World Cocktail Day

Cheers to World Cocktail Day

Celebrating this occasion in-store will help bring a little fun and excitement to your customers.

This month is World Cocktail Day (May 13), an international cause to celebrate the wonderful world of cocktails both inside and outside the home.

Considering the current home cocktail movement, this year’s occasion offers retailers the opportunity to excite customers about their own mixology skills - after all, consumers are exploring unique beverages more than ever through the off-premise.

Local distiller Starward has certainly noticed this, and has positioned its popular Two-Fold double grain whisky to cater to such curious consumers.

“We know that many of our consumers love to mix and get experimental to create their own flavour adventure,” said Brendan Moynihan, Starward’s Marketing Director.

For those without much mixology confidence or skills, bottled or canned cocktails are also a good choice to celebrate World Cocktail Day with high quality and interesting drinks. For example, Starward has its own line of bottled cocktails, while Global Endeavours Australia (GEA) has recently brought the Batched Premium Cocktails range to the country. Meanwhile, on the canned frontier, Bacardi-Martini Australia has noticed great results for its canned cocktail-style RTD, Bacardí Mojito.

Cocktails done ‘better’

The industry often cycles through cocktail trends, but the appetite for certain types of cocktails is also driven by macro drinks industry trends, such as the general move to become a more conscious consumer.

Olivia Waters, Brand Manager at Stuart Alexander and Co., the distributor of Peachtree, said one area of cocktail consciousness right now is health.

“We know that almost 50 per cent of Australian drinkers now actively moderate their alcohol intake and are looking for ‘better for you’ options, but most sweet cocktails are high in alcohol or calories,” said Waters.

Fever-Tree Brand Ambassador, Trish Brew, said a good solution to support shoppers trying to make more conscious choices is to advise of ingredient swaps they can make to level up their cocktail game to better suit their lifestyle. Brew’s example was about the most Googled cocktail of 2021, the Margarita, altered to contain just the Tequila and a ‘better for you’ soda.

“With the ever-growing health-conscious consumer looking for simple-to-make yet complex

in flavour cocktails, our answer to this trend is the ‘skinny marg’ utilising the Fever-Tree Lime & Yuzu Soda,” Brew explained.

Another element of consciousness for cocktail consumers is the environment, according to Bacardi- Martini Brand Ambassador, Joey Chisholm.

“Opting for spirits that are distilled in a more sustainable way is another way consumers can be more mindful with their choices, as society becomes more aware of environmental impacts and their own carbon footprint,” Chisholm said.

Showcasing staples

While there are almost endless possibilities on what products to hero around World Cocktail Day, a good place to start is the staples of the home bar.

On a mixer front, there is the need for a high-quality soda and tonic, especially one that pairs well with the customer’s favourite spirit. On top of this, it's recommended to have some key secondary ingredients that help tie together drinks, as well as fresh garnishes on hand.

One suggestion is from Waters, who said: “Quality sugar and agave syrups can also make a big difference on flavour in building cocktails.”

Moynihan added: “Great quality bitters always add balance and complexity to cocktails, binding all ingredients together.”

As for spirits, most producers recommended something that is great for mixing in trending cocktails, that suits customer taste preferences and that also pairs well for the season.

For right now, Chisholm said: “As the weather begins to cool down, I think leaning towards dark, rich and bold spirits will always be more enticing.”

In-store theatrics

World Cocktail Day might not be the biggest drinks event on the calendar, but it is a chance to bring a bit of theatrics back in-store, which is sure to help lift people’s spirits (literally) as the pandemic continues to make an impact.

Brew suggested making things easy for customers and showing them that good quality cocktails are within reach.

“Retailers can get customers excited about World Cocktail Day by providing simple cocktail solutions in-store,” she said.

Waters also recommended this, because “cocktail culture is booming right now and consumers are looking for new simple recipes that they can easily create themselves at home.”

She said visibility of these serves can be done through in-store tastings, recipe cards or neck tags, and boosted online via social media with recipe and masterclass sharing.

Moynihan believes this online opportunity is a good one and said: “Data has shown that the appetite for cocktails is strong, so it is worthwhile making the most of this to partner with a brand like Starward and explore cocktail bundles or ambassador demonstrations in-store.”

If you’re stuck, try working with suppliers on ways you can highlight the benefit of different cocktails or ingredients.

Because as Chisholm summarised: “We, as consumers, love convenience so thinking of ways to save time will always be a successful route.”

Suggested serve: Fever-Tree Pink Grapefruit Soda

Fever-Tree’s Pink Grapefruit Soda harnesses the freshest and most vibrant hand-picked Florida grapefruits in its creation, which gives an uplifting citrus zing and a soft rosy undertone.

This perfectly pairs with a premium Blanco Tequila for a refreshingly zesty highball – the Paloma. Simply build Tequila and Fever-Tree Pink GrapefruitSoda in a tall glass with ice (salt rim optional) and presto, you have a delicious Paloma.

Fever-Tree goes to the ends of the earth to procure the finest quality, natural ingredients so you can simply pop the top and serve with your favourite spirit for a simple cocktail solution.

Suggested serve: Peachtree

The world’s best-selling peach liqueur is the first of its kind that has the taste and smell of tree-ripe peaches, made with a well-balanced recipe and delicate distillation.

Peachtree has a very accessible taste that's light, fresh and sweet, while also being low calorie, catering to the highly trending ‘better for you’ movement. The sublime taste of Peachtree includes a well-rounded peach taste and lingering aftertaste, perfectly designed for cocktails like signature cocktail, FizzyPeachtree, or Sex on the Beach.

How to make a FizzyPeachtree:

• 40ml Peachtree

• 100ml Sparkling water

• The juice of ¼ lime

Ready to serve: Starward Bottled Cocktail range

Starward Whisky is shaking up the ‘ready to serve’ category with its delicious bottled cocktails range. Ready to splash, sip and savour, the Starward Bottled Cocktails range offers less fuss and more flavour.

The consumer demand for cocktail bar quality pre-batched solutions is growing at a rapid pace, with the total ready to serve(RTS) category volume growing at +99 per cent MAT. StarwardBottled Cocktails grew 10x faster than the premium RTS category growth rate with three delicious cocktails on offer: (New) OldFashioned, Coffee Old Fashioned and the Whisky Negroni.

The cocktails are also making an impact on the global stage with the(New) Old Fashioned cocktail taking home the ‘World’s Best PremixCocktail’ accolade at the 2020 World Premix Awards in London.

Starward’s range answers the growing consumer demand for delicious, high quality pre-batched cocktails, that are ready to enjoy at home. Consumers can now host in style without the hassle or the hunt for niche liqueurs. Containing award-winning whisky and carefully chosen locally sourced ingredients, taste them today and you’ll understand why they’re shaking up the category.

Trending cocktails of 2022

According to the producers of this story, the top five most sought-after cocktails for consumers in Australia at the moment include:

• Margarita

• Espresso Martini

• Gin or Whisky Sour

• Spritzes

• Negroni