Beverage Trend Report, The Wine Press

Client: WineQuest, for The Ritz-Carlton Hotels

Project: The Ritz-Carlton Hotels offer a range of dining experiences to guests, from casual elegant to fine dining. But keeping their thousands of food and beverage employees up-to-date on the latest news and trends occurring in the ever-changing adult beverage industry is a serious challenge. The Ritz-Carlton, together with WineQuest, one of the industry's leading beverage training companies, turned to Roughstock to provide quarterly trend reports focusing on alcoholic beverages. Jessica's prior industry experience keeps her tuned into the latest happenings in wine and spirits, and it was this expertise that informed her reports on everything from consumer buying habits in wine to upscale cocktail trends.

From The Wine Press (Spring 2006):

Latest Trends: Fresh Flavors
When the weather warms up, guests look to fresh fruits and new flavors for their cocktails. This spring’s latest flavors are the snappy yet sweet pomegranate and kiwi fruits. With a groundswell of marketing fervor, the Pom Wonderful brand makes tasty and antioxidant-rich pomegranate juice accessable to all. This direct appeal to guests’ growing interest in healthy foods has hit a nerve, and guests are clamoring for pomegranate Martinis and other pomegranate-inspired cocktails. More recently, PAMA pomegranate liqueur has been introduced to help expand the bartender’s repertoire.

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Also gaining popularity is the zesty kiwi fruit in either green or gold varieties. This is a dramatic looking fruit that was recently found to be the most nutrient-dense fruit popularly available. While this is reason enough to feature the kiwi, it also helps that fine-dining guests are more likely than others to prefer the fuzzy fruit.

With both fruits offering a crisp and tangy taste that perfectly balances the sweetness many guests crave, get creative and try featuring one or both in your spring cocktail lineup!

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