This yr’s drink tendencies run the gamut, from debatably unhinged (big Martinis served with a dozen olives and straws) to extraordinarily controversial (cocktail bars working with out ice). Will these new developments proceed on into 2026, or will they continue to be a blip? To seek out out, I requested a handful of consultants for his or her takes. Right here’s what they needed to say.
Some say the traditional glass is out, and bartenders are choosing options.
Consultants Featured
Brian Evans is the director of bars for Sunday Hospitality Group.
Kenzo Han is the bar director of Firstborn.
Jesse Hedberg is the proprietor of Membership Frills.
Ben Hopkins-Prager is the beverage director of Pitt’s and Agi’s Counter.
Courtney Iseman is a freelance drinks author and Punch contributor.
Emma Janzen is a journalist and co-author of the upcoming e-book The Basic Cocktail Periods.
Kathryn “Pepper” Stashek is the inventive bartender at Kabawa and Bar Kabawa.
Ben: Nick & Noras are the important Manhattan glass. Frankly, don’t serve me a Manhattan in one other glass.
Jesse: Nick & Noras are undoubtedly somewhat boring at this level however are nice for a traditional stirred, brown spirit cocktail. Don’t you dare put a Martini in a Nick & Nora although! Thank god the V-Glass made a comeback.
Courtney: Nick & Noras, in my view, mix one of the best components of different glassware choices.
Kenzo: I’m all the time extra all in favour of new shapes and designs. I by no means like flashy garnishes for cocktails, however a phenomenal and surprising glass is all the time good.
Brian: Sure glassware icons by no means exit of fashion, however the Instagram Hive Thoughts of cocktail porn might all the time use a refreshing face.
Emma: The Nick & Nora is the sexiest glass on earth. I’m a fan of any and all variations of the vessel.
The transfer the place bartenders switch your half-consumed Martini right into a contemporary, frosted glass is all over the place from Hillstone to cocktail bars in Chicago, New York Metropolis and past.
Jesse: I believe this development is somewhat foolish truthfully, but it surely reveals dedication to hospitality and a spotlight to the visitor expertise. In case your bartender is being that attentive to the friends’ wants, I’m all for it!
Courtney: Extra of this, please. It’s the sort of customized, above-and-beyond service that looks as if a pure match with our subtle, usually very expensive Martinis. My husband makes a imply Martini and has began doing the “refrost” for me at residence.
Brian: It’s the last word heat hug of hospitality, in chilled drink kind.
Emma: I’m on the fence about this one as a result of a heat Martini is a shitty Martini, so something that may be achieved to lengthen an icy chill is an efficient factor. When executed with out fanfare, it may be a pleasant gesture of hospitality. That stated, the sustainability-minded a part of me will get irritated on the considered the bar having to scrub two glasses for one cocktail. I’m going to say this could keep, however bonus factors for packages the place the bartender asks if the refresh is one thing I’d like for them to do or not. I would like the selection.
Ben: A Martini has by no means seen me lengthy sufficient for this to be essential, however quite a lot of my friends at Pitt’s are extra affected person, and this contact is all the time a pleasant one.
Pepper: I’m open to being persuaded that this can be a superior methodology to a sidecar in a dish of crushed ice, however thus far nobody has been in a position to make a convincing case to me.
Kenzo: As somebody who works at a bar that A) doesn’t have sidecars, B) has a glass freezer, and C) isn’t essentially the most chatty and outgoing bartender, that is actually my favourite service step.
Clearly the bar takeover isn’t new, but it surely’s reached a fever pitch that some argue is overdone.
Pepper: I’ve achieved pop-ups prior to now and I’ll do extra sooner or later, however for me they’re largely about having enjoyable and getting an opportunity to work alongside pals than they’re about selling myself, my bar, or my model. That being stated, they are often time-consuming, and there’s a stress to go to every kind of various pop-ups and occasions to community and keep related.
Jesse: Bar takeovers are enjoyable. It’s an effective way to share your model, and it mixes issues up to your common clients. Additionally the drinks are normally priced affordably as a result of there’s usually model help concerned.
