Last update: Tue Aug 9 2022
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American Alcoholic Beverages
Have you ever wondered what is the most popular drink in the USA? Americans love to drink — and no, not just alcoholic beverages. In fact, more often than not it’s a nonalcoholic refreshment. The top favorites are fairly consistent from year to year, but follow certain trends; marketing, advertising, new findings, and health consciousness all appear to play a role in what kind of drink people reach for. The most popular drink has changed from year to year due to what is new on the market, and what is the most popular (or cool) thing to drink when you are feeling a certain way. Here are the Top 5 most popular drinks in the U.S.
5.) Milk
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Milk is a most popular drink in the USA. Almost on par with beer, but sliding steadily, the average American drank 20.2 gallons of milk in 2011. That was down more than 3 percent from the previous year and a whopping 30 percent since 1975. This is interesting because as soda came under the microscope for its role in obesity, milk is a healthier alternative for school kids. So you’d kind of expect milk consumption to go up as soda guzzling went down, but alas, apparently it was only water’s race to win.
Cow’s milk isn’t the only milk that is popular in American households. It seems there has been a spike in the popularity of non-dairy milk. People are drinking these types of milk because they are either lactose intolerant or they just don’t like the taste of cow’s milk. At most American grocery stores, there seems to be a lot of options to choose from like oat milk, soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, cashew milk, and more. They also come in different flavors like vanilla, plain, chocolate, and coffee! Non-dairy milk has more vitamins and minerals than regular cow’s milk.
4.) Beer
Beer is the only alcoholic beverage to make the list. Americans drank an average of 20.8 gallons of suds in 2012, that makes beer a most popular drink in the USA. In comparison, wine, which many consider a much healthier alcoholic alternative, has risen slightly over the same time period, but still only clocks in at a little more than 10 percent of beer consumption. And that means beer fans guzzle a lot more than wine lovers, since 39 percent of drinkers prefer beer and a very close 35 percent choose wine, according to a 2012 Gallup poll.
Even though beer has remained America’s most popular alcoholic beverage, there has been a rise in breweries across the country. More college graduates and millennials are drinking beer and incorporating it into their daily life. This has caused large companies to release new beers and multiple different flavors. If you walk into a liquor store, people notice there is a lot of beers. Americans love beer so much that they have created ways to bring beer into their life. For example, someone has created beer yoga, where you are drinking beer when you are doing yoga. There are also different uses for beer other than drinking that can be helpful to any beer lovers out there.
3.) Coffee
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As expected, the beverage that fuels many a morning commuter had to be on the list. More than 80 percent of adults in the U.S. drink coffee, up 5 percent from the previous year, according to a 2013 survey by the National Coffee Association. These stats, make coffee a most popular drink in the USA. But ounce for ounce, it’s not necessarily rising; discerning tastes and the popularity of gourmet blends mean that in 2012 Americans sipped an average of 23 gallons of java, which is less than half what the consumption was in 1946. The 5 Best Espresso Machines for Coffee Lovers in 2020
It seems that coffee is part of everyone’s daily routine. You wake up, have coffee. You’re tired in the middle of the day, you have a cup of coffee. We don’t even realize it, but it’s proven that coffee is the most addictive substance in the US right now. What?! It’s true. But there are health benefits to drinking your morning cup of joe. Coffee has antioxidants that are incorporated into their beans. One serving of coffee each day has more antioxidants than oranges and blueberries. Also, antioxidants in each cup of coffee help reduce inflammation, which could lead to different disorders down the road.
If you aren’t a big coffee drinker or you want to start consuming more coffee on a regular basis, try out an espresso machine that will make you a strong, but delightful, a cup of coffee. If you want to try and grind your own coffee instead of having it done at the grocery store, check out our reviews of the best coffee grinders on the market right now and there are also combined options, such as coffee machines with grinder built-in.
2.) Soda
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Blame the giant tubs of the stuff regularly served up at convenience stores and fast food restaurants. Or blame Michael Jackson and Bill Cosby hawking Pepsi and Coke in the 1980s. But for two decades carbonated soft drinks topped the list of popular beverages, with people drinking 44.7 gallons on average in 2010, 51.5 gallons in 2005 and a whopping 54 gallons in 1998, the height of its reign. That constant decline, though—fueled by findings that it contributes to the nation’s out-of-control obesity—led to the king being knocked off the top of the mountain by its old rival, water, in 2013.
At the beginning of the 1980s and 1990s, soda was the most popular drink in the US. America’s loved that this can of liquid tasted just like candy! It could go well with other drinks like beer and other hard liquors. Because of the spike in popularity, there were new brands popping up all the time like Dr. Pepper, Spirit, Mountain Dew, and more. Americans are addicted to sugar and the sugar high that soda gave them. People then stopped drinking coffee and started drinking soda instead because Americans were able to get their caffeine faster.
Because of the increase in soda drinking during these two decades, doctors started to see an increase in obesity and other health related diseases. The most popular soda brands offer diet versions of Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and more. Remember to treat soda like a treat! Don’t have it every day, but don’t completely cut it out of your diet if you enjoy the taste of candy liquid.
1.) Water
Water is the most popular drink in the USA. Water is free of calories, and practically free of cost if you drink it from the tap. Throughout history, it’s been the life-giving beverage of choice. But it’s not all that exciting, so for 20 years, it was overshadowed by America’s love affair with soda. That all changed in early 2013 when water once again became the beverage of choice in the USA. We now drink an average of 58 gallons a year; 21 gallons of that is the bottled variety. That’s quite an increase from the 42 gallons of water we drank in 1998.
Being hydrated is an important part of your health. Even though water is the most popular drink in the US, people have a difficult time consuming enough water each day. Without water, our bodies would stop working in the correct way. Water makes up more than half of our body. Someone cannot survive for more than a few days without it. For your body to do its job in the correct way, it needs water to do them properly.
Water is essential to living, but some people have a hard time drinking it because it has no flavor. If you want to make drinking water more “fun,” try these tips.
- Decorate your water bottle with stickers: If you have an insulated water bottle that is boring or doesn’t excite you, try decorating it with stickers! It can be from something you are passionate about to your favorite TV show or band.
- Give yourself goals. If you have a goal to drink 64oz day, make sure to set reminders on your phone to reach your drinking goal every single day.
- Mix it up. If you want to make your water taste like something, mix it up with different flavoring packets. This will satisfy your cravings and force you to consume more water.
Is your favorite drink on our list? Americans seem to have a wide variety of beverages they drink on a daily basis. If you are looking for a new water bottle, click the next button to see the best insulated water bottle.