA
Once seen as a passing trend, non-alcoholic cocktails are here to stay. Last year, Gallup’s yearly Consumption Habits poll reported, “A new high of 45% of Americans say drinking one or two alcoholic beverages per day is bad for one’s health.” This has impacted the bar world in a way that is both exciting and chaotic. Gone are the days of flavored whiskey, and the era of the hip, exciting, non-alcoholic spirits is now upon us.
The NA drinkers of today tend to be what trend forecasters call “early adopters.” These folks are looking for bold, design-forward packaging and cutting-edge flavor combinations. Because of these early adopters, the NA drinks world is incredibly fun right now. The most fun drinks I tasted at the show were NA. Big brands are launching fascinating new offerings, or in the case of Campari, bringing to the U.S. what has been an Italian staple for years. Crodino is a zero-proof, ready-to-serve spritz that is well-known in Italy. It is a bitter soda, first produced in the mid-1960s and named after Crodo, a town in northwest Italy. It drinks like an orange creamsicle Aperol spritz—so obviously, I drank 10 of them. Expect to see other innovative NA options entering the market at an unprecedented rate.
The espresso martini won
Drink trends come and go. Some years, it’s all cosmos, all the time, and in other years, we can’t stop drinking ginger-beer drinks like mules. A few years back, the espresso martini poked its head out of the fog of ’90s drinks that were mostly considered too sweet or too gimmicky. I thought this trend would emerge for the winter season and fade away into the night—but boy, was I wrong.
We are now in year three of espresso martinis dominating the cocktail world—and I’m not mad about it. People are pushing the limits of the drink into wild new variations, and to me, the best part is that coffee matters now more than ever before. An excellent espresso martini starts with great coffee, and I saw roasters listed on menus—just as you would see the brand of vodka used. Bartenders are highlighting the roast of coffee with complementary spirits and ingredients. We are now entering the Peak Espresso Martini Era, and I am here for it.
A bar represents a cross-section of the people who live around it, so the bar industry is a pretty good representation of the country, and like the rest of the country, the bar industry is full of uncertainty and a fair amount of fear. However, in Brooklyn, the bar trade came together to showcase creativity, share ideas and celebrate one another—something we should all do with one another whenever we have the chance.
