Tequila's 10% Problem

2026 Market Report and Trends

Craft tequila is about a tenth of the overall tequila market in the United States, and it produced more than all of the category's growth in the past two years. The next ten points have to come from drinkers who currently buy something else.

This new report from The Tequila Report combines a national survey of U.S. tequila drinkers with retail scan data. We surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults age 21 and older who drink tequila at least once a month, and asked what they pay, which claims on a bottle change their minds, whose recommendations they act on, and what they still wish they understood about tequila.

Sponsored by PKGD Group.

SUMMARY:
A tenth of the tequila shelf produced all of the category's growth.

Tequila dollars in retail scan data fell 3.5% to $5.29 billion over the past year ending August 29, 2026. At the category level, that looks like the end of the tequila boom. At the shelf level, it's a transfer of purchase preference.

For this analysis, The Tequila Report defines a craft tequila brand as one that does not use an industrial diffuser at any point in production, does not use the extra sweeteners, colors or other enhancers that regulations permit up to 1% by weight (brand-asserted), and sells fewer than 200,000 9L cases across a 52-week period in retail scan data. We identified 181 brands that currently qualify.

Together, those brands account for 9.7% of U.S. tequila dollars at retail. In the past 12 months they grew 18.6%, while the sum of the remaining brands declined 5.4%. Over two years, craft brands added approximately $167 million in sales while conventional brands declined by approximately $92 million.

Craft tequila is growing faster than anything else in the tequila category, and faster than any traditionally distilled spirit. Yet it still accounts for a fraction less than 10% of sales. Why? We decided to find out.

Getting to 15% or 20% of the tequila market is a different job than getting to the first 10%. The drinkers who buy craft tequila today are already convinced. Every incremental sales percentage from here has to be taken from somebody currently reaching for a non-craft brand.

This is not only a craft tequila conundrum. Tequila's only net growth came from the craft segment. If craft momentum stalls, tequila stalls.

Nine Findings That Define Tequila in the U.S. Right Now

1. The tequila aisle has split into two markets moving in opposite directions. Craft brands grew nearly 19% over the past year. The conventional brands on the shelf fell more than 5%. The five best-selling brands surrendered more than two hundred million dollars of category share in two years. Meanwhile, craft brands have added $167 million in sales across the same time period.

1. Tequila drinkers in the U.S. say they are drinking more, not less. 35% report drinking more tequila than a year ago. Nine percent report drinking less. Among weekly drinkers, 58% are drinking more.

1. People in the U.S. bought more tequila than ever and paid less for it. Units sold hit an all-time record of 290.5 million, up nearly 6%, while dollar volume fell 3.5%. Average price per bottle dropped from $21.37 to $18.21 in two years.

1. Expensive tequila is a splurge, not a routine. Blanco buyers say they typically spend $41.14 on a 750ml bottle, and 82% of them stop at $50. The median blanco buyer spends $40.

1. Tequila is increasingly a blanco + reposado category. 19% of tequila drinkers in the U.S. buy no añejo at all and 25% buy no extra añejo. In the past year, añejo sales fell nearly 12% and extra añejo sales fell more than 14%.

1. Brand familiarity outranks every claim on a bottle label, and credentials reward drinkers who are already converted. Familiarity with the brand matters to 72% of drinkers. "Additive free" matters to more than 55%. Organic certification matters to less than 39%. Celebrity ownership matters to just 20%. Every one of those credentials matters more to weekly drinkers than to occasional ones. Trust is the only exception.

1. A bartender sells more tequila than a liquor store clerk. 32% of drinkers act on a bartender's recommendation. 17% act on a retail employee's suggestion. Paid advertising in every form ranks below both as a purchase driver, and free samples can be an effective motivator.

1. Most tequila drinkers in the U.S. have exactly one word for quality, and many are still asking basic questions. 53% of everyone who described what they like about their favorite tequila used one word: smooth. No other adjective is used with any degree of consistency. Three in four tequila drinkers have heard of "additive free" tequila, yet a legitimate portion of tequila consumers still have questions about "the worm," which was never in tequila, only mezcal.

1. There is no aspirational ladder in tequila. Told to set aside price and availability and name a dream bottle, nearly 90% of the surveyed tequila drinkers who named a coveted tequila named one of the same five mass brands. Every craft and small-batch brand combined accounted for about 1% of answers.

About The Tequila Report

The Tequila Report is a digital magazine and email newsletter for tequila consumers and industry professionals that includes news, reviews, interviews, analysis, events calendars, rankings, and more.

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This study is not directly comparable to our 2025 research, Only the Differentiated Survive, which surveyed engaged enthusiasts rather than the general tequila-drinking public.

Work for a craft tequila brand? Join The Tequila Report and 200 attendees at the first-ever gathering of craft tequila brands, February 21-23, 2027 in Las Vegas, where we'll do a deep-dive on this research. Apply to attend the Craft Tequila Conference.

For private or small group briefings on this research, media inquiries, or requests to use this material, please contact Jay Baer, Editor of The Tequila Report, via [email protected]. Members of the media can also download the PDF directly.