Vodka & Gin in 2026: The Clear Spirits Renaissance

Vodka never really went away. Gin never really arrived in the mainstream. Both are having their most interesting moment in years.

For a decade, the cocktail conversation was dominated by brown spirits. Bartenders dismissed vodka as flavorless. Gin was for your grandmother. The categories absorbed the criticism and kept selling. Then people started caring about what clear spirits actually taste like.

Terroir Comes to Vodka

The narrative that vodka is flavorless was always reductive. Potato vodkas from Poland taste nothing like grain vodkas from Sweden taste nothing like grape vodkas from France. Chopin single-ingredient expressions prove the base material matters. The "neutral spirit" label was marketing, not fact.

Gin Becomes a Category, Not a Drink

Classic London Dry gin is one style. New Western gins dial back the juniper. Navy strength gins run at 57% ABV. Japanese gins incorporate yuzu and shiso. The category exploded in diversity just as consumers were ready to explore it — and now the question isn't "do you like gin?" but "which style of gin?"

What's Selling in Tampa

Our vodka shelf is led by craft and terroir-forward expressions. Our gin section has tripled in depth over the last two years. The Florida craft scene contributes too — St. Augustine Distillery's gin and vodka are genuinely excellent products made 90 minutes from our stores.