To get to know what people are really drinking across the country, I recently surveyed more than 30 bars about their most popular drinks, on and off the menu. Here’s what I learned.
Tequila is on top. About one-third of surveyed bars report that their best-sellers are tequila-based, while about one-fourth said gin- and vodka-based cocktails are on top. (Mezcal, whiskey, rum and shochu were also represented, but in much smaller quantities.)
Low-proof drinks are on the rise. Often relegated to a separate menu category, these cocktails are rarely the most popular orders. At some bars, that’s shifting: Los Angeles’ No Smoking Bar reports a shochu-based cocktail is its No. 1 seller, while Cuties in Portland, Maine, says the Hundo Pea takes the top spot. Cuties bartender Bryce Summers says the latter drink was born out of the idea that a low-proof cocktail doesn’t have to rely on fortified wines; theirs is made with riesling.
It’s mango season. The tropical fruit is everywhere, from a liqueur in a mezcal Margarita at San Diego’s Happy Medium to puréed fruit in the “boozy Mangonada” at Poison Heart in Philadelphia. The mango cordial in the Above Ground Pool at Cobra, in Columbus, Ohio, also has devoted fans.
The key to popularity is affordability. The average price of a best-seller, from my survey, is $15.06. At Tallboy in Oakland, California, owner Den Stephens credits the popularity of the bar’s house dirty Martini, in part, to cost. “For one, it’s a $10 cocktail in the Bay Area,” he says. For another, it’s a dirty Martini, which remains as popular as ever; the bar sells more than 400 every week.
The most popular off-menu orders are Margaritas and Martinis (each with 21 percent of respondents). Other bars report the Espresso Martini still has some fans (though fewer than the last time we polled bartenders), with even fewer respondents citing classics like the Negroni and Daiquiri. I was surprised by some of the other responses, including the Cosmopolitan, at Oakland’s Tallboy, and the Aperol Spritz (it’s still kicking!) at El Camino in New York.
Does any of this surprise you, too? Also, if you work at a bar, what’s your best-selling drink? Hit reply, we’d love to know.
