You pay more for Tequila
A few years ago, the story all over the news was that Tequila outsold whiskey and was on pace to outsell vodka. But that was just journalists misreading the annual reports of DISCUS, the Distilled Spirits Council of the US. Now DISCUS has released final numbers for 2024, so I take my own shot at misreading the latest numbers! My big takeaway? Ounce-for-ounce, you pay more for Tequila than any other alcohol. But what does that mean, in the broader context? It’s another by-the-numbers episode of Agave Road Trip!
Agave Road Trip is a critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast that helps gringx bartenders better understand agave, agave spirits, and rural Mexico. This episode is hosted by Lou Bank with special guest Marissa Paragano of The Tequiladies with numeric wisdom provided by DISCUS.
Episode Notes
Marissa is also a board member of Tequila That Cares, a philanthropic organization bringing positive change to the agave spirits industry!
If you missed World Poetry Day, it’s not too late to celebrate. Click here for the archived celebration with Agave Road Trip Poet Laureate Larry Beckett and August Gladstone!
Some numbers I culled from the DISCUS data over the past eight years:
If you just look at volume consumed, 2.7 billion liters in 2024
o Vodka: 667 million liters (24.4%), trending down a point or two last three years
o Cocktails (RTDs): 658 million (24.0%), trending up in a big way, double-digit growth every year
o Whiskey: 647.5 million liters (23.7%), trending down four-ish percent past two years
o Agave: 289.8 million liters (10.6%), trending up but growth is slowing
o Rum: 186.1 million liters (6.8%), trending down in an escalating pattern
o Cordials: 180.7 million liters (6.6%), trending down four-ish percent past two years, like whiskey
o Brandy: 105.4 million liters (3.9%), big hits past three years
If you look at dollars spent, $36.2 billion in 2024
o Vodka: $7.2 billion (19.9%), flat since 2021
o Cocktails (RTDs): $3.3 billion (9.1%), trending up in a big way, double-digit growth every year
o Whiskey: $11.9 billion (32.9%), trending down two to three percent past two years
o Agave: $6.7 billion (18.5%), trending up but growth is slowing
o Rum: $2.2 billion (6.1%), trending down in an escalating pattern
o Cordials: $2.8 billion (7.7%), trending down but not at same pace as volume
o Brandy: $2.1 billion (5.8%), big hits past three years
If you look at dollars spent per liter, bearing in mind that inflation between 2016 and 2024 was 30.7%,
o Vodka: $10.83, up 11% since 2016
o Cocktails (RTDs): $5.01, down 23% since 2016
o Whiskey: $18.30, up 15% since 2016
o Agave: $23.17, up 25% since 2016
o Rum: $11.99, up 12.6% since 2016
o Cordials: $15.54, 13.8% since 2016
o Brandy: $20.24, 10.6% since 2016
You can get all the raw data and draw uyour own conclusions at DISCUS.