The Morning Advertiser spoke to some operators to find out what they see as potential trends for the upcoming 12 months while looking back at what was popular in 2025 to see if those serves remain a draw for customers.
Chickpea Group, the 10-strong pub estate operator that has an accommodation offer at eight of its sites, said Guinness Zero has proved popular recently along with other low & no options and it expects to see a rise in sales of cask beer.
Managing director of the south-west-based business Ethan Davids said: “Our guests love a few pints of 0% beer… particularly Guinness Zero, which became increasingly difficult to get hold of as the year drew to a close. And they liked draught 0% lager, which at the moment is Kronenberg 0%.
“We’ve also started working with a fantastic alcohol-free wine producer called Wednesday’s Domaine, which has sold brilliantly across our pubs in 2025. It’s a real step up from the alcohol-free wine that most people are used to, so I’m quite happy to see it on our wine lists.”
Looking into his crystal ball, Davids explained: “It would be nice to see continued growth in cask. It’s such an important part of UK pub culture and in the south-west, we are blessed with a number of brilliant brewers.
“It will always be a be a huge part of our content at Chickpea. We’re pretty fastidious when it comes to the serving of cask beer so I’m hoping more people make the switch from fizzy to flat.”
He added it’s great to see the likes of Hawkstone leading the charge when it comes to premium lager and it shows drinkers are paying attention to provenance when it comes to the lager category. Its best-selling lager of last year was organic British lager Rude Giant.
Don’t blame Gen Z
Meanwhile, SOMA, which is No.28 on the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list, also predicted drinks from the low & no sector would continue flourishing.
Will Rogers, head of beverage at Kricket Group, which operates SOMA in Soho, London, said it’s hard to predict future trends but explained: “The low & no sector will continue to grow and many people are trying to blame Gen Z for not drinking as much but I don’t think it’s true. Our younger guests love to drink but it’s quality over consumption.”
He added Guinness will continue to sell strongly and looked back at trends last year.
“It would be difficult to give an exact trend that took off at SOMA, our serves are all unique, however, if I had to call it, I would say cocktails with a more savoury note, our ‘Tomato’ (Haku Vodka, La Tomato liqueur, Virtuous Raspberry vodka, tomato) has been a real hit, people moving away from sweeter style or even bitter style drinks and enjoying some of those more savoury notes.
“We have two cocktails that year in, year out outperform all other drinks. Our ‘Coconut’ (Jindea Gin, coconut yogurt, citrus blossoms, pink grapefruit soda) and ‘Chaat’ (Tapatio Blanco, mezcal verde, chaat masala, gooseberry, kumquat) are pretty unstoppable.”
Rogers also stated gin is fading after having a great few years in the limelight but could simply be in hibernation.
This is a statement echoed by Lab 22’s Max Hayward.
The Cardiff-based bartender explained: “From my experience, gin seems to have dipped a lot in popularity in the past couple of years but I don’t think this will be permanent.
“There will always be demand for gin in this country; I just think that since the category’s explosion in popularity a few years ago, the pendulum has swung back the other way.”
Also for the future, Hayward stated low & no’s stock will continue to rise and he said this month will be the “biggest dry January yet” and it will continue throughout the year.
“I’d wager it’s going to be a huge year for spritzes too – it’s a category that seems to be growing massively,” he added. “Also, when choosing cocktails, people are less swayed by the spirit itself and more by the ingredients and where they are sourced.”
Hayward revealed Martini cocktails have been popular in recent times at Lab 22, particularly Vodka Martinis and Dirty Martinis comprising both gin and vodka.
“Agave, across the board, is exploding too and we’ve noticed a notable spike in Spicy Margarita popularity. More people are becoming more open-minded towards dry and savoury styles of cocktail,” he said. “And we always sell a huge amount of Espresso Martinis in Lab 22.”
Many categories boosted
The world of increasing sales in cocktails is not restricted to specialist bars, according to Greene King drink category & purchasing director Danny Ayton.
Ayton said 2025 was the year of the spritz with the category gaining significant share in cocktails and also in high demand were Limoncello and Hugo Spritz alongside the continued success of Aperol.
He continued: “Low and no alcohol options have also continued to grow, both in packaged beer and cider as well as draught low-alcohol offerings.
“Stout remained a hugely popular choice among consumers, driven by the enduring popularity of Guinness, while world lager was a stand-out feature as customers looked for light and refreshing options, with brands such as Cruzcampo and Estrella Galicia paving the way.”
Other categories saw boosts too with rosé wine accounting for 19% of total volume across Greene King’s wine sales with its own-label Creation Côtes de Provence Rosé delivering 30% year-on-year growth and this extended past the traditional summer period.
