Hello and welcome to the Wine and Thusy's podcast. You're serving of drinks culture and the people who drive it. I'm Jake Abrams, assistant editor here at Wine and Thusy's. It's always been a dream of mine to predict the future. As of yet, I have not been able to do so. In light of the fact that I don't see that change again any time soon, for this episode I thought I didn't list the help of someone who can. Wine and Thusy's writer at large in spirit, revere at Cara Newman. Everyone here takes a look back at the year in cocktails and predicts where the future will take the industry. She joins the podcast to talk all things to 2026. Is it yet again the year of the dirty martini? We'll drink Flation, reach it chipping point. And how will Barleyoni be named the world's best bar impact the drinks landscape? Cara, thank you so much for being here. So in looking toward 2026, I want to first start with Barleyoni, which might not be a bell weather for where the cocktail scene is headed next year. For those out there who aren't familiar, Barleyoni, it's a small Italian, a Peritivo style bar in Hong Kong. I had the pleasure of going a couple months ago. It's beautiful, cozy, really neighborhood style space. They really value simplicity and quality. And that's their whole thing. So when they took home the top spot, what did that signal to you? Okay, thanks, Jake. I mean, keep in mind, I have not had the pleasure of going to Barleyoni. So I'm just going off of their reputation. It seems like it's a spot that's cozy and comfortable. And certainly an Italian bar in Hong Kong seems like a really interesting concept. I mean, like a Japanese style bar in New York City. It's kind of fish out of water. And I'm not sure that in itself represents a trend. It seems like the bar itself is being lauded for its overall excellence in hospitality. But at the same time, I was thinking about this. And it's been a really challenging year for a lot of people. And I do see more of a swing toward comfort, air quotes comfort and aesthetics. I mean, if Barleyoni is supposed to be this very comfortable, almost living room style setup, like I think I saw a comments from the proprietors saying it's like, I'm trying to transport people to my grandma, which living room. I guess we have that same, that same thought in New York, we've got Schmuck's mid-century living room concept. Or I went to a bar called Amadon in Reykjavik. And it also has this grandma's living room vibe. And I think right now in this world, everything is just so tumultuous. Maybe people really are thinking more about something that's a bit more a bit more chill. Yeah. I mean, I think going to the hospitality thing, I mean, just anecdotally, it did. It felt like you were part of the family. The service is great. It does feel like you're in a friends living room. But in your predictions for this year, for 2025, you floated the idea that minimalism could come back into favor. Did you think that that is playing out with the rise of bars like Barleyoni? I don't know. I think we saw quite a bit of maximalism to be perfectly honest. I think maybe the thought about minimalism maybe was not quite on target, looking back at 2025. I think we're seeing a lot more grand drinks, grand spaces. There's still quite a lot of over-the-top bells and whistles, things that look really great on Instagram. And things that really tell a story. It's not that everything has to be that way. I think there's certainly room for comfort. But if I have to kind of tilt the scale and I'd say with more maximalism or more minimalism, I think we've had more maximalism. Yeah. That sort of relates to 2024's World's Best Bar. Handshakes Beek Easy. There's more emphasis on showmanship and this kind of grandiosity. How do you think Barleyoni compares to Handshakes Beek Easy in particular? They just seem like very different concepts. Handshake is very technique-driven. And like you said, showmanship is a big part of it. And Barleyoni seems to have more of an emphasis around the hospitality. I would assume both have excellent hospitality. If they're going to win at a war, they are going to have fantastic hospitality and great drinks. But yeah, it's a very different vibe. That's for sure. For sure. Yeah. Zooming out to you think that we're going to see more a Peritivo style bars in 2026 and beyond. I don't think a Peritivo is going away. I mean, we all love our negronies and our Martini's far too much for them to ever go away. I mean, it is a staple. It's funny because if you look back even 10 years, there's not something we had a whole lot of in the U.S. I think that we're going to, based on the research for our 2026 look ahead, it seems like telling the Peritivos might be, again, they're not going away, but I think we're going to see a lot more global influences overall. Lots more influences from Asia, influences from Africa, influences from all different cultures that we haven't really had as much exposure to. Lots of Caribbean influences. I mean, look at our Cabava and all of the other, I mean, there's so many Caribbean influences coming through really taken to very interesting high-end extremes. Totally. Yeah. So I want to get to some of the predictions that you highlight in the article. If that works for you. So one of the big themes in your report is that trends from this year from 2025 aren't going away. They are going to evolve. And I think the clearest example of that is a gava. I mean, a gava is not going to, its popularity isn't going anywhere. Tequila is booming, people love margaritas, but you write that cracks are forming. So what signs are you seeing? First and foremost, people are becoming a lot more price sensitive than they were a year ago. I mean, inflation has really gotten over the