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Clear glasses filled with tea, served from a silver teapot at a restaurant

January 16, 2026by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Tequila may Drive These 2026 Trends

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

July 14, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Hospitality Mindset: Hotel Edition

Hospitality Mindset: Hotel Edition

by Jennifer Radkey

Mindset can dictate one’s level of happiness but what some people don’t realize is that it also impacts their business and everyone in it.

Moods like happiness or hostility. Growth or fixed worldviews. Positivity versus negativity. For operators and leadership team members, mindset doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Rather, one’s attitude affects and influences staff, guests, and others.

So what is mindset exactly?

Simply stated, mindset is an individual’s usual attitude or mental state. It reflects someone’s way of thinking and motivates their actions. So, why is it important to be aware of your mindset?

Well, if your mindset dictates how you show up in your life each and every day, it will influence all parts of your life.

Your thoughts about yourself, others, your business, your opportunities and your challenges… All influenced by your mindset. Your mindset can either hinder or promote your overall well-being and success in life.

The interesting thing about mindset is that it has the ability to change—if you want. It can also be influenced by your environment and those around you. These facts led me to question if the different sectors of the hospitality industry face unique mindset challenges.

To find answers and gain further insight I decided to turn to our team at KRG Hospitality for their thoughts. In turn, I’ve written a series of hospitality mindset articles. To read the first entry in this series, the Bar Edition, please click here.

In this article I’ll explore the hotel industry, with thoughts from hospitality consultant Kim Richardson. Follow the series as I explore mindset in restaurants, hotels, bars, and start-up operations.

Let’s dive in!

The Hotel Industry

The hotel industry is vast and can be segmented into different sectors. These sectors include: lodging and accommodation, food and beverage, travel and tourism, entertainment and recreation, and timeshare and meetings.

Not only is the industry vast in its sectors, there are an array of categories. There are motels, inns and resorts, and independent, boutique and global brands. Budget, midscale, and luxury properties, and everything in between.

Different types of hotels will vary slightly in their management styles and success challenges, but most will share common mindset themes.

Successful Operators

Operating a successful hotel takes a certain mindset. You need to be organized, open-minded to growth strategies, mindful of your sectors and how they interact with each other, and responsive to the needs of your teams.

Curious about what makes one hotel stand above another, I asked Kim what contributes to a successful operator. She responded with the perspective of a general manager of a large hotel, and then from the perspective of an owner of a small boutique hotel.

“One thing that really sets the hotel world aside from the rest of the hospitality industry is the multiple facets of the different departments,” says Kim. “You’re essentially running several businesses inside of one business. All of these different departments’ successes and failures impact the other departments. I think it’s important for operators and general managers to truly have a pulse on what’s going on throughout the building and, more importantly, when a department has a success or failure, how the other departments contributed to that.”

When it comes to smaller boutique hotels or inns, Kim believes that “the ability to wear many hats and jump in as needed” is a crucial success skill for owners as they often work with a much smaller team and may need to be more hands on. Hand in hand with the ability to multi-task and wear many hats is having excellent time management skills.

Whether you are the GM of a large hotel or an owner of a small boutique hotel, it is essential to constantly “have a pulse on the business coming in the door.”

Operator Challenges

Operators need a positive, strategic, growth mindset to be successful in the hotel industry. This is a mindset that needs to be consistently cultivated, as there are challenges that will affect your daily thoughts, beliefs, and attitudes.

When asked what specific challenges hotel operators face that may affect their mindset, Kim shared her thoughts, again from the perspectives of a large hotel GM and that of a smaller boutique hotel owner.

Accountability

Being responsible for and held accountable to all levels of positions in your establishment can be exhausting, stressful, and frustrating.

“A general manager of a hotel has a lot of people to answer to. They have people above them in corporate making demands of them on a daily basis (budgets, goals, etc.). They have staff that they employ and need to keep happy. They have guests they need to keep happy,” Kim says. “With this many responsibilities, time management alone can be stressful. Finding a happy medium is close to impossible. Not every decision you make is going to please all three parties. This position can suffer from burnout just as much as the rest of their team.”

Overwhelm

Operators of boutique hotels and inns fall into danger of taking on too much themselves while feeling the success of their venue lies entirely on their shoulders.

Burnout, fear, and exhaustion are all possibilities in this situation.

“In a small boutique hotel, the owner and operator wears many hats,” says Kim. “They are often having to jump in and run many departments. If you’re short staffed in one area, you’re going to have to jump in. This can create a situation where you’re spending so much time working in the business that you struggle to work on growing the business. The overall stress of the success of the business is much more when you own your own hotel. Competing against big hotels with larger marketing budgets and known names can be a challenge.”

Employee Challenges

Your team also experiences their own unique set of challenges that can affect their well-being and mindset.

