Maps charting the "most popular" examples of something (e.g., fast food restaurants, movies) in every U.S. state have become a common online feature, and in March 2021 the travel site Upgraded Points added to that collection with a map showing the most popular cocktails in each U.S. state during the year-long COVID-19 pandemic period spanning March 2020 to March 2021:
Upgraded Points explained the methodology they used in compiling the map as follows:
To determine Americans' favorite quarantine-era cocktails, we first compiled a list of the most common and most popular cocktails around the U.S. Next, we pored over Google Trends data from the past 12 months for each cocktail to see which one Americans searched for the most.
We analyzed the results on both a state-by-state basis and a national level. Additionally, we looked at seasonal trends by determining the most searched cocktails in both the warm weather months of spring and summer (3/19/20 through 9/22/20) and the cold weather months of fall and winter (9/23/20 – 12/31/20).
The cocktail that ranked #1 in the greatest number of states was the mimosa, a champagne and orange juice drink that was the top choice in Colorado, Maryland, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Second place honors were a five-way tie between piña coladas, wine coolers, white Russians, mojitos, and margaritas, all of which were ranked the favorite in three states each.
"In the end," Upgraded Points noted, "the cocktails that Americans searched for showed that people were willing to treat themselves to some fun, delicious flavors even when they couldn't head to local bars or travel to destination restaurants."