Courtney: Ninety-five % of the time, I do not get who’s even benefiting from this. As essential as vibes are, I additionally just like the bars I like due to their drinks, and it’s frankly simply annoying to not be capable of get them, particularly when the drinks being served up by the visiting bartenders can come throughout like showy stunts caught up within the second of a Large Occasion. On the finish of the night time, I do not really feel like I really acquired to know the visiting bar, nor did I get to expertise my hometown bar I normally admire.
Kenzo: I really like doing bar pop-ups. They’re an effective way to attach with previous coworkers who you may by no means work along with once more and to attach with bartenders from throughout the globe. Nonetheless—and this can be an LA factor—persons are so attractive for pop-ups however won’t ever go to a bar, restaurant or café’s regular service, which is all the time higher than the pop-ups. I additionally do not love that worldwide bar pop-ups all the time must be sponsored by one of many huge company liquor corporations.
Brian: We’ve hit peak “visitor shift” mania and these packages have merely misplaced their luster. The bars are blurring their very own hard-earned identities alongside the best way.
Ben: These can keep, however bars which are principally present rooms for single-brand teams are unhealthy and boring, and normally make terrible cocktails.
Bartenders have been turning to the stout for frothy, chocolatey taste of their drinks.
Brian: YES PLEASE. The flavors of stout unlock a lot pairing potential with spirits and cocktail modifiers. I’m shocked this isn’t utilized much more.
Courtney: Beer is an undervalued cocktail ingredient lastly being taken extra critically.
Jesse: Guinness is just too good to be adulterated. I wouldn’t use grand cru Champagne in a French 75, both!
Pepper: If the top end result tastes good, let’s hold it. I’m hard-pressed to consider any ingredient that I’d say shouldn’t be used simply out of precept. (Nicely, besides possibly activated charcoal.) The Break up Ends at Bar Snack is a private favourite instance of this development.
The Nick & Nora Is So 2009
The glass that helped outline the cocktail renaissance is on the outs. Right here’s what bartenders are utilizing as an alternative.
Prix fixe isn’t only for chef’s tables anymore.
Pepper: Creating a very good cocktail pairing is difficult! When it’s achieved nicely, it may be an unbelievable expertise, but it surely’s so uncommon to discover a pairing the place the meals and the cocktails actually improve one another. I’d be rather more all in favour of seeing somms, servers and bartenders work collectively to create quite a lot of solutions for a la carte pairing, be it wine, cocktails or neat spirits.
Jesse: I’m the sort of drinker that wishes to strive all the things, so I say this one ought to keep. However go away the meals pairings to wine.
Kenzo: I really like try-hard issues, and what’s extra try-hard than a tasting menu?
Brian: If that is your bar’s mannequin, I’d say, “Good luck.” I don’t see a future in it, particularly with rising prices of products and the labor concerned in the direction of expediting one thing this valuable. From my expertise, there are too many imbibers on the market who will completely not department out additional than two or three totally different spirit classes for their very own enjoyment.
The newest beer-and-shot combo (wherein one is N/A) is like microdosing, however for alcohol.
Jesse: There isn’t a disgrace in a boozy shot and a N/A beer chaser. N/A beers have come a good distance and are literally nice. At my age I want all the assistance I can get to make it via an extended night time of drinks. However please inform me no person’s taking photographs of N/A whiskey and chasing it with an IPA.
Courtney: Look, you gotta do you with regards to your beverage selections, particularly should you’re creating the mixture that personally works for you with regards to stability and moderation. However as somebody who doesn’t admire photographs to start with, this can be a head-scratcher to me. If you wish to drink however solely somewhat, why not simply have the beer sans shot, or a pleasant low-ABV spritz?
Pepper: Drink what you need!
Brian: Positive, why not. I’ve been recognized to have a pour of whisky in a single hand and an N/A Guinness within the different. Make the nights last more and your mornings harm much less.
