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Synthesis Trends Kitchen is our experimental space for exploring what’s next. A place where we bring together tastemakers, industry insiders, and cutting-edge data to stretch the boundaries of what innovation looks like.
In our first season, we tackled the cocktail trend transforming global palates: savoury.
Savoury cocktails are now the most searched cocktail trend globally. New Synthesis research reveals that across Asia’s Top 100 Bars, 3 in every 10 cocktails are savoury. 96% of these bars list at least one. This isn’t a passing phase—it’s a decade-long shift now accelerating into the mainstream for 2025–2026.
What’s driving this rise? What can it teach us about the next generation of flavour? And how can brands, bartenders, and innovators stay ahead?
Episode I: The Savoury Rise
We analysed 5,457 cocktails from Difford’s Guide and TikTok ‘flavour-grams’, then tracked their global momentum through Google Trends over the past ten years. The signal was clear: savoury cocktails were outpacing every other flavour direction.
Episode II: Chefs in the Bar
Menus tell stories—they reflect the tastes, trends, and values of their time. At the world’s leading bars, they go further, offering a glimpse into the future of drinking culture.
But menus aren’t easy to access and track. They’re ephemeral, wildly creative, and often hidden in analogue formats:
But thanks to guests uploading menu photos daily we can now see what’s happening in real time. Using advanced image recognition, we analysed hundreds of thousands of user-uploaded images, uncovering 4,646 unique cocktails from Asia’s top bars in the past year. Together, they reveal the trends, ingredients, and brands shaping the future of cocktails.
3 Drivers Behind the Rise of Savoury Cocktails:
1. Gastro-Mixology
Fine-dining techniques—fat-washing, fermentation, clarification—are migrating from kitchen to bar. These methods unlock richer flavour, texture, and storytelling.
→ As cocktail tastes grow more sophisticated, how might these techniques be made more accessible at home or in casual formats?
2. All Parts Alchemy
Zero-waste creativity is redefining how drinks are made. Peels, pulps, seeds, and shells are reimagined as infusions, ageing elements, and garnishes. What was once waste now becomes narrative—and flavour.
→ Which overlooked byproducts from kitchens, coffee, or wine could be scaled into future-forward spirits?
3. From Asia to the World
The growing influence of native Asian ingredients, flavours, and techniques in cocktail culture globally. Mixologists are infusing with elements like lapsang souchong, soy sauce, and jackfruit, leveraging a diversity of local ingredients. It’s about honouring heritage through craft and incorporating traditional techniques.
→ The trend corridor from Asia to America, LatAm and Europe continues to strengthen. What forgotten Asian ingredients and techniques will go viral from revival?
Synthesis Innovation incorporates leading data signals like tastemaker venues, expert networks and media narratives to detect what’s coming.
Future proof your innovation strategy with our unique Culture-at-Scale vantage point.
