A poll has revealed a fifth of drinkers choose cocktails over beer and wine – which makes sense, because they’re fruity and delicious and don’t leave you feeling bloated.
I’ll probably hear a lot of objections to this opinion, but to me, all beers taste pretty much the same.
I understand some are stronger and some are fizzier and whatnot, but at the end of the day, they all have the same underlying beery-ness.
Cocktails, on the other hand, come in a whole range of flavours, with the common denominator of deliciousness.
You can have fruity ones which don’t even really taste like alcohol – and are far too easy to drink – and there’s some, like a Long Island ice tea, which’ll throw all the spirits in together and really pack a punch.
Cocktails are basically a more sophisticated version of the mix you and your friends used to make with all the leftover alcohol and fruit juice.
It seems a lot of drinkers nowadays are opting for cocktails over other alcoholic beverages, as a poll has revealed a fifth of drinkers now choose them over beer and wine.
Research was conducted with 2000 UK adults, and found many of them were leaving the beer in the tap and the wine in the bottles, in favour of more exotic spirit-based beverages such as mojitos, margaritas and martinis.
People love cocktails so much, they’re even willing to go through the extra creative effort at home to make them.
Almost half of adults surveyed have cocktail-making equipment at home – so they can enjoy the beverages away from the hustle and bustle of packed out pubs and bars.
The survey was commissioned by Gordon’s, Baileys and Tanqueray, and found one fifth of adults are self-proclaimed ‘cocktail aficionados’.
I have to admit, using a cocktail shaker and doing the thing where you bang it to get the glass out does make you feel very skilled and official.
For those who don’t feel they’ve mastered the art just yet, another quarter identified cocktail-making as a skill they’d like to gain in the future.
Anna Jones, author of A Modern Way to Cook and A Modern Way to Eat, teamed up with the drinks brands to help those who want to consider themselves cocktail connoisseurs, by creating The Modern Cocktail Guide.
The author said:
The UK’s love of cocktail culture and the growing trend to learn how to mix the perfect one, serves means that the time couldn’t be better to experiment with pairing cocktails with food.
The whole idea makes for such a wonderful shared experience – getting together with friends and family and taking time to enjoy some delicious mixed drinks ahead of dinner.
Now cocktails are all the rage, it’s thought the nation’s cocktail-making skills are arguably stronger than ever. Half of those in the poll claimed to know the correct mixer ratios for classic cocktails.
They might know the correct ratios, but I’m not convinced everyone sticks to them?
I imagine a lot of people’s idea of ‘two shots of vodka’ resembles something like the following video:
Of course, the cocktail making skills are not to be kept under-wraps, so almost four in 10 of the adults have equipment they bring out for special occasions to impress friends and family.
The research also found many of us are enjoying a cocktail before and after main meals –with 37 per cent having pre-dinner cocktails and 36 per cent indulging in a post-dinner one.
However, despite our love for cocktails, it seems a lot of the time, many of us don’t actually know what goes into them.
The poll revealed 70 per cent were unaware vodka is used to make an espresso martini, and 58 per cent have no idea rum is the key ingredient in a mojito.
I think all the cocktail creator-wannabes are in need of a cocktail guide. It’s all well and good knowing the correct ratios, but if you’re mixing up the wrong ingredients, the result probably won’t be that impressive.
Download Anna Jones’ The Modern Cocktail Guide here.
If you are going to be drinking – please do do responsibly!
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to stories@unilad.co.uk.
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.