Ben: Sure, oh my god YES. That is one thing I provide at Pitt’s nearly each day to friends, and it’s all the time nicely acquired. Make something accessible N/A. You’ll be able to catch me having this precise combo at Sunny’s in Purple Hook nearly each time I’m going.
Margaritas, Garibaldis and aperitifs have been Creamsicle-inspired this yr.
Ben: Orange juice might be essentially the most wasted juice in bars. It simply isn’t excellent in most cocktails—and if persons are discovering methods to make it work, extra energy to them.
Courtney: Personally, it’s an enormous “No, thanks” from me on this development. The considered something vanilla- or marshmallow-sweet in my drink makes me gag somewhat, even when it’s lower by citrusy acidity. However I’m positive when achieved nicely, this profile presents a pleasant stability.
Pepper: It’s not a taste that I actually take pleasure in myself, but when different individuals need cocktails with this taste, allow them to. And, if I’m going to be totally trustworthy, I’m at the moment creating a cocktail for the Kabawa menu that’s Creamsicle-adjacent, so I’m undoubtedly a part of the development.
Brian: Whereas there’s some cool, inventive alternative with this sort of nostalgia, this taste combo is personally my “cilantro allergy.” I’ve by no means been a fan of orange juice in cocktails, anyway.
This yr, the “chilled crimson” motion gave solution to cabs, Bordeaux and merlot.
Pepper: For me, these wines by no means actually went away. An ice-cold Martini with some oysters, adopted by an enormous, daring cab and a well-cooked steak has by no means achieved me fallacious.
Courtney: Once I order wine, I certainly need one thing that falls right into a “huge crimson” class—dense, an entire flavor-and-mouthfeel expertise, in a position to stand as much as any meal. I can’t see the draw back in these being extra accessible.
Brian: As a whisky fanatic, my palate’s been conditioned towards daring flavors, so that is proper up my alley.
Ben: People love huge, oaky juicebox wines, and I completely get it, however I’d a lot fairly have a correctly chilled Pineau d’Aunis than a jammy fruity-tooty cab any day.
Kenzo: I grew up in Northern California and my dad loves huge, boozy, obnoxious Napa wines. I really like my dad however I don’t love his style in wine.
Katy Perry made an N/A aperitif, Lewis Hamilton made zero-proof tequila and Tom Holland made nonalcoholic beer. Are you even well-known should you don’t have your individual zero-proof line?
Courtney: I’ll sound each bitter and trite, however N/A merchandise simply seem to be a simple money seize. N/A is the brand new tequila for celebrities, besides it’s even simpler since you’re speaking a couple of product that may be something, from anyplace. I’m dreading seeing a relentless glut a la the flood of meaningless movie star perfumes within the early aughts.
Jesse: This one’s acquired to go. Aren’t celebrities wealthy sufficient already?
Pepper: Alcoholic or nonalcoholic, I would like celebrity-created drinks out of the drinks world, please!
Ben: Dude, each [brand] must be making N/A merchandise. Each spirit manufacturing home of each sort on the planet must be making N/A merchandise. I don’t care if Lewis Hamilton or Barbra Streisand is making N/A stuff, the extra the merrier.
Brian: Whereas there are clear advantages to the rise of nonalcoholic drinks in cocktail/beer/wine tradition, it looks as if the pendulum has been swinging right into a route of ethical superiority from the messaging of way of life influencers and sober-curious journalism. Movie star co-signings are simply the pointless icing on the cake.
De Vie made a splash by debuting as a cocktail bar with out ice. Will different bars observe swimsuit?
Kenzo: I’m all for sustainability. However in comparison with the quantity of vitality and water huge companies are utilizing, we’re not saving the world by not utilizing ice in a bar. I assume I’m pretty forwards and backwards on this, however any try at sustainability is a sure for me.
Pepper: A lot of the bar program I put collectively at Bar Kabawa revolves round ice, so I’m positive it doesn’t come as a shock that I’m voting “no” on this one. Ice is essential for creating texture in cocktails, and that makes the expertise of ingesting them so a lot better.
