Check out the drink trends December 2022:
Christmas doesn’t need to be the same every year. A leading December drinks trend has taken the world by storm without any festive links. If you’ve not heard of the Negroni Sbagliato yet, where have you been?
For those who like tradition and familiarity though, there’s plenty of Christmas drink flavours to seek out. And sustainable drink brands are busy making sure we can keep enjoying these same treats year after year.
“Stunnin’!” – spotlight on the Negroni Sbagliato
A TV star created an overnight sensation after shining the spotlight on a cocktail.
Asked her drink of choice, House of Dragon star Emma D’Arcy gave a stilted, smiling reply: “a Negroni … Sbagliato … with prosecco in!”
The actor’s tone and interviewer’s response (“ooh! Stunnin’…”) meant the audio quickly went viral, being dubbed over TikToks and shared around with the world. With so much hype, the drink itself has had a mini boom.
Google searches for Negroni Sbagliato were up 501% in October, according to The Drinks Business.
The Italian cocktail blends a range of flavours. Where the classic Negroni uses aromatic gin to balance bitter Campari and sweet vermouth, the Negroni Sbagliato ups the sweetness while lowering the alcohol content, replacing the gin with prosecco.
Legend has it that it was originally made by mistake when a bartender mistook prosecco for gin. Its name loosely translates to mistaken or “messed up” Negroni.
Just as social media users reinvented the audio in TikToks, bartenders have been quick to riff on the classic recipe. Alternative garnishes, white vermouth and French aperitif Suze have all reinvented the Negroni Sbagliato. Although always “…with prosecco in”!
Now, with Italian cocktails tipped to be a top trend for 2023 too, the Negroni Sbagliato looks set to be a mainstay of menus. Bold coloured, full-flavoured Negronis and Aperols will also be high on drinkers’ wishlists next year, as will simpler Mimosas and Bellinis.
The Mimosa is another Italian cocktail already trending online. An impressive 1.6 million videos have been posted purporting to show #ThePerfectMimosa.
But how tricky can a cocktail with two ingredients – champagne and orange juice – be? Well, to make those ratios easier to measure, Tropicana has released a limited-edition Mimosa Maker. This handy ‘diffuser’ allows drinkers to use three settings to customise their perfect Mimosa.
Festive favourites – launches of Christmas drink flavours
Winter warmers are a key December drinks trend every festive season.
Rich flavoured hot drinks are on sale for shoppers on-the-go, including Pret’s Macaroon Hot Chocolate and McDonald’s Caramel Waffle Latte. For a Christmas coffee syrup to enjoy hot or cold, Tazo has introduced a Gingerbread Spice Latte blending molasses, ginger, cinnamon and brown sugar.
Nespresso has also launched its latest Christmas drink flavours. Inspired by French patisseries and chocolatiers, these limited-edition releases nod to predictions of patisserie-inspired flavours being a 2023 drink trend. They’re sure to inspire a range of Christmas coffee syrup creations for coffee-lovers to enjoy beyond December.
To match the cooler months, there’s also a growing number of Christmas milkshake flavours on offer. Shake Shack has a Christmas Cookie Shake and, in the US, Smashburger has a Caramel Apple Pie Shake.
Soft drinks and spirits also add to the raft of Christmas drink flavours for revellers to enjoy. Sprite has launched a Winter Spiced Cranberry drink and Australian brand Four Pillars’ has brought back its now iconic Christmas Gin, made by distilling and barrel ageing Christmas puddings.
Another staple of the Christmas calendar is the ‘pop up’ with brands running short-stay shops, bars and even ice rinks for the festive season.
Selfridges has, classically, gone high-end and eye-catching, opening a Belvedere pop-up bar in its men’s department. Offering free Clubland Cocktails and Belvedere bottles in Selfridges’ distinctive yellow, the pop-up bar is a tonic to the Christmas shopping rush.
Reduce, reuse…rewild – sustainable drink packaging & environmental drives
A pop-up bar isn’t the preserve of luxury brands though. Asda has started serving drinks on draught at a pop up in a Leeds store. The focus here is on both exclusivity and sustainability.
It offers 12 options for drinkers to purchase in reusable containers, to be brought back and refilled. These drinks on draught allow shoppers to sample new and exclusive beers, ciders and cocktails while also seeing the benefits of sustainable drink packaging.
Bacardi is also prioritising sustainable drink packaging. The spirits brand has removed plastic pourers from its bottles to take around 140 tonnes of single-use plastic out of circulation each year.
In another environmental drive, premium sustainable drinks brand Beam Suntory has committed $4m to a Peatland Water Sanctuary project. Vital peatland is being restored near its Ardmore distillery, in Aberdeenshire, and on RSPB-owned land in Ayrshire.
Set trends in 2023
At Simpsons, we’re at the forefront of emerging drinks trends, with the experience and expertise for our customers to be the first movers in their category.
Check out our other blogs for the latest drinks industry juice.
Images Trendhub The Food People 2022
