Beverage Digest magazine tracks U.S. beverage-consumption figures and graciously shared them with us for this chapter. Perhaps the statistic that says the most about American lifestyle changes at the turn of the most recent century is the per capita consumption figure for bottled water: It has risen from 8.7 gallons per person per year in 1993, to 16.6 gallons per person per year in 2003. In contrast Americans drank the highest amount of distilled spirits—two gallons per person per year—back in the 1970s. Since 1993 consumption figures have hovered between 1.2 and 1.3 gallons per person per year. When the fitness enthusiast does drink, he or she wants a ‘‘light’’ drink, one that is perceived to contain less alcohol and fewer calories. (Some of these drinks do and some don’t, as we will see). But overall, sales of spirits continue to decline. ‘‘White goods’’ (vodka, gin, tequila, and rum) generally do better than ‘‘brown goods’’ (bourbon, scotch, and other whiskies) even though they all have similar alcohol contents. Wine enjoyed its largest upsurge in popularity in the 1980s, reaching a high of 2.4 gallons per person per year. Wine is still popular and boasts a loyal following, but overall consumption has remained steady, at about 2 gallons per person per year since 1990. Despite jam-packed supermarket wine-section shelves and all kinds of exotic choices, the three best sellers continue to be Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and White Zinfandel. Beer sales look very impressive when compared to wine and spirits. Americans consume a little more than 21 gallons of beer per person per year. However, this is a slump compared to the 24-gallon-per-person figures of the 1980s, and it is less than half the amount of soft drinks we consume annually. To slow sales erosion and attract health-conscious consumers, beer companies busily introduced some major product extensions in the 1990s: light beers (lower