Expensive drinks when buying rounds.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Arghh! I hate buying rounds anyway. But I wish people wouldn't ask for G&T with the more expensive gin. When 3 out of six people want one. It gets a bit pricey!

YANBU. Could you opt out of the round? I never do rounds but also never let anyone pay for me.

It's a bit tricky to opt out as the others will often buy drinks.but I usually just have a pint of shandy! Slightly cheaper than a G&T. Though the group last night was bigger than normal.

YANBU. Awful etiquette to ask for something more expensive than the others when someone else is buying your round. They don’t really work unless it’s simple pints or spirits in my opinion

Rounds don’t work if there’s a big difference in price. One friend of mine likes cocktails and I have wine. She buy two to my one. It works out sort of even. In a larger group I’d say I’ll buy my own.

How much is a gin and tonic? I’m curious as I don’t drink alcohol

£8/9 usually. More with ‘fancy’ gin

I always say 'we stay on our own' when night out. In other words, we will buy our own

That's the risk with rounds tbh. If you're having a pint of shandy that's only "slightly cheaper" than the G&T, why would it be an issue?

I think if they're drinking the same drink each time and not going from a half pint on their round to a triple top shelf gin and lemonade on yours then it's not wrong - if they want a G&T with a particular gin then that's what they want to drink. Easiest way around it is don't do rounds / do rounds with people you drink the same as.

You just said yours is only slightly cheaper so what’s the issue?

Why should someone drink a shit brand of gin they don’t like as much because everyone decided to go in a round.

The only time it would be unfair is if they were buying the cheap gin on their round and then having a more expensive one on everyone else’s round.

As a teetotaller, I don’t get involved in rounds. My Diet Coke doesn’t not cost the same as an alcoholic drink of any type and I refuse to subsidise other people’s alcohol. Buying even one round would cost more than a whole evening of drinks just for me.

I think we should normalise people just paying for themselves.

Take their order and get the cheaper gin. I bet they don’t even taste the difference. If they complain say “oh sorry I forgot”.

I hate that.

There's a couple we go out with and every time it's their round she has a single rum and coke. On everyone else's round she asks for a double!

But then you’d have six people going to the bar individually

we do a kitty but we don’t sit and count how much everyone’s drink costs. However if one person is drinking something much cheaper than everyone else, then they should simply go it alone.

I don’t think saying everyone has to drink something they don’t wish to drink as it is cheaper is ok either. If you enter into rounds you accept drink prices will vary. Otherwise just pay for your own.

It works for us. Its not a big bind.

Hate that.
I usually get into rounds when it's family but we have a family member who is late teens (old enough to drink) who always asks for a "large" like a large vodka and coke or a large gin.
The rest of us will be on soft drinks, pints or halves.
The family member is always classed as a kid so isn't expected to buy a round, boils my piss.
Asked her once if it was her round and serious bad vibes ensued from her and her parent.

Asking for a cocktail or champagne is bad round etiquette but a G&T is just a standard pub drink.

I'd 'forget' her drink in the round and send her to the bar herself after!

one of my biggest peeves lately is the way the hospitality industry has rebranded a G&T as a cocktail, not a spirit and mixer drink.

If you want a vodka and tonic, it can be £5/8, but for some reason getting your goblet of gin and a slice of lemon makes it a £8/12 drink in a lot of places.

I think good round etiquette should say if you know your drink is significantly pricier than the company your with then you go alone or you do a double round to others one.
If it was a split of 3 people on cocktails and 3 on pints, I’d suggest there be two rounds maybe.

Old enough to drink in rounds, old enough to pay for rounds.....

YABVU

Whats the point of going out for a drink if you have to drink something you don’t want?

If you don’t want to be in rounds then you have to make more effort to say no at the start. You don’t try and stop other people having their chosen drink.

My ex used to do this. Someone would say they’re going to the bar and he would ask for a double of a really expensive gin. I’d find it mortifying. His order would be over twice the price of a pint. Rounds are fine if someone doesn’t take the piss.

I think rounds are outdated now so many pubs serve very expensive drinks as the norm - cocktails, or things branded as cocktails as pps have noted about gin. They only really work when everyone is on pints or the old fashioned single spirit/small glass of wine that doesn't cost nigh on a tenner.

Best just to say 'I'll sort myself out' unless you're with people you know well enough to be confident that rounds will work.

It doesn't work unless they are similarly priced. I was drinking a half pint to an ex's pint so had to switch to alternating a pint with a lime and soda on my round, or just taking the cash for what I was going to drink as they got funny about us buying our own. One reason why they are an ex.

Her parent could always buy two rounds if she is still a dependent so they don't expect her to.

I had a friend do this last time we went out. She was drinking double 'fancy' gin and tonic, and I was driving so had a few glasses of lime and soda. We had a meal and split the bill 50/50, I was quietly seething.