It’s no secret that we love our cocktails here at Delish. We have recipes upon recipes for boozy (or zero-proof) libations tailored to the season or spirit. Tequila cocktails? Check. Fall cocktails? We’ve got 45 of ’em. So we were curious: what’s the most popular cocktail in each state?
With some help from the Google Trends team, we were able to pinpoint the most sought-after cocktails in the country. Google Trends researchers pulled data that found the top 25 most-searched cocktails and then identified which of those was most searched in the past year, state by state. And we are pretty surprised by the results.
A majority of states’ most-searched cocktail is one of three drinks: margarita, martini, and old fashioned. I suppose the consensus is that you can’t go wrong with classics.
Only two states deviated from this pattern: Hawaii and Louisiana. The mai tai is the most-searched cocktail in Hawaii, and the daiquiri in Louisiana.
Want to know your state’s most popular cocktail? Let’s break it down:
- 32 states like the margarita: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming
- 9 states like martinis: Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont
- 7 states like the old fashioned: Alaska, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia
Looking to try your hand at one of these popular drinks? Aside from recipes, we have tons of recommendations for stocking your bar cart. We’ve got our top picks for everything from tequila and gin to non-alcoholic spirits. And don’t forget the glassware.
Do you agree with the most popular cocktail in your state?
As the Associate Editor at Delish, Allie is a writer, reporter, and producer of features at the intersection of food and culture. Before Delish, Allie worked for publications including Apartment Therapy and Insider. She even spent time working in restaurants and breweries. Allie has dumpster-dived in NYC to expose food waste, reported on the invasive lionfish you can eat, and wrote about the growing trend of weed weddings. Her health and nutrition stories on hydration culture, bananas, and coffee have generated nearly 2M combined views. She loves traveling, running, and eating her way through new places and even has a thorough Google Maps ranking system for her favorite restaurants and bars! When not writing about food, she’s planning her next trip, lifting weights, or training for a race.
Expertise: food & culture (Sustainability, Health, Travel)
Education: M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University, B.S. in Information Science (User Experience Design) from the University of Michigan
