A Real Mocktail Menu Means Every Guest Is Taken Care Of

If you are planning a wedding or a party, here is a number worth knowing before you build your bar: only 54% of American adults now say they drink alcohol, the lowest rate in Gallup's nearly 90-year polling history. That means nearly half the people you invite may be reaching for something other than a cocktail at some point in the night.

This is not a passing fad that will reverse by next year. It is a real shift in how your guests relate to alcohol, and it has changed what a great event bar looks like (mocktails on restaurant menus have grown 233% over the past four years). The good news: when you give those guests a real mocktail menu, nobody at your celebration feels like an afterthought.

The Shift Behind It

Metric	Number
U.S. NA off-premise sales (2025)	$1 billion+
Year-over-year growth	27.2%
Online NA sales growth	+208% YoY
Global mocktail market (2025)	$8.38 billion
Projected by 2035	$16.02 billion
New NA consumers recruited (2022-2024)	61 million worldwide
NA beer projected to surpass ale segment	2025

Your Guest List Is Mixed, by Age and by Choice

It is easy to assume this is only a Gen Z habit. It is really everyone on your list, at different speeds:

• Gen Z: 75% have moderated their intake. 65% plan to drink less. 39% are committing to fully dry in 2025. Yet those who do drink rose from 46% to 70%. They are not abstaining, they are choosing when.
• Millennials: 74% moderated, and 51% have tried Dry January.
• Gen X: 66% moderated.
• Boomers: 55% moderated.
• Women: the drinking rate dropped 11 percentage points since 2023.

One number explains why this matters for your party: 92% of people who buy non-alcoholic drinks also buy alcohol. The same friend ordering a craft cocktail at dinner is the one reaching for a great NA option an hour later. They alternate through the night, so your bar needs to serve both sides well.

What It Means for Your Event

At a 100-person event, roughly 46 of your guests may not be drinking. If the only thing waiting for them is Coke and Sprite, you have quietly made nearly half your party an afterthought. You do not have to:

• 75% of employees prefer alcohol-free corporate gatherings
• One-third of event attendees no longer drink alcohol
• Google searches for "dry wedding" increased 85% in the past year
• TikTok's #drywedding has 3 million+ views
• Venues offering craft NA programs see real results. Cedar Lakes Estate in NY saw a 457% increase in non-alcoholic beverage sales in 2024

Mocktails Are Not the Cheap Option Anymore

A good mocktail is no longer a runner-up. Upscale venues price them at $14 to $20, right alongside full cocktails, because the ingredients (yuzu, botanical spirits, adaptogens) and the care that goes into them earn it. 40% of operators plan to expand their non-alcoholic offerings this year, and venues bringing in around $2M annually see an average $95,000 boost from a fuller mocktail menu. The point for you is simpler: the drink in your non-drinking guest's hand can be every bit as beautiful as anyone else's.

Why Scissortail Exists

"We built the brand to face the reality of the times," says Bar-Key founder Patrick Wilson. "Alcohol is trending down and mocktails are up, but the truth is it was never about the alcohol or the drink. It is about the people. Scissortail is about championing a drink for everyone, so nobody at your event feels left out."

Scissortail Bartending is our budget-friendly, streamlined bartending brand, built so that every guest at your event feels as celebrated as the ones holding a cocktail. When you plan with us, the friend who is driving, the one who is expecting, the one who simply does not drink, and the one who is just pacing themselves all get a real, crafted drink, right down to our signature Scissortail Sunset mocktail with its Oklahoma-sunset color. That is the whole idea, and your guests will feel it.