Drinking culture is having a glow-up. What used to be about “what’s on tap” or “what’s in the cellar” is now about who you’re with, where it’s from, and how Instagrammable the pour is.
From Seoul’s green-bottled ritual spirit to Copenhagen’s science-lab cocktails, Berlin’s natural wine meet-ups to beer with pineapple foam in Amsterdam, global drinks are evolving into mini cultural experiences.
For Gen Z, it’s less about following the rules and more about breaking them—while posting the best bits online. Here’s your passport to the most interesting bottles, cans, and pints worth seeking out right now.
Soju: Korea’s Cultural Spirit Goes Global
Where: Seoul, South Korea
Why go: For ritual-rich drinking culture, playful social traditions, and a bridge between street food and fine dining.
Innovation Insight: Soju’s global rise proves tradition can go viral when it’s paired with the right cultural wave. Bottle spins, drinking games, and K-pop endorsements have turned this once-local staple into a global social glue.
For decades, Jinro soju quietly dominated as the world’s bestselling spirit, almost entirely within Korea.
Now, it’s in New York cocktail bars, LA rooftops, and supermarket shelves worldwide. At Brooklyn’s Orion bar, soju service is part drink, part theatre—complete with tornado pours, soju-beer bombs (somaek), and snack pairings.
The range runs from $1 green bottles in Seoul to craft sojus like Tokki, designed for sipping. Fruit flavours like watermelon or lychee pull in first-timers, while premium, herb-infused bottles show its depth. Whether on a BBQ table or in a Michelin-starred dining room, soju’s message is clear: if you’re not clinking glasses with friends, you’re doing it wrong.
Sips Berlin: Natural Wine for the Creative Set
Where: Berlin, Germany
Why go: For community-driven natural wine culture, sustainable farming connections, and events that blend art, food, and music.
Innovation Insight: Sips Berlin proves that wine retail can become a cultural hub when it prioritises authenticity, sustainability, and social connection. For urban hospitality brands, this is a model for building loyal communities around shared values.
In Berlin’s growing natural wine scene, Sips is more than a bottle shop—it’s a meeting place. The selection focuses on low-intervention wines from across Europe, sourced directly from producers committed to chemical-free farming. Each bottle tells the story of its vineyard, its maker, and the land it comes from.
Events, pop-ups, and tastings blur the line between retail and cultural programming, attracting a diverse crowd of creatives, food lovers, and sustainability advocates. The philosophy is simple but potent: wine tastes better when shared—and when its story is told with care.
Empirical: Copenhagen’s Flavour Lab
Where: Copenhagen, Denmark
Why go: For science-meets-sensation spirits, experimental flavour journeys, and canned cocktails that refuse to be ordinary.
Innovation Insight: Empirical proves that curiosity sells. By blending lab-grade distillation with flavours pulled from every corner of the planet, they’ve created a brand that’s as much about story as it is about sip.
Founded by two ex-Noma innovators, Empirical ferments like the Japanese do for sake, distills like a science fiction set piece, and throws in ingredients like pine cones, toasted birch, and roasted plum skins. Their bottles (Ayuuk, Plum, I Suppose) are basically edible travel diaries.
And for casual drinkers? They’ve canned combinations like sour cherry with oolong tea or walnut wood—picnic-perfect and designed for conversation. Drinking Empirical feels like getting in on an inside joke between chefs, scientists, and flavour geeks.
Heineken Studio: The Customisable Pint
Where: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Why go: For beer that feels like a video game—choose your style, tweak the flavour, and add foams like guava-pineapple or espresso martini.
Innovation Insight: The Heineken Studio is proof that even the most mainstream drinks can feel new when you hand over creative control to the customer. For big brands, it’s a blueprint for gamifying the drinking experience.
Inside the Amsterdam brewery’s top-floor “beer playground,” you can tweak dryness, hoppiness, and foam texture—or even split your pint between alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Tropical foams nod to summer cocktails, while bitter-orange toppings borrow from Nigerian and French beer traditions.
It’s not all theatre—experimental pilot brews (like citrus wheat lager or wild yeast “Christmas” lagers) give beer geeks something to talk about. The whole thing is made for photos, reels, and the kind of “look what I just made” energy that Gen Z thrives on.
Why It Matters
Across these drinks—from Seoul’s soju rituals to Copenhagen’s science spirits—the trend is clear: flavour alone isn’t enough anymore. Gen Z wants story, culture, and an experience they can share both IRL and on their feed.
Whether it’s bottle flips, wild fermentations, or customisable pints, the new drinking culture is as much about participation as consumption. And for brands, that’s the takeaway: make the customer part of the story, and the drink will take care of itself.
Are you ready to take your business beyond traditional consulting and into the real world of food innovation? Get in touch and start your journey today.
About A2D World
Through three decades, A2D World has been at the forefront of creating unparalleled travel experiences for both private and corporate clients. Our mission is to provide easy and reliable access to unique and meaningful experiences, connecting clients to some of the most inspiring people and places globally. With a passionate, multi-talented, and multilingual team, we bring decades of expertise in travel, hospitality, innovation, and service.
At A2D World, we believe that experiencing innovation firsthand is far more valuable than relying on traditional consulting firms. Our Food Innovation Travel concept is designed to provide you with tangible insights, direct connections, and actionable strategies—without the hefty consultant fees.
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