Tequila and a Craft Beer Comeback Are the Big Drinking Trends for 2022

Tequila is coming for vodka’s top spot in the spirits world, according to a new study by Drizly.

The alcohol e-commerce site just released its third annual nationwide survey (from BevAlc Insights by Drizly), which utilizes information gathered from a nationwide survey of over 500 alcohol retailers during November 2021, along with yearly sales data from Drizly.

The big takeaways from the report: 2022 might be the year of tequila. Nearly 80% of retailers who responded say they plan to carry more tequila next year, on par with bourbon and 40 points ahead of vodka. This mirrors sales trends on Drizly, where tequila’s share of spirits sales has grown by 13% over the past few years, while vodka’s share has declined by 2%.

Some other findings:

Local/craft is in: 66% of retailers surveyed said that they “seek to stock locally made products”
We’re looking to get healthy: 90% of retailers on Drizly say they stock non-alcoholic beer, wine and other non-boozy alternatives, and the share of those products are up on the site 120% since 2020
Craft beer is back: While half of retailers see themselves carrying more hard seltzer next year, 23% plan to stock less. And 57% said they expect to devote more shelf space to craft beer.
A whopping 50% of retailers think cannabis- and CBD-infused beverages have the biggest growth potential of any category, which is nearly double of respondents who believe that non-alcoholic products have the most upside.

Drinks giant Bacardi has also claimed tequila as the biggest challenger to vodka’s reign in 2022 (we’ll have a more in-depth look at that trends report later this week). If this puts you in the mood for an agave spirit, we suggest clicking on a link below to find your ideal bottle.