California’s drinking habits have swung back and forth constantly over the past century, but they appear to have undergone a particularly dramatic shift in the last couple of years, according to a trove of state tax data analyzed by the Chronicle.
Recently, California has experienced something of a wine-and-beer drought. In the 2024 fiscal year, from July 2023 to June 2024, the per capita rate of wine consumption hit a 30-year low, according to the data, while beer consumption dipped to a rate not seen since 1965.
Spirits consumption, meanwhile, in 2023 and 2024 reached its highest rate since the mid-’80s, with the average Californian drinking 2 gallons of liquor each year — but not because of the likes of whiskey, gin and vodka. The growth of spirits is due in large part to the popularity of the “ ready to drink ” category, which includes canned cocktails like High Noon…