Tequila may Drive These 2026 Trends
by David Klemt
Is there alcohol in that teapot? Maybe.
While some of us continue to cross our fingers that tequila will have their year as the top spirit, other similar sips may rise up in 2026.
One can argue that tequila finally clinched the Top Spirit crown in the US and made 2025 its year. After all, it showed the fastest growth of any spirit last year.
Further, some sources report that tequila generated more revenue than any other major category in the US. Per reporting, premiumization is believed to be a major driver of tequila’s 2025 success.
However, other sources report that vodka still holds the throne due to volume sales. It probably won’t shock a single person that Tito’s holds the number one spot as 2025’s top-selling brand.
In Canada, beer earned the top spot by overall market share. However, Canadian whisky led in 2025 as the top spirit, though tequila garnered notable interest.
Meanwhile, two spirits similar to tequila may finally have meaningful moments in 2026 as vodka and the world’s most-famous agave spirit battle for the title. If Datassential and Nation’s Restaurant News are accurate in their predictions, raicilla and sotol may finally become even more well known to consumers this year.
What is Raicilla?
This agave spirit has been produced in Jalisco, Mexico (for the most part), for at least three centuries. And yet, it wasn’t granted its own Denominación de Origen (Designation of Origin, or DO) until 2019.
Authentic raicilla can only be produced in 16 municipalities throughout Jalisco, and, for some reason, one municipality in Nyarit, called Bahía de Banderas.
There are essentially two regional types of raicilla, de la costa and de la sierra. As the names imply, the former are coastal raicillas, and the latter are from mountainous areas.
Some varieties of raicilla will be familiar to tequila drinkers: joven, reposado, and añejo. There are also varieties that have been aged or matured in glass, abocado (infused raicilla), and artisanal double-distilled raicilla.
Unlike tequila, which can only be made from Blue Weber agave, raicilla is made from several different types of agave. Intriguingly, most raicilla is made with wild agave. The reason is simple: raicilla production is nowhere near the scale of tequila, so for the most part, producers don’t need to cultivate huge fields of agave.
Generally speaking, there are two primary approaches to cooking agave for raicilla, resulting in different flavor profiles. De la sierra producers tend to cook the agave above ground. Conversely, de la costa producers mainly utilize underground or pit ovens.
So, de la sierra raicilla usually doesn’t have smoky notes like mezcal, whereas de la costa raicilla is more likely to share that profile. Generalizing again, raicilla is characterized most often as being more floral and vegetal than tequila and mezcal. Really, a raicilla’s flavors and aromas are highly dependent on terroir.
What is Sotol?
Contrary to a common misunderstanding, sotol isn’t derived from agave. One common thread connecting tequila and sotol is the fact that they’re both traditional Mexican distilled spirits.
Another similarity is the production method: piñas are harvested and cooked, then fermented and distilled.
However, it’s a plant known as Dasylirion that’s used to produce sotol. Commonly known as “desert spoon,” this plant is a member of the asparagus family, as is agave. This may be what leads some to believe that sotol and tequila are both agave-based spirits.
Like tequila and raicilla, sotol is protected by a DO. This means true sotol can be produced exclusively in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango. It must be noted, though, that there are producers in Texas “don’t recognize” the DO and bottle what they call sotol.
A detail that may appeal to more sustainability-minded guests: sotol production is considered more eco-friendly in comparison to tequila and raicilla. When harvesting desert spoon for sotol, the roots aren’t dug up, meaning a single plant is capable of producing several bottles of sotol over its lifetime.
Desert spoon piñas are cooked in an earthen pit, and terroir is a factor. Depending on the region—desert, forest, or prairie—a sotol will have different flavor and aroma profiles.
For example, a forest sotol may have notes of pine, eucalyptus, and mushroom. In contrast, a desert sotol may be characterized by leather and pepper. Sotol is complex and will keep the adventurous engaged for quite some time.
How can Operators Capitalize?
One of the most effective ways to introduce guests to raicilla and sotol is to leverage the undeniable and seemingly unstoppable popularity of tequila.
And while it’s fun to nerd out over production, it’s likely a better idea, initially, to taste guests on tequila, raicilla, and sotol. While you’re there, you can also include mezcal.
Particularly notable is NRN itself predicting sotol as a trend of its own this year. Further, Datassential has identified raicilla as a trend in their own report.
Of course, there are also some compelling 2026 trend predictions you can leverage with these two traditional Mexican spirits.
Both raicilla and sotol are more than capable of standing in for tequila and mezcal in cocktails. However, raicilla can also tag in for gin, and sotol can act as substitute for gin and vodka.
Off the top of my head, raicilla or sotol Margaritas and Negronis should appeal to a wide range of guests.
This brings me to a simple trend that NRN predicts may take off in 2026: smaller cocktails.
Think (and Price) Small
That’s it; it’s that simple. People seem to be drinking less, not just in frequency but in ABV.
So, it may behoove operators to offer smaller cocktails, accompanied by appropriately reduced prices. This means the drinks are priced appropriately rather than offering discounts in the hopes of driving traffic.
Not only does this move, when intentional, speak to a current shift in guest imbibing behavior, and appeals to those who want to go out to bars and restaurants but don’t want to spend much.
The New Happy Hour
This is where a few trends converge. According to Datassential, “teatime is the new happy hour.”
And per The IWSR, playfulness may also take hold in 2026. I’m sure you can see where this is going.
In Datassential’s view, teatime rather than traditional happy hour gives operators more leeway in terms of dayparts. Noon, early afternoon, early evening, brunch… It’s all on the table, and there isn’t confusion around start and stop because it’s not referred to as a happy hour.
It also allows operators to offer tea-based cocktails made with raicilla and sotol (or any other spirit), and low- and no-ABV tea drinks. Again, this speaks to a range of consumer behaviors and expectations.
The Three Ps
Whatever trends operators choose to pursue this year, their decisions must be intentional.
That means viewing them through the lenses of People, Processes, and Profits.
People: Do we have the right people in place in the right roles? Are we serving our guests to the best of our abilities? Team member or guest, are we truly treating everyone with respect and gratitude?
Processes: How often are we reviewing each operational element? Are we reviewing our menus at regular intervals over the course of 12 months, or are we doing this annually (or not at all)? How are we approaching our pricing? When was the last time we reviewed and tested each and every one of our systems?
Profits: Total sales are great, but are we making money? As Doug Radkey, president and principal consultant of KRG Hospitality says, “Sales are a vanity metric. Profits tell the real story.” Do we know our numbers? Are we controlling costs? Do we make pricing and labor decisions proactively and strategically, or are we panicking and reacting without careful consideration?
Those are by no means all of the questions we need to ask on a regular basis, but they’ll give operators a solid baseline.
Image: Davey Gravy via Unsplash
