(NEXSTAR) — Reaching for a cold beverage to get through the holiday season? The drink you reach for is more likely to be crisp and fruity in Oregon, according to a recent report.
Toast, a restaurant point of sale and management system, 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.
But taking a closer look state by state revealed more trends. Oregon residents were among those most likely to be sipping on a hard cider.
Vermont residents ordered hard cider the most, followed by Oregon and Washington. All three states are big apple growers, so the drink of choice may not come as a big surprise.
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.
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.
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.
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).
