6 Drinks Trends Set To Take Over 2025
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11 hours ago
From ice-cream floats to Guinness
This year was all about hydration, celebrity-backed booze and grower champagne – so what does 2025 hold for the drinks world? Here are some of the key drinks trends set to dominate next year, both within the alcoholic and non-alcoholic realms. From micro cocktails to the unprecedented rise of Guinness, plus a continued focus on tipples that could boost brain power, these are the themes to have on your radar in 2025.
Key Drinks Trends For 2025
Miniature Cocktails
The chicest way to serve your cocktails in 2025? In a teeny tiny version. Micro cocktails are all the rage right now, according to a recent survey from Paragon Brands, which found almost half of Brits are sold on the mini alcoholic drinks trend. London bars have taken note: Rita’s in Soho serves downsized martinis, while The Cadogan Arms in Chelsea offers a rotating selection of ‘tiny chasers’ such as the Japanese Slipper, a combination of Midori, Cointreau and lime. The trend is proving particularly popular with Gen Zs and millennials, who are partly drawn in by the aesthetic factor – Paragon’s research found 23 percent of those surveyed aged 35 to 44 would buy a miniature drink for the Instagram potential alone.
Cognitive Health Drinks
Drinks with cognitive benefits have been on the rise for a while now, but they’re set to really take off in 2025, if healthy eating app Lifesum’s trends report is anything to go by. That includes things like functional mushroom coffee – one of this year’s buzziest tipples, said to improve memory and concentration levels – as well as cacao-based tonics, made with adaptogens for mood and mental clarity. Matcha, renowned for its brain health benefits, is also having a moment, with Google reporting a surge in monthly searches for the term and social media awash with snaps of the green-hued powder.
The Guinness Revolution
A few years ago, Guinness had a reputation as a heavy old man’s drink, but in recent times the creamy stout beer has entered its golden age, rising in the ranks as the trendiest beer around. So much so that pubs are now reporting a shortage due to extraordinary levels of demand. In London, one in every ten pints sold is a Guinness, and everyone from King Charles to Kim Kardashian has been spotted drinking it. The Irish beer is plastered all over Instagram and TikTok too, in particular the ‘Splitting the G’ game – a challenge long beloved in Ireland, which sees drinkers attempting to get halfway down the logo in one gulp.
Rebel Floats
Old-school ice cream floats will make a comeback in 2025, according to the Pinterest Predicts report, which highlighted ‘rebel floats’ as one of its biggest drinks trends for the year ahead. Think creative new twists on the traditional American creation, which involves topping fizzy drinks with ice cream. The platform reported an increase in searches for terms like cream soda aesthetic (up 105 percent) and root beer aesthetic (up 40 percent) – so the look is clearly a crucial factor here.
Mindful Drinking
Conscious drinking has been on the up for a while now, but it’s going nowhere in 2025. According to research from Mintel, 59 percent of British adults either limit their alcohol consumption or do not drink at all, and the low and no-alcohol world continues to thrive, with brands like Lucky Saint reporting massive revenue growth. Waitrose’s annual report, meanwhile, highlighted zebra striping as one of this year’s biggest trends – a hack which sees drinkers consuming one alcoholic drink followed by one non-alcoholic drink. ‘The way customers consume alcohol has changed,’ says Pierpaolo Petrassi, Waitrose’s head of beer, wine and spirits. While once pub sessions meant an endless stream of pints, now the experience has become ‘more syncopated, with food and a variety of different drinks that may or may not contain booze.’
The Rise Of Tequila
Agave-based spirits will have their heyday next year, says Bacardi’s latest trends report. ‘In 2025, the tequila trend will be unstoppable with the Margarita shooting up the rankings of the most popular cocktails in the UK, rising eight places from number 13 in 2024 to fifth in 2025,’ says Davide Zanardo, Head of Advocacy for Bacardi in the UK & Ireland. ‘Agave is what everyone in the industry is talking about and that’s reflected in the demand for ultra-premium tequilas like PATRÓN.’ Waitrose, too, reported a tequila boom this year, with sales up 86 percent compared to 2023.