Is America Losing It's Buzz?
Alcohol Sales Are Falling. Maybe the $38.00 Martini Finally Did It.
Yes, us. The country that perfected the three-martini lunch, tailgating, bottomless brunch and the idea that bourbon somehow tastes better with a good cigar.
According to IWSR, total U.S. beverage-alcohol volume fell 5% in 2025. Beer and wine each dropped 6%, while spirits fell 4%. Gallup reported in 2026 that only 54% of American adults say they drink alcohol, tied with 2025 for the lowest level in its polling going back to 1939. As recently as 2023, it was 62%.
So what the hell happened?
Health is part of it. Gallup also found 51% of Americans now believe having one or two alcoholic drinks a day is bad for your health. Add GLP-1 drugs, Whoop bands, Oura Rings, sleep scores and a younger generation that apparently enjoys waking up Saturday morning feeling good. How terribly responsible.
But there's another explanation the alcohol and restaurant industries might want to consider:
Have you looked at the damn prices?
I love a great martini. Ice cold. Good vodka or gin. Three stuffed olives. I'm also partial to bourbon with a cigar and a beautiful Barolo. But when did the martini become $38 while the overpriced pasta sitting next to it is $36? Restaurants have somehow turned ordering a drink into something resembling the options sheet on a Porsche.
Wine? Would you like the 6-ounce or 9-ounce pour? That innocent $19 glass becomes $28 when you choose the larger pour and we're sometimes talking about a bottle that retails for not much more than your glass.
The modern martini is an even bigger issue. Now it comes "jugged up" in a little sidecar sitting on ice, with specialty olives, premium brine or some other $8 or $10 "supplement."
And the Bloody Mary? What was once vodka, tomato juice and seasoning now arrives with bacon, jumbo shrimp, pickles, cheese and enough food hanging off the glass to qualify as brunch. Bloody Mary: $22. Seafood supplement: $10. Congratulations. You're drinking a $32 tomato juice.
Maybe that's why another old American tradition is starting to make a lot more financial sense: having a drink at home before going out to dinner.
Do the math. A good bottle of vodka might give you 15 or 16 solid drinks at home. At today's restaurant prices, two martinis for a couple can easily approach $60 or $70 before tax and tip.
Have one at home, call the Uber, and suddenly you've shaved $50 off dinner.
Of course, you don't get Bridgett behind the bar in the low-cut blouse, the perfectly chilled glass, the people-watching or the pleasure of somebody else making the damn thing, but there are trade-offs in life and this is one of them. Sorry Bridgett.
Cost really is affecting drinking habits. IWSR found 31% of U.S. drinkers who are moderating cite cost as a reason for drinking less, making it the most commonly cited motivation in its research. Meanwhile, nonalcoholic beer, wine and spirits surpassed $1 billion in U.S. sales in 2025, according to NIQ. That’s by choice. We're becoming selective.
So perhaps it’s Less drinking. Better drinking. Better bottles. Better occasions. Fewer mediocre $19 glasses of wine. Fewer $38 martinis simply because we're sitting in a fashionable room with flattering lighting. Fewer $30 Bloody Mary’s carrying their own charcuterie board.
Save it for when it's worth it: a beautifully made martini at a great bar, Barolo over a veal Milanese, bourbon with a cigar or Champagne because something actually happened and not because it's Tuesday and the restaurant has a DJ.
Give me a $38 martini, a $10 olive supplement, a $9 Pellegrino and a $32 bowl of pasta, and suddenly sobriety starts looking less like a health movement and more like sound financial planning.
Cheers!
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