top. And I mean, there's no doubt that people are looking for less expensive alternatives. And I think also there's a sense that people are kind of weary of this flashy celebrity driven to kill. They're not completely gone. They're probably never going to be completely gone. You know, celebrities really do drive sales. But people are kind of looking for the next big thing. You know, what, it's like the sentiment is like, what else you got? You know, what else? So people are thinking about so tall. People are thinking about rice. People are looking at less lower alcohol alternatives, like agave wine. I'm right now working on a story about agave wines with a magazine. Interesting. Yeah. I mean, people are looking for what, you know, what's next sort of agave adjacent? Yeah. Is it that that similarity is what's driving people towards so tall and rice is specifically? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. If people like things that are familiar, I know I certainly do. You want to try something that is still in the zone, is something you already know that you'd love. But this time, for things to be a little bit more adventurous, it's time for what's next? For sure. I think the inflation thing that you touched on earlier is is a great segue into the next prediction, which is all about saving money. It's that drink inflation will hit a breaking point in 2026. I for sure am price sensitive. Many, many consumers out there are price sensitive these days and cocktails are getting to a point where it's hard to justify that feeling from consumers. How do you see that reshaping? How bars operate? Yeah. I mean, it's funny. There's such a dichotomy right now. I feel a little funny saying on one hand, we have this maximalism over the top and on the other hand, we have this sensitivity toward pricing and that's kind of shown up as as happy hours and many, many true drinks. I mean, there are other factors behind the many true drinks too, but pricing is definitely part of it. And you kind of have this world of, I mean, we have have and have nots right now and people are willing to spend more if they're getting more, you know, if something is big and crazy. There's a bar in New York called a bar chef. It's run by Frankie Solira who was on drink masters on Netflix and I was looking at the prices last night and it's kind of shocking that you can get a drink there that is at literally $92, but comes with flowing dry ice and like a little mini landscape and is crazy. But there's something for for everyone in the the drinks world right now and if you're not feeling splurged, your bonus wasn't that great. Maybe you're thinking more about happy hours and how to keep prices down and I think also bartenders and our owners are also very conscious of the fact that margins are very very slim right now. There's a lot of a lot of folks trying to find ways to keep their own prices down and not pass too much, you know, not pass on higher drink prices to the consumer. You know, we're in the age of the $25 martini, but not everybody wants to be and I think no one wants to see it go to the $30 or for bits of $50 martini. I mean, I don't want that future. I don't know if you could do it. No, that's a dark future.
But I think that the maximalism thing, I think that a lot of people, they, I mean, myself included is like, it's like, if I am going to spend money, I'd love to get. Yeah, I can't, I have trouble accepting that I'm going to get the same thing this time that I got for less a year ago. It's a question of, you know, if I'm going to spend money, I want something, you know, not necessarily over the top with dry ice and everything like that, but something that is more experiential. Such the buzzword experiential. Yeah, I mean, it's not even just about cocktails at this point. I think when people are penny-pinching and when they decide to let those pennies loose, they want something more. So it's going to be interesting to see the cocktail world cope with that. For sure, for sure. Another trend that you talk about is our zero-proof cocktails. So low and no alch, it's, it's, last year you predicted that this was going mainstream and that and you're doubling down. So how do you see low and no alch menu options evolving? It's such a huge category. I mean, at this point, if you don't have zero proof on your menu, you're, you're just left behind and I'm seeing more menus where it's even broken out on the menu by alcohol by volume. I feel like we're sort of slowly dragging the mainstream into understanding what alcohol by volume even means. I don't think most people understand, you know, low proof versus no proof. You know, what's 25% ABV? Who knows? But at the same time, I went to a new restaurant called Golden Ratio in Brooklyn and literally every single drink on the menu is available as zero proof or full strength. And this kind of, yeah, you don't see a lot of that. You know, you walk in, you can get one way or the other. And I think especially now that so many people are using GLP1s, ozempic, etc., that's also helping to drive less alcohol use and people are looking for more zero-proof options. Totally. Well, let's talk about American whiskey because this is a bit of a weird one. It feels a little bit like a K shape where part of it is booming and part of it is contracting. I mean, we have both directions happening. So for American whiskey, what's causing the mix of scarcity and excess that you talk about? Okay. If I to just pick one reason, I would say the tariffs. The tariffs are really, really making it very difficult to export American whiskey to other countries. And our number one export market is Canada. And I was in Quebec City about a month ago and you look at what's on the back bar. There are no