Chefs and bartenders are leveling up on consumer interest in healthful beverages served with a dash of creativity, nostalgia and fun, new National Restaurant Association research finds.
According to the 2025 What’s Hot Culinary Forecast, menus will have more to offer wellness-conscious restaurant guests seeking appealing beverages that may boost their energy levels, lower their stress, or even transport them back to a time when things seemed simpler and comforting.
Feeding the desire to feel good
On the non-alcohol side of the equation, restaurant guests will find more beverages that enhance digestive health and sharpen cognition, potentially improve immunity, and increase general well-being, while tasting great at the same time. Examples of such beverages include cold brew coffees, boba teas, kombucha, and a variety of energy drinks.
“The increased focus on ‘healthy’ is coming from older cohorts—Gen Xers and Baby Boomers—and younger ones, like Gen Zs and Millennials,” says Hudson Riehle, the Association’s senior vice president of Research & Knowledge. “As one ages, there is a greater focus on maintaining one’s health, but at the same time, younger consumers are also committed to pursuing healthier, sustainable, and eco-friendly lifestyles.”
Following are the Top 5 non-alcohol beverage trends in the culinary forecast:
- Cold brew: These beverages can be served as-is, over ice, or diluted with water or milk for a more flavorful, richer, smoother and milder experience.
- Wellness drinks: These “functional beverages” feature ingredients, such as supplements, and can be tailored to fit guests’ customized needs.
- Boba: These teas, often sweetened and paired with “bubbled” add-ins, result in great-tasting, textured beverages.
- Kombucha/fermented drinks: Packed with probiotics, these beverages are good for gut health and are helpful in controlling inflammation.
- Energy drinks: Younger customers tend toward these, hoping for that boost that helps them stay up late, perform better, and have fun. In recent years, interest from older diners has also been growing.
Melding creativity with nostalgia
Among alcohol beverage items attracting attention, innovative Old Fashioneds, creative spritzes, apple and espresso martinis, and hyper-local beers and wines are popular. In addition, flights—typically a series of three or four different variations of the same drink served differently—are also in demand.
Here are the Top 5 beverage alcohol trends in this year’s report:
- Hyper-local beer and wine: Reflecting authentic flavors tied to the region in which they’re created, these offerings typically contain locally sourced ingredients, and feed consumer desire to support the small, community businesses producing them.
- Creative spritzes: These libations are easy to drink, not too sweet, or overwhelming. They’re also lower in alcohol content.
- Flights: These drinks, typically served as a trio of beverages, allow guests to sample several varieties of a single item.
- Innovative Old Fashioneds: This classic is popular because it mixes simplicity with experimentation. Different spirits, sweeteners, bitters, and garnishes create unique flavor profiles while the core elements of the drink are maintained.
- ’90s Martinis: Seen as fun, glamorous and playful, these cocktails have widespread appeal because they’re made with a wide range of ingredients that make them more accessible, while still being considered “martinis”.
“The growing societal trend towards nostalgia in general is more apparent these days,” Riehle says. “As a result, some consumers, in their social-driven restaurant experiences, are seeking more simplicity, clarity and comfort as a way of dealing with longings for a time when things seemed less complicated, purer and straightforward.”
As far as local/hyper-local sourcing is concerned, Riehle says its popularity is rooted in a desire for more credibility in an era of heightened skepticism, and for operators to act more environmentally friendly at the same time.
“For consumers, there is a higher level of trust for products sourced from one’s local or regional areas,” he says. “They view them as a direct reinvestment in their own communities and businesses.”
Download the 2025 What’s Hot Culinary Forecast here