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Behind the numbers
Words by Simon Difford
Our Top 100 Cocktails are generated by accessing the page view analytics from the international traffic by our one million monthly users to the over 6,000 Difford's Guide cocktails using data from 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2024.
Dick Bradsell's Espresso Martini (in 8th place) is one of 213 "Espresso Martini" cocktails on our database, while Douglas Ankrah's Porn Star Martini (1st place for a 10th year) is joined by 46 other me-too cocktails with "Porn Star Martini" in the name. That's nothing compared to how fragmented the numbers are for Manhattans, Martinis and Margaritas. I have partly mitigated this by aggregating traffic for versions of the same cocktail. E.g. varying ratios for a Dry Martini.
Rises and falls in page views reflect the relative popularity of a cocktail and show trends. Soho House's Picante de la Casa led the Spicy Margarita boom and burst into our Top 100 in 20th place back in 2020. It's now in 6th place, as it was during 2023.
The Naked & Famous, by Joaquín Simó, in 3rd place for a second year, leads a family of cocktails with the Last Word in 7th place, the Paper Plane by Sam Ross in 13th, the Enzoni by Vincenzo Errico in 26th, Phil Ward's Final Ward in 61st, and his Division Bell at 64th place. Other similarly styled cocktails sit just outside our Top 100. These are joined by a host of Negroni-style cocktails, which are similarly popular.
The less challenging Snowball was popular in the UK, while the Fluffy Duck thrived in Australia. Both these advocaat-based cocktails have now dropped out of our Top 100. Conversely, blue curaçao appears to be in the ascent, with the Blue Lagoon storming in at 59th place. Will 2025 be the year of blue drinks? Other lurid disco drinks joining our Top 100 in 2024 are the Tokyo Iced Tea at 70th place and the Sour Apple Martini in 100th place.
The Aperol/Aperitivo Spritz continues to fall from its high of 9th place in 2020 to 77th place in 2024. My own St-Germain/Elderflower Spritz (now in 240th place) has long gone from this list and, despite what marketers tell me, the Spritz looks to be in decline.
One of the surprises is the rise in the French 75, which has jumped from 91st place in 2020 to 28th place in 2024. And this gin-based cocktail is joined by the French 76 (vodka-based) in 42nd place and the French 125 (cognac-based), a new entry in 95th place.
The Batanga, Mexico's answer to the Cuba Libre (which is languishing at 204th place) is the standout new cocktail in this Top 100, storming in at 25th place.
The Porn Star Martini was yet again our most viewed cocktail, with other podium positions once again closely fought over between the Gin Basil Smash, Naked & Famous, and the Amaretto Sour .
Once again, viewing the stats by individual countries also reveals different regional favourites such as the Fitzgerald in Brazil, and the Paloma in Greece. And for yet another year, many of us Brits seem to prefer a Cheeky Vimto.
