The premium non-alcoholic segment is showing some interesting signals, even if the picture does not yet amount to a full-scale shift. What these cases do suggest is a more subtle change: brand identity, packaging and corporate structure are becoming increasingly important, not just the launch of a new product. The question, then, is not only […]
Harvest has never been just a production step. It is also one of the moments when vineyard work becomes easier to read from the outside: you see the pace of picking, the winery comes alive, and wine stops looking like a finished object and reveals itself as a process. In Italy, that dimension is now […]
There is a recognizable thread running through some of the more interesting conversations around today’s cocktail scene: the pleasure of drinking something that does not need much explaining. Not a drink designed to impress with technique, but one that works because it lands quickly, through taste, memory or a very clear sense of purpose. That […]
With bottled mineral water, quality does not begin when the bottle is filled. It starts much earlier, in the way the land around the source is managed. In Germany, the drought in 2025 and the start of 2026 have made water an even more urgent issue. Qualitätsgemeinschaft Bio-Mineralwasser, the association bringing together producers, certification bodies […]
There is a subtle but important difference between a drink that merely promises not to weigh you down and one that tries to say something more. In the non-alcoholic space, that distinction is especially visible in a few functional products that are gaining ground: wellness shots and kava-based drinks. They do not answer the same […]
In the spirits and ready-to-drink space, a few recent launches point in a fairly clear direction: more attention to lighter formulas, readable ingredients and formats that strip away anything unnecessary. That is not enough to call it a full sector-wide shift, but it is a meaningful signal because it shows up in products that look […]
There is a paradox that runs through beer: some of the most compelling producers are also among the most economically exposed. Not because they make poor decisions, but because they build value around history, method and a sense of place — three things the market does not always reward in proportion to their importance. Rodenbach, […]
In the non-alcoholic beverage world, carbonated soft drinks are often seen as one of the most stable categories: familiar formulas, well-known flavours, habitual consumption patterns. Yet a closer look at a few recent developments suggests a less static picture. Not one single shift, and not a uniform reinvention, but three separate moves that show how […]
Every summer seems to bring the same question back into sharper focus, especially in bars that like to keep one eye on the archive: what sits outside the bright circle of the great classics? The Mai Tai, the Piña Colada and the Margarita command so much attention that it is easy to forget how many […]
The summer of 2026 brought an unusually early harvest to several parts of Italian wine country, one of the clearest signs of an anomalous season. Heatwaves pushed grape ripening ahead of the usual calendar and, in some areas, picking began at a pace that growers would normally associate with much later in the year. A […]