Drink To That: Experts Outline 5 Trends On the 2011 Alcohol Forecast

But Sugar & Spice Still Have Their Place

Don’t count out the sweeter mixers and flavors yet though. We asked the experts to weigh in on fruit flavors and infusions that would make an appearance on drink menus.

Adasko sees house-infused vodkas continuing their omnipresence on menus, a trend that Dean Phillips has also seen rising. “Homemade vodka and whiskey-based infusions are beginning to gain momentum,” says Phillips. “Right now is a perfect time to light a fire and make a batch of apple and cinnamon infused vodka or cherry and vanilla infused Canadian whisky. Makes for a more interesting winter.”

When it comes to fruits, Fernandez is keeping an eye on exotics. “Dragon fruit is making its way to the U.S. I’ve been trying [to introduce it] for years now, although there is a very small window for use due to its seasonality.” He’s also big on pluouts, a hybrid of plums and apricots, for muddling and infusions. “As far as liqueurs are concerned, one of the bars I run does not even order liqueurs, as there are many unnatural flavors and additives involved. Playing along with the freshness factor, we prefer to create our own infusions with natural herbs and spices.”

Lermayer predicts “tea flavors like chamomile, green, darjeeling, chai, earl grey are going to be huge with light spirits as well as dark spirits like whiskey and bourbon.”

Geshury sees pomegranate continuing as a fruit flavor trend, but says that we should also keep an eye out for “sake and anything Asian.” He notes “the last top chef won by turning the Singapore Sling into a dessert,” and sees it as part of a larger trend in increased communication between the kitchen and the bar. He also sees alcoholic milkshakes as a huge trend and “alcoholic versions of anything you had as a kid,” from floats to bubblegum vodka.

In Brief: We may have joked about it, but the homemade experimentation that led to Adult Chocolate Milk’s vodka combination is gaining momentum. Alcohol makers and bars are taking note, so don’t be surprised to see dessert-like infusions, or alcoholic versions of everything from tea (beyond the Long Island kind) to milkshakes.