Move over, aperol spritz. There’s some new drinks in town.
Summer 2024 is already a hot one — and that’s not just anecdotal. Federal scientists recently found the U.S. had its second-warmest June in 130 years, and Richmond has already faced two prolonged heat waves.
One of the best ways to beat the heat, of course, is with a drink. Across town, bartenders are shaking up their cocktail menus as diners’ desires shift along with the temperature.
“We definitely go into the summer knowing we are going to put a couple of more light cocktails on the menu — things that are a little more spritzy,” says Nar Hovnanian, co-owner of JewFro and Soul Taco RVA. Also typically out in the warmer months: red wine. Instead, customers tend to gravitate more toward roses, whites and bubblies.
The aperol spritz, which took summer cocktail menus in Richmond and elsewhere by storm after COVID lockdowns let up, is easing its grip, say restaurant owners. But there’s little consensus on what is taking its place.
Some drinkers are still looking for those lighter tipples. Gen Z’s decreased alcohol consumption has led to the increasing popularity of low-alcohol-content beverages. Hovnanian says those offerings also appeal to day drinkers, whose numbers spike in the summer thanks to vacations and longer days.
Others are decidedly not interested in lower ABVs, with industry members saying both rum and tequila are having a moment.
“Rum cocktails are going to make a big splash this summer,” says Matt Henrich, the general manager at Lillie Pearl. Rum, of course, has long been a favorite in warmer months due to its association with tiki drinks. But analysts are also concluding that after several years of steady growth, the spirit may finally be poised for a big resurgence.
Brandon Peck, director of operations for the Jasper and its cousin, Emerald Lounge on Church Hill, echoes the belief that drinkers are in search of rum — one of the liquors the latter outpost specializes in.
“I’ve got to hope I’m not imagining it,” he says. “We opened a rum bar.”
In his view, though, that interest is part of a larger trend toward “agricultural” spirits, or farm-to-table-style liquors that undergo limited processing. Peck says drinkers’ appetite is growing for not only rhum agricole, a type of rum made from fresh sugar cane, but also a range of Mexican liquors distilled from the agave plant, a category that includes tequila and mezcal.
“That’s kind of the beauty of these unaged spirits. They do have their own terroir, and they taste like the things they’re made from rather than the inside of a barrel,” he says.
As craft distilleries increasingly embrace tequila, Peck says Emerald Lounge bar manager Marcelo Lopez-Cortez has been on the hunt for the best local tequilas and mezcals across Virginia.
“I feel like the everyman is coming around to realizing how incredibly special they are and really caring about the quality of them,” he says. “There’s so much more difference between brands of tequila than there are between brands of whiskey.”
Madison Pere, beverage director at Little Nickel, also casts a vote for tequila being a top tipple this summer. And, she notes, she’s had a lot of time to think about it: Before giving birth to her child in April, she spent the last three months of pregnancy considering what cocktails she wanted to drink once the baby had entered the world.
“Frozen tequila drinks are poppin off,” she writes in an email. As her candidate for drink of the summer, she puts forward Little Nickel’s “Side Hustle,” a blend of tequila, dry curacao, lemon basil syrup, lemon juice, peach juice and cava.
“Using tequila was just a no-brainer because everyone is more health conscious nowadays and it’s one of the spirits for that,” she says. “Similar to a mojito, but with a brighter, more refreshing flavor. … I wish it could be summer forever.”
