2024 was a great year for cocktails, and now, thanks to new data from research firm CGA by NIQ, we finally know which ones reigned supreme at bars and restaurants this year.
The Cocktail Sales Tracker, which uses data from CGA — an on-premise research consultancy that analyzes food and beverage businesses — provides quarterly insights into drinks trends across the U.S. based on real sales figures. This new release, published Wednesday, showcases five of the most profitable cocktails for bars and restaurants in 2024. While some of the results were predictable — like the ever-popular Spritz and Espresso Martini — others showed surprising growth. So which cocktails stole the show in 2024? Here’s what we learned from CGA’s latest data.
Unsurprisingly, the almighty Margarita remained the most popular cocktail in the U.S. on-premise. Third-quarter sales of the tequila-based tipple outperformed the same period from 2023 by 25 percent, showing the cocktail is still growing with great velocity. According to the data, the beloved Marg is the most valuable cocktail at every outlet type except for fine dining.
However, in an interesting turn of events, the Mojito actually had a phenomenal run in 2024, with a staggering 37 percent growth in the third quarter year-over-year, making it the second most valuable cocktail at the average U.S. outlet after the Margarita.
The Spritz and the Espresso Martini both had landmark years with impressive growth. The Espresso Martini specifically saw a 116 percent bump year-over-year for the third quarter. The data also
