The FINANCIAL — Whether it's a hoppy IPA or an earthy cabernet, a funky new flavor of vodka or a smoky single malt scotch, there's no shortage of choice when it comes to alcoholic beverages.
But what are the most popular types in the ten largest U.S. cities? And how likely are those markets' inhabitants to sample them? Major Market Query (MMQ) omnibus platform, the answer to this second question has, as it turns out, a thing or two to do with tea (or possibly tee), according to a study utilizing Harris Interactive's Harris Poll.
Americans 21 and older in the original Tea Party town (Boston) and the town where Tea Party Republicans have been making recent waves (Washington, D.C.) are more likely than those in any of America's other top ten markets to drink alcohol at least once a week (44% each), according to the study.
On the other end of things, the "T" in Texas is, apparently, for "teetotalers," with Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston residents being the likeliest – by a wide margin – to indicate that they never drink alcohol (31% and 28%, respectively).
Among those who drink alcohol at least several times a year, beer, wine and spirits receive varying levels of love. When it comes to what percentage in each market say they ever drink various types of alcoholic beverages…
More consumers in Philadelphia ever drink beer (70%) than in any other market, followed by those in Dallas/Fort Worth (66%), Los Angeles (64%), Atlanta (64%), D.C. (63%) and Chicago (62%); NYC Metro and Houston consumers (55% each) are least likely to do so.
NYC Metro and Boston consumers (70% and 69%, respectively) are the most likely to ever drink wine; Dallas/Fort Worth consumers (41%) are least likely.
Vodka seems to most wet the whistles of consumers in the NYC Metro (48%), D.C. (46%) and Chicago (45%) markets, while those in the Los Angeles (28%) and Houston (30%) markets are least likely to ever drink it.
Whether it's spelled whiskey or whisky, and whether it comes in the form of bourbon, scotch or other varieties, D.C. (39%), Dallas/Fort Worth (37%), Boston (37%) and Atlanta (35%) consumers are most likely to gravitate toward this category; those in Los Angeles (21%), Chicago (22%) and Houston (22%) are least likely to do so.
D.C. is also the market showing the strongest affinity for rum (37%), while consumers in Houston (33%), Boston (29%) and Chicago (29%) are the most likely to ever drink tequila.
And when it comes to breaking out the bubbly, consumers in the D.C. (26%) and NYC Metro (25%) markets are more likely than those in any other market to ever drink champagne or sparkling wine.
It's one thing to ever drink something, but what do consumers in each city say they drink most often?
Beer tops the list in most markets, holding the N1 position in all but NYC, Los Angeles and San Francisco – all three of which are in states with thriving wine industries, which may contribute to the fact that wine is the top selection in these markets.
Wine holds the N2 spot in Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, D.C., Atlanta and Houston, while beer is in the second position in NYC, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Dallas/Fort Worth stands out in the crowd, with the whiskey family coming in second – the only market where a top two spot is held by anything other than beer or wine.
Vodka ranks third in most markets, with the exceptions being whiskey in Boston and Atlanta, and wine in Dallas/Fort Worth.