Jesse: I believe this development is smart in Europe, the place they hardly provide you with ice anyway! Ice is a defining attribute of American bartending, and I can’t see it going anyplace quickly. Additionally the deep freezers and different strategies to relax liquids these bars are utilizing are all drawing quite a lot of electrical energy, too; I don’t assume it realistically comes all the way down to sustainability. Appears extra like a gimmick to me!
Ben: I all the time say, if it really works, it really works. A 2.5- by 2-inch ice dice normally prices 65 cents, and people prices add up for bars. If you may make it work, save and make it a cool presentation that results in a balanced drink, I’m right here for it.
Brian: These bartenders are rethinking the bar in an inspiring, statement-claiming route. There are many methods to hack an thrilling and well-balanced cocktail nowadays with out using ice, so I say sustain the nice work!
Some bar operators are shopping for and restoring previous native landmarks and dives in hopes of preserving them alive.
Emma: Dive bars are essentially the most egalitarian establishments of our business and essential cornerstones of native communities. It doesn’t matter what degree of fancy cocktail bar you’re employed in, or what lists you make or accolades you acquire, all of us find yourself in the identical dive bars on the finish of the night time. So I’m an enormous proponent of oldsters taking over these native landmarks when the choice is a closure. Nicely, so long as the brand new possession doesn’t fuck up the magic of the place. There’s a nice line between good respectful preservation and fucking it up.
Brian: It’s damn-near unimaginable to hold forth a dive bar’s authentic imaginative and prescient to the fullest, but it surely’s a decent endeavor to try preserving any worthwhile legacy alive.
Pepper: Restored dives ought to completely, 100%, no hesitation keep! Like most bartenders, I really like a great dive bar, and I really like that persons are saving these spots from being destroyed or became one thing extra fashionable. There’s simply one thing that feels so good about sitting all the way down to have a drink in a spot with a way of historical past to it.
Jesse: Save the bar! A few of these locations are principally a nationwide treasure, and we’ve all been unhappy to see a storied dive bar shut for good. Hopefully it’s a longtime common of the bar who takes over. When you’re gonna value out (or “hipster” out) the present clientele, that simply reads kinda corny.
Courtney: This could keep, however restoration ought to solely embody restoring what completely must be restored. It’s a bummer when you’ll be able to inform the unique angle and historical past has been glossed out of an establishment.
Ben: It’s actually case-by-case however as long as it doesn’t flip into, like, an City Outfitters model of the factor then I’m right here for it.
Apparently some Martinis now include straws, 1,000,000 olives and a dream.
Ben: Let me have my Martini alone in peace.
Pepper: Does anybody really need this? I’ve by no means encountered a shareable Martini within the wild, however all I can assume is it looks as if a gimmick for TikTok, not an pleasurable ingesting expertise. The glass is so huge it’s important to stand as much as drink from it? That doesn’t sound enjoyable in any respect. And the way does it keep chilly throughout the time it takes to drink a large Martini? Large no from me on this one.
Brian: A “shareable Martini” appears like a very unhealthy joke for social media visibility. The Martini is essentially the most customized cocktail of all of them; it’s arduous discovering even two individuals at a given desk to even agree on how they need one.
Emma: Pay attention, there are few issues on this world as marvelous as ingesting an ice-cold gin Martini within the firm of excellent pals or family members, or hell, even full strangers generally. However they aren’t constructed for fishbowls spiked with straws. The way in which you are taking one speaks volumes about your character; I really like studying one thing new a couple of ingesting companion this fashion. Selfishly, it’s one of many solely drinks the place I don’t need to alter my preferences for the larger good. Additionally, scaling up a single serving makes no sensible sense—preserving the temperature and dilution of a monster vat of Martini proper for lengthy sufficient to accommodate a bunch is a idiot’s errand.
Jesse: Martinis are like soup; it’s bizarre should you share them.
Responses have been frivolously edited and condensed for size and readability.