Being aware of these challenges is important if you hope to create a culture of respect, collaboration, and trust.

When asked what specific challenges hotel staff face, Kim had some insights.

On Demand

It’s no secret that the hotels operate in a 24-hour industry. No matter what time of day or night, a hotel never truly “sleeps.” This on-demand atmosphere can be stressful for your team.

“Since the building is open 24 hours, guests tend to think you are also available 24 hours,” Kim says. “There is always the possibility that you could get a call at any time when you’re not working. Not only does the guest perceive you as always available, some managers expect the same from you, too.”

Broken Telephone

Working in a 24-hour environment means that you may not always be working with the same people every shift. In establishments with several departments, you may never have direct interaction with a lot of your team.

This can all lead toward miscommunication, frustration, and blame.

“Communication can fall short,” explains Kim. “There can be people who work in other departments that you are never in the building with at the same time. There are typically many procedures in place to communicate between departments, but things still get missed.”

Harmful Beliefs in the Hotel Industry

How you feel about the people you work with and/or work for can have major impacts on your overall mindset.

If your daily thoughts regarding your team are negative, it suddenly becomes very challenging to create a successful hotel. Why would they be excited to come to work and proud of your hotel if their efforts are only ever met with negativity?

The hotel industry has a few specific, common harmful beliefs that are prevalent in many establishments. Being aware and knowing how to acknowledge and combat these beliefs is crucial to creating a more positive work environment.

Assumptions

When I asked Kim what one of the most prevalent harmful beliefs operators harbor about their teams, she discussed the assumptions that are often made.

“I think proprietors sometimes think that what they’re asking is easy and doable,” posits Kim. “When a business is not doing well they tend to look at the quality of their staff versus quality of the processes.”

Assumptions without clarity or reason can be extremely harmful to your workplace culture. Not only are operators holding assumptions about their team, but their team holds assumptions about leadership.

Staff often feel that operators and members of the leadership team are out of touch with the reality of their market, and that they place unrealistic expectations on them. There are assumptions made that leadership does not want them to succeed personally.

“Revenue goals are increased just because they want more money but haven’t put thought into whether or not it’s attainable to make the money,” says Kim. “Operators don’t want to see people get bonuses, so in turn they raise goals. Doing well one year will only hurt you in the next year because all goals will be raised. Staff feel overworked and underpaid, leading them to believe that ownership is cheap and always giving a two-person job to one person.”

Toxic Culture

The last thing that any hospitality business needs is a toxic culture. A toxic workplace culture encourages and breeds negative mindsets on all levels.

How can you be successful if your team dreads coming in for their daily shift?

I asked Kim what can create toxic culture in a hotel, and she shared her thoughts and experiences.

“One of the biggest challenges that I always felt in hotels is the divide amongst departments. It’s very similar to the front-of-house, back-of-house animosity that often exists in restaurants,” shares Kim. “One department always feels that another department was not mindful of how their decisions impact their department. What I came to realize is sometimes that’s true and sometimes it’s not. There’s always going to be that person who decided to make the decision that was best for their day or made them look good in accomplishing their own job.”

“However, I don’t think that is the intention of most people,” continues Kim. “With so many different types of roles in a hotel, you will never understand all of the inner workings of another department. Each department has to make the decision that best accomplishes their goal for the guest and their department. When the communication breaks down between departments and there is no understanding of how they impact each other, animosity is created.”

Moving Forward

Understanding the challenges that operators and staff are currently facing and acknowledging the importance of a growth mindset and the need for change, what positive changes have been occurring in the industry as a whole?

“Some hotels have increased wages. Some have been more open to hybrid positions of remote and on-property work since the pandemic,” Kim says. “However, there are some that are now trying to do away with those. Also, there are only a few departments in the hotel that can benefit from this as many of them need to be on property to do their jobs.”

“Overall, I haven’t seen a ton of change. There are still so many people struggling with work-life balance in the hospitality industry,” Kim continues. “I just talked to a friend the other day who has told me for years that she’s a lifer in hotels and she’s never going anywhere. She is the last person I thought I’d hear this from, but she’s feeling burnout and is not sure how much longer she can last. This is someone who is excellent at their job. Really understands the business, is a hard worker, team player, willing to go the extra mile. How many people do we find like that, that we are throwing away by putting unachievable standards on?”

Room for Improvement

Although some operators are becoming more aware of the well-being of those working in this industry, there are still many changes that need to happen. Kim believes that there are three simple changes that need to happen.

“We need to stop losing people that want to be lifers over things like burnout and lack of work-life balance. Genuine gratitude and respect from superiors goes a long way. Better communication and accountability are a must,” says Kim.

Final Thoughts

Hotels are a complex entity with many moving parts. It takes a strategic and positive mindset to ensure success and a happy work environment.

