As the defining bitter in the Negroni – this year’s leading drink in the Drinks International Cocktail Report – it’s hardly surprising that Campari Group’s flagship ranked as the bestselling liqueur in roughly 30% of surveyed bars.

With the Negroni the on-trend cocktail globally, so too is Campari and its dominance shows no sign of slowing. Moving up the ranking this year is St Germain, the elderflower liqueur which has firmly secured its place as the industry’s second bestselling liqueur. Its rise is undoubtedly tied to the continued growth of Spritz-style cocktails, with the Hugo Spritz in particular driving renewed enthusiasm for the brand.

St Germain was named a top-three choice in 36% of the bars polled, and close behind was Cointreau, holding the position of third bestseller and third in top trending. The brand was a bestseller in 8% of bars, another brand making use of the Spritz trend. While it was the second top trending liqueur, Chartreuse dropped down the bestsellers list as demand continues to outweigh supply.

How we did it

The Brands Report has been released every January for the past 16 years and aims to provide data analytics into the buying habits of consumers in the world’s best bars.

To collect the data, we first curate a sample of industry-acclaimed bars from a combination of The World’s 50 Best Bars and its regional North America and Asia lists.

In order to ensure the best global coverage, about 5% of the poll were ‘editor’s picks’ – highly rated bars in regions less represented to assure a truly global data pool reflective of the current bar industry. Each year the panel rotates to ensure a fair and accurate set of results.

As part of the survey, we ask each bar owner or head bartender to dig out their sales spreadsheets and rank the three bestselling products in each spirits category, as well as beer, champagne and mixers. The bestselling list is based on hard data, while top trending is more subjective – the brand which isn’t necessarily shifting big volumes but is seen as in vogue by each bar. Often, the brands that figure highly in the trending list move on to the bestselling list the following year, as curiosity and excitement transition to weight of sales.

We also ask our poll to declare the house pour in some of the world’s bestselling classic cocktails. The drinks are chosen to specifically represent major spirits categories and are generally big hitters in the Cocktail Report’s list of the 50 bestselling classic cocktails, due to launch in spring.

To view the page-turner edition of the Brands Report click here.

The Brands Report will be serialised on drinksint.com throughout January.