American whiskey there. They're gone. They've just vanished. It's really fascinating. And the lobby has to do with the tariffs really making whiskey very expensive there and some inflammatory comments from the current presidents bringing on more of a retaliatory mood. So even if American whiskey wasn't so expensive there, there is definitely this Canadian first mindset in a really big way. They're very proud of Canadian food, Canadian goods and Canadian whiskey is actually quite good. And yeah, and they've really just tapped down. It varies from profits to profits, but literally our biggest market for exports. Yeah, it's not going anywhere. So right now you have a lot of producers here who have excess inventory. And so when you have supply outpacing demand, it's harder to push prices higher. It's actually probably a very good time to be stocking up on American whiskey. You're so inclined. At the same time you just have overall, you know, this is the same overall headwinds that are driving down whiskey is everything else. People are drinking less. People are unwilling to spend as much. You know, people feel a little pinched in terms of the wallet. You put it all together and you've got at the same time also we're coming off of a period where American whiskey producers, I think, Bourbon and Rye especially, there was this big boom where people were making so much more. And all of a sudden they're kind of like hitting the brakes. And yeah, there are, there's a whole lot sitting in warehouses and all of a sudden there's going to be a lot available and not a lot of buyers. It's not really a great time to be in American whiskey. It's a great time to be buying American whiskey though. Right, sounds like it. A coworker was in British Columbia pretty recently and was just at a restaurant talking to the song and because their wine list was there were having the same stance on whiskey as they were with wine. And the song was very defiant about not wanting to have American wine on the menu. It hurts producers. It's just not a good situation. But you're saying. Huge market for Canadian, but for California wine for sure. Exactly, yeah. I mean, it's not good. But you're saying with the holidays right around the corner, I mean by the time this airs, there'll be a little time. So if someone is looking to impress a family member, I mean there's a lot of whiskey out, there's a lot of bourbon out there to be acquired. Yeah, I haven't done any studies to see if the prices have actually come down. Maybe I should, but there's certainly a lot out there and it's probably a good time to buy something and put it away for 10 years. Yeah. One of my favorite predictions that you made, I personally am excited about this, is that 2026 will be the year of the martini. 2025 already felt like it was heading in that direction, but 2026 you see as huge for dirty, savoury, like culinary driven martinis. What is feeling that? I can't remember the last time it was not the year of the martini. It's always the martini's year. This year we have so many more savoury martinis though, that's just over the top again. MSG martinis, culinary martinis, mini martinis, martinis served with oysters on top, all kinds of really fun garnishes. Oh yeah, test cream, you can actually get a trio of like little mini martinis each with a different oyster on top. That sounds good. Yeah, oh, they're, yeah, really again very photogenic too. No exactly, it's experiential as what it is. But we're also seeing a lot of variations. I mean, you highlight the martini highball. We also covered the dirty spritz, which I guess could be a form of it a few months ago, which is it has a number of different combinations of ingredients, but you know, Sherry, Mescal Vermouth, Champagne, Olive Brine, that kind of thing. I think that, I mean, first of all, I tried one. It's amazing. It's delicious. And are those formats something with staying power? Are they more novelty for right now? Hard to say. It certainly would be on track with people looking for lower alcohol variations. It would make a lot of sense in terms of people just looking for whatever the next thing is started with what they're already familiar with. And the martini is just so iconic. I think one reason it never goes away is because it's just such a visual moment. You know, you've got that V-shape glass or you've got the Nicken Nora glass, the handshape, non-conceasing me doing my V-shape. But I think because the dirty martini has taken off so fast and furious and people are really enjoying this moment where we can really have a crossover between what's going on in the kitchen, these culinary influences. And what's going on at the bar, it's just become so versatile. It's become really its own thing. And I'm not one bit surprised to hear you say that it's evolving yet again into another format. It'll probably evolve into another one after that. And that's what makes it so much fun to follow. Yeah. I think it's a really fascinating phenomenon. I love those types of cocktails. That's why Barleyone's menu really stuck out. I believe there was a Caprese cocktail with clarified tomato juice, possibly. Anyway, it's just those kinds of flavors in a cocktail just they're so cool. I want to briefly touch on some flavors that might be a little different, some wild cards going into next year. You talk about cocky gory, so Japanese shaved ice. Why do you see that as being poised for a cocktail moment? It's visual, it's fun, it's kind of lighthearted. Sometimes they come with these really interesting shaved ice machines like the Japanese shave ice machines. That's another visual moment. You sort of watch this kind of snowy ice coming into like almost a snow cone formation. I mean, also there's something very interesting.
