The UK’s cocktail landscape has evolved. Drinkers are reaching for a far wider range of flavours and serves than they used to, with briny, umami-rich profiles currently trending. Bringing that shift to life is a reimagined classic: the Campari Dirty Negroni, created in partnership with cult food brand Perelló.
The serve takes the familiar bittersweet Campari base and adds the salty richness of Perelló’s olive brine and green olives. It’s the same instinct that’s driven the rise of the dirty martini – now applied to the much-loved aperitivo.
This shift is another example of how flavour trends are increasingly moving seamlessly between food and drink. Hot honey turned a niche pizza-topping habit into a full-blown phenomenon, drizzled over everything. Chilli crisp went the same way, jumping from noodles onto ice cream sundaes and into cult condiment status.
Google searches for “Dirty Martini” and “olive brine for martinis” have hit Breakout status, up more than 5,000%, as cocktail drinkers increasingly swap sweet mixers for the depth of premium olive brine. New polling commissioned by Campari shows just how far this has spread. Nearly four in ten British cocktail drinkers (39%) now offer guests salty or briny drinks when hosting at home, a fifth say they’ve regularly ordered savoury, briny or bittersweet drinks over the past year when out socialising, and among Gen Z specifically, one in five are exploring salt, brine and complex umami notes in what they drink.
London is leading the trend. The capital has been named the UK’s “Dirtiest” City, with a third of bar-goers actively asking for their cocktails extra dirty or filthy.
None of this should come as a surprise. The rise of “picky bits” culture and artisanal grazing boards across social media has already primed us for salt and umami. Now, cocktails are simply catching up. Half of hosts (49%) now consider bar-quality briny cocktails essential for entertaining at home, and one in five Brits are regularly reaching for premium ingredients like olive brine to elevate their drinks.
Campari and Perelló have partnered with top venues across the UK until the end of September to pour the official Dirty Negroni, giving drinkers a taste of the season’s defining trend. See where you can get your hands on one this Negroni Week.
Drink Responsibly.
Research Methodology:
The research was conducted by Censuswide, among a sample of 2000 Nationally representative UK respondents (Aged 18+). The data was collected between 03.09.2026 – 07.09.2026. Censuswide is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS) and the British Polling Council (BPC), and a signatory of the Global Data Quality Pledge. We adhere to the MRS Code of Conduct and ESOMAR principles