Other draught beers including Peroni, Birra Moretti and Madri continued to dominate and packaged sales peaked with Guinness 0.0 and Peroni 0.0 among top sellers. Its own craft beers such as Level Head and Hazy Day IPA saw 58% growth year-on-year with more than 1m pints of Hazy Day sold within its managed pub estate.
Looking ahead to 2026, Ayton said: “We are expecting fruit-forward flavours in beer and cider to gain traction. The Spritz category is also poised for further expansion following last year’s demand. In addition to new and exciting serves, there’s also a continued emphasis on ensuring we’re delivering the classic serves to the highest standards to give customers top-quality experiences regardless of their tastes.”
Try something new
Stray Bar – another Top 50 Cocktail Bars entrant (at No.25) – agreed the Margarita has remained a best seller, particularly its Tomato Vine variant.
A spokesperson for the Manchester bar said: “Most first-time visitors come to us with a willingness to try something new and often having heard of this drink so it tends to be everyone’s first choice before making their way through the menu.
“Our Classic Dirty Martini flew as did other ‘dirty’ variations such as the Gibson while Espresso Martinis also show no sign of decreasing in popularity.”
On future trends, Stray Bar believes an appreciation of quality, process and understanding will take place in the market and how that represents value.
“There’s a definite shift towards consumers wanting to drink something genuinely good rather than looking for cheap, cheerful volume,” they added.
It also said the low & no category will continue to improve and the bar puts just as much time and effort into the process and ingredients here and customers appreciate this rather than low & no drinks simply being an afterthought.
The bar also found miniatures sold really well in 2025. The spokesperson explained: “We use miniatures when the drinks are higher in ABV or too big in flavour to serve as a full size. It’s a nice way of adding something more experimental to the menu, giving the opportunity to demonstrate creativity and depth of flavour that might be too bold for a large serve.
“It’s also a way for guests to opt for moderation when drinking, rather than having two full-sized cocktails.”
They added rum is a category that is often overlooked and has “been on the brink of bursting into popularity on a few occasions over the past few years” and said agave sales made up a huge part of its sales mix last year but the trend seems to be slowing down.
Rise of agave
Heading west and Liverpool site Bar Glue agreed on sales numbers for agave. A spokesperson said: “We’ve seen a notable rise in enthusiasm for mezcal and agave spirits as a broader category, with agave-based cocktails consistently performing as the best-sellers across our menus.”
It also noted a growing interest from medium to large groups in shared drinking experiences with guests increasingly coming in to explore the menu from top to bottom, swapping drinks around the table and showing genuine curiosity about how cocktails are made.
On 2026, they revealed: “We believe tiny and mini serves will be a major focus this year. They’re already gaining momentum, with more bars offering smaller-format cocktails or even entire menus built around mini drinks.
“This aligns perfectly with what we’re seeing from guests who want to experience a full menu in one visit and mini serves make this possible for both small and large groups. They also reflect a wider shift towards more mindful drinking, offering guests a way to explore more flavours while moderating alcohol intake.”
Bar Glue has noticed a change in garnishes for cocktails as well – with the middle ground vanishing.
They explained: “On one side is strict minimalism – clean builds, simple glassware and perhaps a subtle element like an atomiser. On the other is full maximalism – bold colours, jellies, elaborate garnishes, unusual ice and statement glassware.
“Cocktails now tend to communicate their intent very clearly, either by letting the liquid speak for itself or by fully immersing the guest in a heightened visual and sensory experience. As with all trends this will evolve and the understated middle ground – think a simple lime wedge or mint sprig – will eventually re-emerge from hibernation.”
Summer of spritz
Paragon Brands managing director Chris Jones has predicted a ‘summer of spritz’ in mid 2026.
“There’s a shift from bitter to citrus, with Limoncello leading the way,” Jones noted and expects Villa Massa Limoncello to lead the charge.
Layered shots, baby drinks and liqueurs are on the rise and Jones cited seven in 10 people still drink shots on a night out while 49% of Brits now prefer cocktail shooter shots to traditional shots.
He said as Margarita cocktails have been a gateway in transforming Tequila from “dive bar shot to premium drink”, 2026 “will be the year of the Paloma”, which uses grapefruit and lime with Tequila.
Once again, low & no will continue its drive upwards in popularity and Jones said CGA by NIQ data showed 45% of on-premise visitors engage in zebra striping.
He said: “The bottom line – 2026 won’t be easy but the opportunities exist and we can be cautiously optimistic."