nostalgic about it, you know, this childhood snow cone running for the ice cream truck kind of feeling. It's just a lot of fun and it's also a really good vehicle for lots of different flavors. I had a really strange one with black sesame. It was really this visual like this snowy white pile with kind of a more austere kind of gray black sesame chopping and that was more of a dessert than a cocktail but it just made me think about how it's just such a visual moment and how it's really just a very versatile canvas for all different kinds of flavors and formats. Yeah, I mean it's it's delicious and it's it's the kind of thing that you can't really help but take a picture of. I guess I could say the same about this next one. Might be a tougher self or some people but bone marrow loose shots. What what is telling you that this is the future? It's telling me that that was just me being a little silly. When it sounds fun. Let me put it this way. All of the other trends that you've mentioned so far, they're not just me saying oh this is going to be a trend. It's it's um me pulling data from all different experts bartenders data analysis firms. It's not just me saying oh this is going to be a thing. They're all very much research backs. Totally. This one is me just kind of going off up on my own, um off into the either. But this wasn't in a market research quarterly reporter, something like that. No, no, no, there's no research behind it. This is just me saying it could be but the reason I was thinking it could be is because I was reading about bone marrow being such an important part of people's diets right now. And there's such an emphasis away from the make America healthy movements. There are a lot of people getting away from seed oils. I'm working with TALO instead beef TALO. People are just so excited right now to have bone marrow on on restaurant menus. And I was thinking well you know you have all this bone marrow on your plate. You're left with the bones where that's where you get the marrow from. And again, it also ties into these other these other trends. You know, we need something fun and escapist. It's a little over the top. It's tied into culinary trends. It's certainly an Instagrammable moment. That's for sure. And it's fun, you know, it's it's silly fun. And it's fun. Yeah. We really do. So but I'm curious about the pairing there. I mean, is there a specific spirit that works best for losing? Since it goes with often French food, my first thought is is cognac. But I'm going to steal what you said for we gone the phone. You mentioned Sherry. And I think that's even better. I think lower alcohol is probably even better for a bone loose. It sounds good. Yeah. That sort of nutty note sounds like it would work pretty well. It would be delicious. Yeah. I would be into cognac. Over there, any trends that you're watching that you that didn't quite make the cut into your article. It was hard to keep it to just about a dozen trends. There are just so many micro trends that are possibly bubbling up. I mean, I don't know how to get through. I can't get through all of them. That would just be insane. That would be a whole other podcast. Let's see. I put together a little list. I could sort it hammer through a few of them. Sure. One of the flavors that kept coming up over and over again, that then I just I hate it. I hate saying it. Swicy is sweet and spicy keeps coming up. And the the word just really kind of puts my teeth on it. But I do love the combination of sweet and spicy. I mean, there's a reason why everyone loves spicy margaritas. It's such a great combination or hot honey. How honey is huge right now? Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, you translate that into to drinks and you'd thought this spicy thing. I said, I'm cringy as I say it. Cold foam cocktail. That was another one that popped out in a couple of reports. Yeah. I mean, if that all these cold foam coffees right now, and that could possibly spill over, I think there's going to be a lot of coffee cultures filling over. I mean, the espresso martini is not going anywhere and the kara heo's momentum continues. And it's going to be interesting to see what comes up next. Maybe more match up, perhaps. Oh, yeah. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised at this point. Yeah, that sounds that sounds ripe. Yeah, Cara, thank you so much. It's been really fun. Thanks for coming on. Cheers to 2026 and more martinis. I want to again, thank Cara Newman for joining the show, which drink trends to use you coming in 2026. Let us know at
[email protected]. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple, Spotify, and anywhere else you'll send your favorite shows. You can also go to wineenthousiest.com/podcast for more episodes and transcripts. I'm Jake A. Rooms. Thanks for listening.
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