The Tequila Report just published its 2026 consumer research: 29 pages on how people actually buy tequila now. We read every page and took notes. What follows is not a summary of their report (that is their work, and it is worth your time). These are the stats that stuck with us, our honest reaction to each one, and what we would put in your hands for it.
Every number below comes from The Tequila Report's 2026 consumer study, "Only the Differentiated Survive." Go read the whole thing. Or keep scrolling. We already did.
"87% won't pay more than $55 for a blanco."
Fair enough. And here is the part that surprised us: it holds no matter what people earn. This is not a budget decision. Drinkers have simply decided what unaged tequila should cost, and they are not wrong.
It also answers a question we hear constantly: if great blanco exists under $55, why is tequila so expensive everywhere else? Mostly aging, glass, and marketing, in that order. Well-made juice does not need a triple-digit price tag to be excellent.
So if you are hunting for the best tequila under $50, this is a golden age. Three bottles we would put up against anything:
- Mijenta Blanco ($44.99): additive-free highland blanco from one of the most sustainability-minded producers in Jalisco.
- G4 Blanco ($49.99): made at El Pandillo with a blend of rainwater and deep-well spring water. Mention it to a tequila nerd and watch them nod.
- Siempre Plata ($49.99): a bartender favorite that overdelivers at this price.
Stretch the budget by five dollars and Wild Common Blanco ($52.99) and Tequila Ocho Plata ($54.99) join the conversation. Or browse every blanco we carry under $55, all on one shelf.
"84% of engaged drinkers demand additive-free."
Table stakes now, not a selling point. Tequila can legally contain up to 1% additives with no disclosure on the label, which is how some big-name bottles get that vanilla-frosting smoothness. Drinkers who pay attention have caught on, and they are not going back.
We are with them: our additive-free collection runs more than 90 bottles deep. If you want the full story on what additive-free actually means (and why it matters), we wrote that up too.
"Craft brands grew 28.5%. The big names declined 1.5%."
The quietly seismic one. Mass-market tequila still accounts for about 71% of sales, but it is shrinking, while craft tequila brands, the small producers who argue about yeast strains for fun, grew 28.5% in a year. The market is moving toward the people who make tequila the slow way.
The Tequila Report also named the fastest-growing craft tequila brands in the country. We carry seven of them: G4, Lalo, La Gritona, Lost Lore, The Lost Explorer, Wild Common, and Zumbador. That is not a coincidence. Small distilleries doing things the hard way is more or less our entire buying philosophy.
Go find one you have not tried yet.
"90% of drinkers have one go-to brand they never leave."
We get it. Loyalty in tequila is real, and the good brands earn it. If your bottle is your bottle, we are not here to break you up.
But we carry over 100 brands, so there is room to see other people. Nobody has to know. Start with what just landed, or wander the whole shelf until something looks at you funny.
"Bottles over $100 declined 18% late last year."
People are not done with premium tequila. They just want the math to make sense, and honestly, so do we. A great anejo costs real money for real reasons: agave takes six-plus years to grow, barrels are expensive, and every month of resting is a month of patience. (We wrote a whole piece on where the money in a good bottle actually goes.) What people are done with paying for is the box it comes in.
Two ways we keep the good stuff under the line:
- The Tequila Box ($199.99 a shipment): three premium bottles picked by our experts every month, up to 40% less than the same bottles at retail. Voted Best Tequila Club by Liquor.com. Skip, pause, or cancel anytime. Get the Box.
- Everything under $100: rather pick for yourself? Every bottle we carry under $100, one page, no settling.
"Fewer than 3 in 10 trust a store employee's recommendation."
Rude. Also fair. So do not take our word for any of it: our best sellers are ranked by the people who bought them twice, and over 10,000 five-star reviews do the recommending for us.
Over 100 Brands, One Shelf
However you buy tequila (under $55 only, additive-free only, craft brands only, loyal to one bottle forever), we have probably got you covered. Shop the whole shelf. Salud.
Research cited from The Tequila Report's 2026 consumer study, "Only the Differentiated Survive." It is free, it is 29 pages, and it is genuinely interesting.
