Monin 2026 Flavor Trends

Explore five trends that will influence café, bar, and restaurant menus in 2026 and beyond.

Innovation at Monin is fueled by a continuous commitment to exploring new flavors and as we celebrate our 11th year of flavor predictions, we reflect on the robust process that leads to and informs our trends decision. For a decade, a team of internal and consumer insights experts have worked together to identify and track emerging trends that influence flavor preferences.

With the support of proprietary and secondary research analysis, this cross-functional team uses an “eye to the street” approach, garnering insights from several empirical sources, including global market excursions and the exchange of trend information with Monin beverage and culinary developers worldwide. Read on for this year's trends and explore new cocktails, mocktails, and culinary creations.

Whisked Away

The Savory Shift

Mediterranea

Earth Tones

Wellness Wonderland
Whisked Away
The Savory Shift
Mediterranea
Earth Tones
Wellness Wonderland

Whisked Away

In today’s fast-paced world, overstimulated consumers are turning to food and beverages for a delicious retreat from reality. Nostalgia offers grounding and comfort, while global escapism satisfies a yearning for adventure and cultural connection. Operators can tap into this desire by inviting exploration through a kaleidoscope of nostalgic flavors, international ingredients, and playful sensory experiences. Think a Yuzu Creamsicle dirty soda or Ube Pop Tart filled with coconut cream and sesame brittle. Both nostalgic and novel, dessert-inspired blue cotton candy lemonades and indulgent Bananas Foster lattes can be elevated with delightful textures that fizz, foam, and crunch: chewy boba, silky cold foams, or cookie butter crumbles.

This trend leans into flavor as storytelling in order to craft a meaningful, lasting impression. This is key to engaging today’s consumers: 49% say emotional connection is extremely or very important when choosing where to eat, and 73% of Gen Z and Millennials prioritize experiences over goods. (Datassential). Invite consumers to sip and eat their way through time and across cultures, indulging in a world that’s as imaginative as it is delicious.

Whisked Away
 
 

The Savory Shift

From Caprese cocktails to mushroom lattes, savory, bitter, briny, and umami profiles are driving innovation across beverage formats. Ingredients like miso, sesame, and pickle offer a sophisticated departure from the sweet and fruity status quo. Behind the bar, fat-washed spirits, clarified cocktails, and savory infusions are rich and layered. Brown Butter Old Fashioneds, Ceasar salad martinis, and phở -inspired “brothtails” are trending on social media, while flavors like hot honey and hickory smoke are gracing craft coffee menus. Over the next four years, 38% growth is expected for “swalty” (sweet and salty) profiles on restaurant menus (Push Research). 

This is part of a “swavory” (sweet and savory) renaissance that’s redefining craveability. Pairings like miso caramel, spicy maple, and blackberry basil surprise and satisfy in beverages and desserts. Fermented elements like pickle and fish sauce add a punch to spirits, while charred and roasted ingredients like grilled peach and toasted coconut add a satisfying smolder to margaritas, mocktails, and mochas.  By blending bold flavor with culinary finesse, operators can treat consumers to a new dimension of taste shaped by curiosity, craftsmanship, and cultural influence. 

The Savory Shift
 
 

Mediterranea

Flavors of the Mediterranean offer more than taste, they transport. A sensory voyage that drifts along the crystal-blue coastlines of Positano and through the open-air markets of Marrakech. Italian favorites like tiramisu, basil, and limoncello evoke la dolce vita, while North African and Eastern Mediterranean flavors like pistachio, saffron, date, rose, and pomegranate add rich depth and cultural nuance.  

Interest is surging: tiramisu coffee drinks are +172% in the past 4 years, and pistachio beverages are up 100% in four years, with 164% growth projected by 2029. (Datassential).  

Whether served in coffee, low-ABV cocktails, or culinary creations, these profiles carry a premium perception that elevates everything from morning rituals to afternoon aperitivos. A basil limoncello spritz tastes like a sun-soaked afternoon in Amalfi, surrounded by lemon groves. A pistachio rose latte evokes rich confectionary traditions from Morocco to Lebanon. A cardamom and cold brew-infused ice cream nods to the layered traditions of Turkish coffee culture.  

Rooted in centuries of cultural exchange, this trend celebrates the diversity of the region and its enduring influence on how we define luxury, adventure, and the art of savoring life—one sip at a time. 

Mediterranea
 
 

Earth Tones

Guests are gravitating to colorful drinks rooted in botanical ingredients: butterfly pea’s color-shifting blues and purples pop in cocktails, spirulina and turmeric’s deep greens and golds offer a health halo, and hibiscus’ fiery shades of red trend on social. Tea tones like grassy green matcha are redefining both visual and flavor preferences: a whopping 60% of millennials prefer the taste and caffeine kick of matcha lattes over traditional coffee lattes. 

Meanwhile, familiar garden greens like mint and rosemary add lift and aromatics to mocktails and lemonades, while rising profiles like pandan and Japanese shiso infuse vivid hues and layered notes to cold brews and cocktails. 

This shift is not just about looks: natural color means cleaner labels and fewer artificial ingredients, something increasingly important to consumers. 74% are more aware of ultra-processed foods, and 46% believe artificial dyes should be banned (Datassential). The proof is in the palette: when color comes from nature, transparency becomes part of the flavor. This trend offers operators a blank canvas to craft beverages that satisfy a growing appetite for aesthetics with authenticity. 

Earth Tones
 
 

Wellness Wonderland

On grocery shelves and on menus, a functional beverage revolution is underway. Consumers no longer need to choose between health benefits and indulgence. From a protein dessert latte in the morning to an adaptogen mocktail at night, better-for-you beverages are becoming staples of self-care and self-expression. 

To meet this moment, pair trending beverage formats with ingredients that support energy, hydration, gut health, and other popular benefits. Think toasted coconut protein cold foam, a dragon fruit refresher with electrolytes, or a fiber-maxxed cherry vanilla dirty soda. Sugar-free flavors are also an important part of this trend that offers customization and indulgence without compromise.  

The audience is already leaning in, with 76% of Gen Z and 81% of Millennials interested in functional beverages. Curiosity and “fit-fluencers” also continue to shape beverage trends: mushroom coffee awareness is approaching matcha levels (26% vs. 34%). For operators, this transformation offers a golden opportunity. No longer defined by traditional soda fountains, beverage menus are a platform for creativity, wellbeing, and cultural relevance. Brands that deliver functional benefits in craveable, on-trend formats can tap into a powerful emotional and cultural shift: wellness as a treat, not a chore. 

Wellness Wonderland