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AFTER YEARS OF STAGNATION, the liqueurs market could be about to turn a corner. Consumer trends had gone against the category – sweet was out, bitter was in – and bartenders, fuelled by the craft movement, were starting to make their own infusions. But looking at the numbers now, there is optimism to be found. The category is back in growth – albeit small – with market researcher Euromonitor International suggesting liqueurs grew 0.6% to 109m 9-litre cases in 2017. It’s not much for producers to hang their hat on but, for a historically ailing category, growth is growth. More important, perhaps, is that producers sense the perception of liqueurs is changing.

Camille Ralph Vidal, global ambassador for elderflower liqueur St Germain, concedes that there is a way to go before liqueurs shed their image as the “old dusty bottle in grandmother’s cabinet”, but says one trend in particular – low-abv cocktails – is working in the category’s favour.

LOW ABV

Millennials are the flag bearers for healthy living and, for the first time in recent history, lower abv cocktails are considered appealing. “The low-abv trend started with bartenders getting excited about liqueurs and fortified wine and now the distribution of smaller brands is getting bigger and bigger,” says Vidal. She adds that the low-abv trend isn’t just targeted at millennial consumers but has also been embraced by bartenders who are “drinking lower-abv drinks” as part of a more professional outlook.

The trend may have begun in the on-trade but it has percolated through to consumers in a big way. Longer cocktails are becoming more popular, with the emphasis shifting from heavy spirit to fresher, lighter ingredients, capturing new consumers who want to be part of cocktail culture without the associated calories and hangover.

While liqueurs aren’t traditionally seen as the answer to a low-cal lifestyle, bartenders’ willingness to use them as a substitute for spirits in lighter cocktails is a boon for the category. Aside from bartenders’ own creations, classics such as the Americano and Aperol Spritz both derive their alcohol content singularly from liqueurs – #Aperolspritz was posted 634,492 times on Instagram this year alone.

COCKTAILS AT HOME

The end game for liqueurs brands is to see these trends transition from the on-trade to the off-trade. Here digital communication is key. Drinks Tube, fronted by chef Jamie Oliver and backed by Bacardi, has taken drinks-making directly from the bar to the home. The channel has racked up 358,201 subscribers on Youtube and features the likes of Simone Caporale, Camille Ralph Vidal, Giuseppe Gallo, Rich Hunt and Joe McCanta. With almost 80 videos featuring liqueurs on Drinks Tube, Bacardi has found the perfect platform to promote cocktails such as St Germain Spritz, Classic Espresso Martini, Singapore Sling and Blood & Sand whisky cocktail, to name a few.

Thebar.com is another example of a drinks group exploiting the burgeoning cocktails-at-home opportunity. On the website Diageo admits liqueurs are “in the shadows of spirits”, but reminds consumers that the cocktail world would be “lacking some great drinks without them” and that “sometimes it is liqueurs that make the cocktail”. As a showcase, the website lists 62 cocktail recipes featuring its liqueurs brands: Baileys Irish Cream, Archers, Grand Marnier, Mahiki, Romana Sambuca and Sheridan’s.

Simplifying cocktails for consumers so they can be made in the home widens the opportunity for brand awareness. Kevin Baker, global travel retail director of Marie Brizard Wine & Spirits, says this is an important distinction between the on and off-trade opportunity: “Bartenders and the on-premise will continue to imbue their creations with a degree of magic and mystery that will appear to be beyond the capabilities of ordinary consumers. As a result, it is the brands’ responsibility to highlight the ease with which classic and signature cocktails can be made at home and we are seeing increasing evidence of this in advertising and PR.”

Liqueurs’ innate diversity has never been helpful in communicating a homogenous identity. But, spun the right way, this versatility means there are styles to meet a multitude of tastes and drinking occasions.

St Germain’s Ralph Vidal believes there are liqueurs for all times of the day. “My book, How To Drink French Fluently, which I launched last year, really showcases the versatility of liqueurs. I organised it by time of the day, so it’s five chapters – brunch, daytime, aperitif, dinner and nightcap. Cocktails can be a little overwhelming – people don’t know what to drink or when to drink it. In the future we could see this simplified approach defining the boundaries for cocktails at home.”

WHAT’S HOT?

While bitter liqueurs have been the star performers of the category in recent years, 2017 was the year of the coffee cocktail. Spearheaded by a renaissance in the Irish Coffee and Espresso Martini, this trend has been a boost for coffee liqueur brands. Named ninth in Drinks International’s World’s Best-Selling Classics, 40% of elite bartenders polled said the Espresso Martini was among their top-10 most served classics. Claudio Giuliano, global brand manager of Tia Maria, has witnessed the trend first hand. He says the coffee cocktail trend is “driven by millennial consumers” and the brand is “expecting the trend to pick up even more pace this year.” He adds that the tandem development of coffee and cocktail cultures has led to “astronomical growth”.

Coffee cocktails, many of which use liqueurs, are now an everyday occurrence on cocktail bar menus, and the advent of mixed-offering venues, such as all-day coffee and cocktail shops, are providing a new channel for liqueurs producers.

“The recently opened Chapter 72, in London’s Bermondsey, specialises in award-winning coffee from roasters to create cocktails such as a decaffeinated espresso Martini, featuring Tia Maria and Reyka small-batch vodka,” reports Giuliano.

For the rest of the category, continued education and engagement through social media will be key to keeping up with current trends and making a breakthrough, while trends such as low-abv cocktails, cocktails at home and coffee will continue to play their part in reinventing this traditional and often misunderstood category.