8 of the biggest trends in gin (and cocktails) for 2020
Jan 8, 2020
Here in the UK and around the world, the gin boom continues apace, with record numbers of Brits discovering this special spirit in all its forms!
Of course, here at Craft Gin Club, our lovely (and fashion-forward) members have been at the forefront of the gin revolution for the last five years. We know our avid gin-loving community likes to keep abreast of all the latest gin news, so here are our tips for the biggest gin and cocktail trends of 2020! Here’s to a year of ginny excitement, discovery and ginjoyment together!
Gin is, of course, a vegan-friendly spirit, which is good news for the rapidly growing numbers of converts to the vegan diet!
Forward-thinking bars are now catering for this huge new trend - which shows signs of gaining even more pace in 2020 - by flagging ingredients or drinks that are not vegan-friendly; others are going still further and developing specific cocktails that are suitable for vegans.
For instance: want to enjoy a classic gin sour on a vegan diet? Replace your egg white with aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas) to create a similar foam topping for your cocktail!
Staying in is the new going out! Whether it’s thanks to the growth of communities like Craft Gin Club or a general desire to move away from overcrowded, overpriced bars in favour of cosy catch-ups with friends, at-home drinking has seen a transformation in recent years!
In 2020 the home-drinking trend looks set to continue apace, as more and more of us grow in confidence when it comes to whipping up a few cocktails at home. See also the popularity of home cocktail kits and beautiful retro drinks trolleys.
Whether it’s down to our rose-tinted nostalgia for the (supposedly) happier times of yesteryear, or part of a wider pendulum swing of the fashion for all our favourite things dating back to the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, but retro cocktails are back in 2020 in a big way!
2019 was all about the retro gin liqueurs, but in 2020 this trend goes one step further - or should that be backwards? Either way, from the resurgence of the Pornstar Martini to the Tequila Sunrise, you can expect to see a lot more Sex on the Beach this summer (and the accompanying joke, natch).
Alongside the cheesily named drinks of the ‘80s, though, we are also predicting a more general trend for even older retro cocktails from the 1920s and ‘30s, particularly when it comes to gin - think Tom Collins, Gimlets, and French 75’s all round! We’re very excited!
Far from slowing down, it seems as though the pink drink boom simply continues to explode! Following the massive popularity of flavoured pink gins in 2019, we expect to see more new twists on the prettiest tipple around this year, and we’re happy about it - who doesn’t love a pink drink?!
Whether it’s in the form of rosé wine-gin fusion drinks, homemade pink gin or retro pink cocktails (see above), this is one trend that simply isn’t going away yet.
Perhaps as a result of the trend for retro drinks (see above), we’re seeing a growing trend for the use of the highball glasses for gin cocktails. This, of course, was the original glass of choice for a G&T as well as many classic cocktails like the Tom Collins and the Gin Fizz!
Alongside the growth in popularity of the highball glass in place of the copa (or balloon) glass, we’re also predicting a continuing rise in interest for unusual, new glass designs. In particular, we’re seeing a growing trend for heavy-bottomed or wide-stemmed cocktail glasses that provide home drinkers with a sturdier option for their tipples than the more elegant - but oh-so-easily-shattered - long-stemmed martini glass or champagne coupe.
Fingers crossed for fewer gin-related disasters in 2020, then!
As our gin-loving members here at Craft Gin Club can confirm, the quality of a tonic or mixer can truly make the world of difference to your favourite gin tipple!
We’re proud to have been spearheading the campaign for high-quality tonic water and mixers for some five years, and it’s a move that seems to finally be reaching a wider audience in 2020, with people skipping the cheap supermarket bottles and instead reaching for new, innovative and delicately flavoured tonics - like those in our Gin of the Month boxes - to help enhance their gin.
Along with the rise in popularity of high-quality tonic waters, we’re seeing an increasing interest in soda as the mixer of choice in fashion-forward gin bars across the country, too. Gin and sonic, anyone?
With all eyes on Tokyo this July for the 2020 Summer Olympics, we can expect a brief but exciting fashion for all things Japanese to infiltrate our lives this year, even when it comes to cocktails!
Indeed, gin and cocktails generally are a big deal in Japan so we’re excited to see what exotic fruits, flowers and flavours end up influencing our tipples over the hot summer months. Yuzu, nashi pear, or even bubble tea - who knows what exciting new trends will travel from our friends in the east?
Forget cheering on Team GB with a beer - this year, we’ll be celebrating our medal haul with a G&T!
Was 2019 the tipping point, when the world finally woke up to the urgent necessity to protect our planet? From climate change to plastic waste, it certainly seems like 2020 will see sweeping changes in behaviour as more and more consumers call on companies and governments to increase their efforts to reverse the human impact on the earth.
In the gin world, that has seen distilleries such as Greensand Ridge, a completely carbon-neutral micro-distillery in Kent that also reduces food waste by fermenting and distilling quality farm produce that supermarkets won't take.
Here at Craft Gin Club, we are constantly striving to find new ways to be more eco-friendly and we love to support gins with fantastic environmental credentials, including January 2020’s Gin of the Month, Altitude Gin. This alpine-inspired spirit donates one euro for every bottle sold to charities that share the distillers’ passion to protect Mont Blanc from the impact of climate change - read more about their mission here.
