We, as a whole, are a pretty fickle bunch. We’re easily influenced into parting with our hard earned cash in a drop of a hat. People, and I include myself in this, like to be trendy. Fashion is an easy place to see where trends begin and who initiates them. Take that footballing fella David Beckham. All he has to do is wear a stupid pink beanie on a Wednesday and by the Thursday the Ship is awash with stupid pink beanies.
We’re constantly bombarded with people telling us what to wear, what not to wear, where to be seen, and most importantly for us; where to drink.
Over my many years behind the bar I’ve seen many trends in drinking come and go, so for a little nostalgic trip down memory lane here are some of my favourites.
I shall begin with the first bar revolution I can remember; the Wine Bar. Hugely popular in the 80s. The classic Only Fools and Horses sketch may have been the final nail in that bar concepts coffin. “You’re cramping my ss-style mate, your cramping my style”.
Moving on to the 90s (or my drinking honeymoon). With the innocence of youth I was more than happy to consume vast amounts of colourful alcohol from a bottle with a strange name like “Hooch” or “Two Dogs”. Could I tell you what kind of alcohol it was? No. Could anyone? Probably not.
Drinking sophistication took over after that phase and suddenly we all demanded bottled lager from countries I didn’t even know existed. The more obscure, random and weird shaped bottle the better thank you very much.
Women didn’t have it easy either. Starting with wine; it had to Australian Chardonnay, oh yes definitely. Then as if a switch had been flicked, it was anything but Chardonnay. Dregs from the drip trays was ok, just not Chardonnay. Malibu and Archers had a good run. Now these drinks seem to have become associated with the underage drinker, and erm, noone wants to be associated with them.
Next we move closer to the present; Rosé wine. Spurned from my not overly successful “real men drink rose” campaign, I now see grown men, rugby players no less, sharing a bottle of pink while discussing the emotional turmoil of the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
Obviously one can’t finish a list like this without mentioning the currently trendy saviour that is the Jäger-bomb. Whoever came up with the idea of dropping Jägermeister into Red Bull will certainly get his reward in Heaven. This little glass of joy seems destined to transcend sexes and even age groups. (My dad tried one at Christmas, It didn’t go well. Best to stick to the Rioja).
So with all these trends coming and going, who are the trend setters? Who are the people that say “this drink is cool, you should be drinking this”? I don’t think in this instance it’s celebrities. I see George Clooney knock out the occasional Martini ad, yet I’m not motivated to change my usual to a sweet Vermouth. Jay Z is often pictured with a bottle of Crystal in hand yet I wouldn’t fork out 250 sheets on the tipple of a quiet Tuesday night.
Maybe it’s the media. Ever since the immortal words “I bet he drinks Carling Black Label” were first muttered, adverts for alcohol have been sharp, witty and enticing. Yet one of my favourite ads is for Fosters and I won’t even go there.
If I had to put my finger on it to say who are the trend setters, then I’m going with bar staff. These transient work forces of international unsung heroes are the guys and girls in the know. They eat, sleep, drink, work, drink, occasionally pee, drink and drink. They have seen more messy nights than most can remember because they were there, sober and remembering. They are first to know about new drinks, they should be your first port of call regarding choices and recommendations. They should be your best friend, your wingman and your spiritual BS advisor. Perhaps I’m getting a tad wax lyrical about these guys, But hey I’ve been one for a while now.
So apparently we are the ones in the know. So we should know what the next big thing will be for the drinking trends. After a late night discussion over a couple of scoops, bottle of wine and four rounds of Jägers, Ship bar ledge Jonny “the Rocket” Knight and I came to these alcohol-infused conclusions; Jägermeister and red bull aren’t going anywhere. There won’t be an alternative that keeps both men and women happy outside of their normal drinks. Real ale is the grower on the bar. Customers like the fact their drinks are locally brewed, organic or have a cool name, topped off with being cheaper than mass produced lager. Sauvignon Blanc is and will be the weapon of choice for wine drinkers for a while. Finally a long shot tip-for-the-top for summer; Turbo Dark and Stormy. The original Dark and Stormy drink of dark rum over ice with fresh lime, but with added twist of using Crabbie’s alcoholic ginger beer for an extra kick. Remember you heard it here first.
