Is it vodka or tequila, whiskey or wine?
TEXAS (NEXSTAR) — During the warmer months, you may have found yourself out to eat. Maybe you even sat on the patio, enjoying the warm moments before they faded into the chill of winter.
There is also a pretty good chance you had a cold drink in hand, according to a new report.
Toast, a restaurant point of sale and management system, recently reviewed customer trends across its roughly 93,000 U.S. restaurants, including people’s alcohol-purchasing behaviors.
Overall, Toast found that if a customer was ordering alcohol, it was most likely going to be beer, which ranked as the most popular adult beverage being ordered in all 50 states during the second quarter of 2023.
Restaurant-goers in Texas consumed the most tequila, Toast found. In fact, they consumed 119% more tequila than diners in any other state. Other southern states — Georgia, Arizona, and Florida — also consumed high amounts of tequila.
It’s not surprising Texans choose tequila as their liquor of choice. In fact, according to Google Trends, the most popular cocktail in the state is a margarita.
Additionally, a study from Bet Arizona concluded that Texans' favorite brand of tequila is Don Julio. That study also showed that 28 other states in the country share that preference.
Vodka was the most popular spirit in nearly every state, according to Toast’s analysis, except in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, where tequila was more popular.
While you may guess a state like Wisconsin, which is home to the most self-reported excessive drinkers and a history in the beer industry, would be ordering beer the most, but it was actually their neighbors to the west. Minnesota restaurant-goers drank roughly 53% more beer per business than restaurant-goers in any other state, according to Toast.
Kansas and Pennsylvania ranked second and third, though both came in well below the 53% benchmark at 41% and 39%, respectively.
Kansas was also responsible for another notable upset. Kentucky, with its rich whiskey history, ranked only as third for the most whiskey consumed per restaurant location, Toast found. It was Kansas where whiskey ranked more popular, followed by Ohio.
Those eating out in Ohio appeared to favor hard seltzers — Toast data shows that, on average, Ohio sold 160% more hard seltzers per restaurant than any other state. These alcoholic beverages often gain popularity in the warm months, except maybe in Wyoming, which served on average 66% fewer hard seltzers than average in Q2 of 2023.
When it came to wine, it was those on the Atlantic Coast that ordered the most. Nowhere was that more apparent than in Massachusetts, where customers ordered 72% more wine than in any other state. Florida came in second for the most wine served per restaurant, followed by Rhode Island.
There were some states that appeared to love certain types of alcohol more than others.
Toast found New York, for example, favored gin the most. In Hawaii, it was rum (perfect for Mai Tais) and in Wisconsin, it was brandy (that’s why your Old Fashioned may taste different in the Badger State).
Vermont residents ordered hard cider the most, followed by Oregon and Washington — perfect for when you’re checking out the fall colors in these states.
