As a slightly more than casual drinker, you tend to notice phases when it come alcoholic drinks which are currently the popular choice of the moment. The trend at this point in time popular opinion seems to be pointed towards Gin as the big drink of the day, last year it was prosecco, when I was a teenager it was alcopops like Bacardi Breezers, Archers Aqua, Smirnoff Ice and WKD, and a few years ago it was fruity cider over ice. So when it comes to trying to discern what’ll be popular in the coming season, alcohol is a lot like clothing, you have to speculate, and generally just hope for the best. My predictions are that its likely to be one of the following.
Rum
Rum is sexy and kind of exotic, it has the overtones of some tropical or island paradise where the waves are lapping against the shore, and the sun is always shining. Rum makes this list as I’m starting to see some more unusual brands turn up in bars and clubs throughout my surrounding area, so maybe this is a sign.
Port
This may be more wishful thinking on my part, but more and more people are jumping on the fortified wine bandwagon, with sales of port growing at steady levels throughout 2015 and 2016, with aged tawny port being a particular favourite, with UK sales at over £79 Million maybe, just maybe if I order a port in a bar, I won’t get looked at like some kind of a freak.
Japanese Whiskey
Brands like Suntory are finally starting to gain traction on the UK market in fact I saw a bottle of 12 year old Yamazaki in a bar, and admittedly it was a really trendy, upmarket (i.e expensive) bar, but it was a bar in the UK nonetheless. But what may be interesting to note, is that the whiskey market in the UK has been dominated by scotch, and that swill that the yanks have the audacity to call whiskey, with a one two exceptions (like Jamesons’s Irish Whiskey) so it would be interesting to see something new, and tasty.
Advocaat
To be honest this is a complete wildcard, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this in real life, I mean who wants an egg based drink on a night out?