What will everyone see in their glasses in the year ahead?

These 2015 predictions include upscale shots, more flexibility in cocktails and even robot bartenders—plus a few wishful speculations just for fun.

1. Lots of Shots
The backlash against stuffy cocktails will continue with the beer-and-a-shot combo—or sometimes just a shot. New York’s Boilermaker has a full menu of beer-and-a-shot combinations, including the Dark & Bitter (Victory Storm King Stout and Ramazotti amaro), as well as the option for a “Bucket of Boilermakers” for large groups, namely a six-pack of beer plus six shots of Buffalo Trace bourbon. At Miami Beach restaurant The Forge, it’s all about “dessert shots,” such as The Layered Grasshopper Shot (crème de menthe, crème de cacao and sweetened cream).

2. The End of Bartenders
Between flashy robot bartenders on board Royal Caribbean’s new Quantum of the Seas cruise ship, Monsieur the “robotic bartender,” and WiFi-enabled, Keurig-style “automated craft cocktail machines,” technology completes its takeover of the world, one cocktail at a time.