As a leading drinks manufacturer we know a thing or two about developing drinks such as cocktails, spirits, coffee, energy drinks and much more. We love learning about the new drink trends out there and we have identified spicy drinks as the new crowd pleaser for drinkers.
Spicy drinks are the hottest new option for drinkers, with a range of spicy spirits, sodas and cocktails being launched. This latest drink trend blends other beverage trends – around big, bold flavours, savoury drinks, international ingredients, and experiential serves – to suit the drinkers seeking ‘more is more’ styles.
But while they might seem adventurous and novel, plenty of spicy drinks are already familiar to drinkers, with sales of options like spiced rum growing in recent years, for example. Warming spices like cinnamon and clove are already a staple for coffee-lovers too, having been popularised by pumpkin spice lattes. Hot and spicy flavourings like these – including cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and chilli – all pair well with the trendiest new spirits like tequila and mezcal too, as much as non-alcoholic drinks like cold brews or chocolate shakes.
Now a wide range of spicy drink formats are being served across a range of channels, from quick serve restaurants (QSRs) to supermarkets. Starbucks’ has a new range of Spicy Lemonade Refreshers and a Spicy Cream Cold Foam, while Smirnoff has a new Spicy Tamarind flavoured vodka. Spicy drinks are also being championed by influencers sharing creations on social platforms, and bars creating increasingly innovative spicy cocktails.
The spiced drinks trend is being followed and fuelled online, of course – shares using the #swicy tag have racked up more than 163,000 views on TikTok, while posts referencing ‘Hot Ones’ have 228m views. Starbucks attributed its new Spicy Lemonade Refreshers to the trend, sharing how “swicy” drinks inspired its blend of zesty lemonade and fiery chilli powder.
Spicy cocktail classics
The ultra-trendy ‘Spicy Marg’ and the classic Bloody Mary each show the enduring and elevated appeal of spicy cocktail drinks, in particular. These classics are now being riffed on in bars, using even hotter spices.
Shanghai bar Union Trading Company uses all-Chinese ingredients to recreate the classic Bloody Mary. Ingredients include Laoganma chilli oil, Sichuan chilli and citrus, coupled with cherry tomato, coriander and gin. Standby bar in Detroit, USA, uses a spicy habanero tequila balanced by banana mezcal in its Jerk Margarita.
International inspiration
The enduring drinks trend for globe-trotting flavours and ingredients is further fueling the spicy drinks trend. International ingredients like Indian masala, Japanese wasabi or togarashi, Korean kimchi, and Mexican tajin or habanero pepper give heat and flavour as well as creating unusual drinks that offer adventure and escapism. These all pair well with the global spirits that are growing in popularity too, like tequila, mezcal, soju and sake.
Asian accents are particularly popular for spicy alcoholic drinks with niche ingredients like galangalm Kampot pepper and complex-flavoured spice blends being used, typically juxtaposed with sweet rum bases. Silverleaf bar in London uses Cambodian Kampot pepper – said to be the world’s best pepper thanks to its aromatic, floral and fruity notes – in its Tropical highball spicy cocktail.
Mexican spicy drinks have stepped it up from tajin-rimmed cocktails or jalapeno flavoured spirits, with these spices being added to coffees and sodas as much as spirits. Umbrella Project bar in London uses Guajillo chillies in its spiced tequila cocktail, while Spyhouse Coffee in the US tops off its Hearthfire Mocha with arbol chilli peppers and a fiery whipped cream.
For flavour inspiration, Food Ingredients 1st has shared concepts like Mango Habanero and Jalapeno Rose, noting how “adventurous tastes and unexpected combinations [are gaining] traction”. These combine fiery tastes with softer bases that are already familiar trending ingredients.
Hot honey & cool condiments
The rise of spicy drinks is seeing food items foray into the drinks trend too. Hot honey is being blended into both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The chilli-infused nectar is popular not only thanks to its ‘swicy’ flavour but also the complex processes used to create it, suiting a more mature drink trend around interests in production techniques.
In the US, Starbucks’ sells Hot Honey Affogatos and Espresso Martinis, while Exchange Coffee also has a hot honey cold brew. Amateur mixologists are following the trend online too, with @onesipclub sharing a Calabrian chilli margarita infused with chilli honey syrup.
Hot sauces, condiments and pastes are also being worked into spicy cocktail drinks, like Indonesian and Korean chilli pastes and Middle Eastern hot sauces.
Kai Picante, a cocktail served in The French 75 Bar in New Orleans, uses sambal chilli paste and garam masala with tequila and mezcal, all softened with peach, mango and honey flavours. And Umbrella Project bar in London uses fiery gochujang paste with Ocho tequila and peach soju in its Korean Jesus cocktail.
Spiced sodas, smoothies & shakes
In the US, Coca Cola launched spiced sodas earlier this year, blending raspberry and spice flavours with its signature taste. Jamba Juice is creating spicy combinations too, with its tajin-infused smoothie. And Nektar Juice Bar joined forces with seasoning brand Tajin to create a lemonade, smoothie and fruit cup all laced with tajin’s bold spicy flavour. Syrups containing subtler spice flavours like turmeric or ginger can add an extra kick to coffees or milkshakes too.
Hot…but not
For drinkers who want the adventure and complexity of spicy drinks without the burn, mixologists are getting even more creative, extracting the fieriest elements of spices to focus on the more complex flavours within them. Angelita bar in Madrid has distilled chillies while Crossroads Bar in London removed the spiciest elements of one of the world’s hottest chillies, the Scotch Bonnet pepper, to play with its underlying fresher sweet and fruity flavours in its Peppers + Amaretto cocktail.
Jump on the hottest new trend
This fast-growing drink trend looks set to stay hot through the rest of the year. To see how you could add spice to your drinks range, chat to our team today.
Image source: Trendhub The Food People 2024