The reality is that there will always be challenges that will affect your thoughts and behaviors. You will have bad days but that is all they are: bad days.

It is the leader who can recognize these setbacks as temporary and use them to fuel their mindset towards making positive change who will come out on top.

I’ll leave you with a few last words of wisdom from KRG Hospitality hotel and restaurant consultant Kim Richardson.

“When guests come to stay at a hotel, it is their home for the duration they are there. They are there much longer than grabbing a cup of coffee or a night out to dinner. They can feel the demeanor of the staff,” says Kim. “Positive work environments exude happiness for the guests. When the employees are unhappy, the guests leave unhappy. Mindset can be contagious, and while the internal feelings trickle down to the guests, it starts way before that. If a positive energy is being given off from the leaders in the building, it can have a great impact on the staff, which then impacts the guests.

Cheers to personal and professional well-being!

Image: Marten Bjork on Unsplash

May 26, 2023by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Raise the Bar: The 3 Ps of Hospitality

Raise the Bar: The 3 Ps of Hospitality

by David Klemt

No, one isn’t “pineapples.”

Nightlife, bar, and cocktail experts Mia Mastroianni, Phil Wills, and Art Sutley want operators to focus on what they call “the Three Ps.”

The engaging trio shared their trio of Ps recently in Las Vegas at the 2023 Bar & Restaurant Expo.

So, what are the Three Ps of hospitality? People, Place, and Product. Operators who pull the threads tighter on each of these crucial elements will be well on their way to improving operations and the guest experience.

Remember all the way back to a week ago when I shared Mastroianni, Wills, and Sutley’s thoughts on service versus hospitality? Consider the first P a deeper dive into that topic.

Operators need to focus on two categories of people who help their businesses succeed: their teams and their guests.

Addressing the former, the trio feels that operators are centering a disproportionate amount of their attention on guests in comparison to staff.

“We’re not lacking for people who want to work in the business and are outperforming other industries, but we’re not focusing on staff like we focus on guests,” says Wills. “Treat everyone with respect, including through the hiring process. If you don’t engage your staff, you won’t retain them. You need to show them they can grow in your business.”

According to Sutley, 89 percent of operators say that labor costs present a “significant challenge.” It follows, then, that committing to treating staff with respect and nurturing their careers isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s smart business.

Look for people with passion, those you can motivate to go above and beyond so you’re not stuck with a team full of space-fillers who are just after a paycheck, suggests Mastroianni.

Of course, operators and their teams must also focus on providing exceptional service and experiences to guests.

“Treat ever guest like a pearl in an oyster,” advises Wills. “They’re the pearl, we’re the oyster. We need to ‘protect’ them.” Anything less, cautions Sutley, and guests won’t return.

Place

Interestingly, the trio touched on design, aesthetic, and vibe. However, that isn’t the crux of the second P.

Rather, Place is really goes back to the guest experience. The design, aesthetic, and vibe need to meet guest expectations.

“Make sure your space is what it’s supposed to be,” says Wills.

For example, if a concept presents itself as a high-end cocktail bar, the four walls need to deliver on that expectation. With the exception of a handful of high-level examples, an upscale bar won’t survive if they deliver a dive bar—not neighborhood bar, dive bar—vibe and service. (For the record, I love a dive bar. But I don’t expect to encounter TV trope-style dive bar service if I walk through the doors of a high-end cocktail bar.)

One way operators can ensure their space is what it should be is standardization. Once a concept goes from idea to brick and mortar, when the owner’s vision is realized, the team needs to deliver a matching experience. Steps of service, systems, procedures…standardization is the name of the service game.

“Standardize your opening, shift, and closing procedures and systems to maintain your place,” says Mastroianni.

Every team member—front of house, back of house, leadership—needs to know and buy into an operator’s standards.

Product

Standardization breeds consistency. And consistency is a key element of the third P, Product.

Per Sutley, 76 percent of operators have noticed that guests are opting for more premium drinks. That’s great news, but it’s not the whole story.

It’s great that guests are opting for more expensive drink options. After all, that can certainly help the bottom line.

“However,” cautions Mastroianni, “they won’t come back without consistency in production.”

To drive this point home, consider this story from Mastroianni. A bartender made her a drink, and it was pretty good. She ordered another one from the same bartender and watched him make it differently the second time around. Not only was this second version different, it was better. While one could view this story through a positive lens—the drink was even better the next time!—that’s not the correct takeaway.

If the bartender was committed to building cocktails consistently, the second version of that cocktail would’ve been the first one served to Mastroianni. It would be the best version, and it would always be that impressive version.

When we’re fighting the possibility that up to 70 percent of first-time guests never return, the importance of product consistency can’t be overstated.

“Really focus on the small details to affect big change and get guests through the doors and keep coming back,” says Wills.

Image: Aleksandar Pasaric on Pexels