Dear Drink To That reader,
I’m writing to you today to give you an update on the future of the newsletter and what you can expect in the coming weeks and months.
If you’d prefer to learn about that through video, you can watch the update above.
Going forward, you’ll have two options available for the newsletter:
Option 1: The free Drink To That newsletter
Best suited for general drinkers and consumers.
You get:
Occasional drink reviews across beer and spirit categories.
Book and bar recommendations.
Option 2: The Premium Serve
Best suited for on-trade and off-trade professionals, drink marketers and sellers.
You get:
A free digital copy of my book Japanese Fighting Heroes: Warriors, Samurai and Ronins. A book about Japanese culture, philosophy and drinks and how to apply those lessons to your life.
The Imbibe Bulletin - a weekly round-up delivered straight into your inbox about the most interesting and breaking new drink stories across different categories like no and low, rum, whisky, shochu and more.
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You can become a member of the Premium Serve for a £40 ($50) annual membership or £6 ($7) per month.
(Buying an annual membership is 44% cheaper than subscribing monthly).
Read on on for the first edition of the Imbibe Bulletin.
Imbibe Bulletin No.1: Spirits Among Us
Welcome to the Imbibe Bulletin. This is a weekly round-up of interesting stories I’ve found across different drink categories, with the goal of the bulletin to keep you informed of what’s currently trending and making the news.
For the first edition, let’s dive into the (alcoholic) spirit realm and see what we can uncover…
The rise and rise of Asian spirits
Asian spirits like Japanese shochu, Korean soju and Chinese baijiu are on an upward trajectory among consumers. While these drinks have been consumed for hundreds of years, American and European consumers have only recently become more aware of the range of flavours and experiences they offer.
According to a survey from Datassential there’s been a spike in consumer interest around shochu by 40%, soju by 50% and baijiu by 37%. Specifically, this interest comes from Gen Z, a demographic that has historically been labelled as more alcoholic averse than previous generations.
This hints that Gen Z are willing to be more adventurous with spirits and according to Dataessential’s associate director Claire Conaghan, “this will likely help propel innovation in blended categories that include those ingredients, like sake soda or a soju seltzer.”
Better For You Is The New Buzz Word
The no and low category has been booming lately and it feels like it’s starting to come of age with its own jargon and marketing slants. So, your phrase of the day if you’re interested in the market is “better for you.”
This is according to data from Mintel, which revealed that 50% of sober-curious consumers are interested in no and low because of the perceived benefits of improving their health. Mintel analysts have said the success of no and low drinks hinges on a combination of “bold branding, better for you claims and captivating flavours that rival traditional beverages.”
The better for you buzz isn’t going away any time soon and I foresee these claims bringing up a whole new raft of regulations in the coming years. Brands could eventually be called upon to be even more transparent about their ingredients and prove the claims of how a drink is healthier, beyond simply containing no alcohol.
At the same time, no and low spirits brands have the opportunity to get creative with their marketing.
Cocktails that taste like food
Experiential drinking is nothing new, yet the range of concepts that fit into this universe are expanding by the year. One such novel concept is cocktails and mocktails that taste like food in the US.
This is according to Leith Steel, a strategist at the hospitality marketing agency Carbonate.
“We’ve seen a ton of bartenders all over the country creating cocktails that riff on very traditional dishes. Form hamburgers in the case of MACHETE’S (Greenboro, NC) Bigfoot Sighting cocktail including Wagyu fat bourbon, ketchup, mustard, pickle and onion bitters, to a smoked salmon bagel in the case of the The Anvil Pub & Grill’s (Birmingham, AL) Everything Everywhere cocktail, featuring smoked salmon-infused gin, vermouth, caper brine and served in an everything-spice rimmed couple glass garnished with capers, olive, pickled onion and lemon twist.”
Robot bartenders and recommenders
Walk into any bar or restaurant and I guarantee they’ll be at least one table discussing the implications of AI in their industry. The robots are working their way through hospitality as well, influencing how spirits are made, served and recommended.
One example is the AI-powered platform What’s Your Whiskey. An interactive tool, it asks a series of questions to analyse a drinker’s flavour preferences against a database of food and aromas.
I tested it myself and was asked questions like ‘do you like dried apricots?’ with answers that ranged from ‘eww no’ and ‘nope, not really’ to ‘only in fruit cake,’ ‘so delicious’ and ‘ooo, my favourites.’ (I chose only in fruit cake). Another question was ‘what are your thoughts on orange juice?’ My answer was ‘it’s ok.’
At the end of the quiz, I received the below whisky profile and it’s pretty accurate for the kind of dram flavours I generally like:
There’s also a more detailed flavour breakdown.
Platforms like What’s Your Whiskey could have their place for drinkers who’re exploring new categories and want to have new brands recommended to them.
There’s also BarGPT, an AI cocktail generation tool that has roughly 14,000 user-generated recipes - that are constantly being added upon. This gives users the chance to enter ingredients, spirits and themes and develop their own unique recipes as part of a wider network of drinkers.
The next Imbibe Bulletin will only be available through the Premium Serve membership.
This column is best suited for drink marketers and people in the off-trade and on-trade because it’s where you’ll be able to stay informed about trends and new opportunities.
Remember you can access the Imbibe Bulletin and a hell of a lot more for a £40 annual membership or £6 per month.
Let’s stay in touch.
As a drinks copywriter, I want to help you gain more leads, connections and sales through the written word.
Reply to this email if you need any help with this or have any questions.
You can also send me feedback about the newsletter by emailing me at ryderj09@yahoo.com or adding me on LinkedIn.
Best,
Jamie