Anyone else fed up with rising alcohol prices?

[Lucytheluckyone]

So for those who drink alcohol, anyone shocked by how expensive drinks are when out these days? I was out for a nice dinner with my husband last night - the place we were in was a ‘higher end place’ but the general bars (I’m in Edinburgh) are much the same. The cheapest glass of wine was £11.95 (175mls) and cocktails started at £14.00! We opted for a bottle of wine because on working it out had we gone with glasses it may have been £50 alone without even eating! In Edinburgh a cocktail has gone from £7(ish) 2 years ago to over £10! Anyone have this where they live?

Yes. I’ve stopped drinking wine or G&T when we have lunch or drinks. Today we went out and ended up having roast dinner in a pub. I would have liked to have wine, but I’ll have a glass at home later.

But that's not what people are saying is it? They're talking about being ripped off, about it being extortionate, about profiteering, like the prices in hospitality have just risen in isolation, not with the backdrop of the cost of everything increasing to everyone. Most people know that everything has increased but would rather talk about extortion and being ripped off.

I totally get that people have less disposable income, I'm one of them, and I'm not suggesting for a minute that people martyr themselves to support their local boozer, and "It's just too expensive" is totally understandable in the current climate.

If these are the prices being charged by lots of different businesses within the same industry then doesn't it stand to reason that the prices have risen in line with the costs? Rather than a whole industry has unilaterally decided to extort their customers? Places like 'Spoons are cheap because they're so massive, supply a lot of their own stock and have huge buying power, smaller businesses cannot compete.

There's no easy answers because keeping prices affordable means not making enough to cover the cost to supply it, and increasing the prices means people can't afford it and don't come.

Either way it means the same thing, the business doesn't make enough money and the doors close.

It’s partly a an economies of scale thing. Less people drink Guinness zero and I was told it actually costs more to make Thant the regular stuff.

A lot of bars are too posh nowadays, there aren't the spit & sawdust places like there used to be.

No I still think £10 for a cocktail is making a huge markup.

I, hiccup, dukgfd fre a di#df😥

I would be inclined to agree considering the amount of alcohol actually in a cocktail, also if you look at the price of mocktails now it’s mad - they’re about £6-7 in Edinburgh.

I'm in London so used to fairly extortionate prices.

Even I was gobsmacked when we went out for dinner over the weekend - local style restaurant - not remotely high end, the sort with bench seating outside.

£10 for a (plastic) glass of (warmish) house white and a rum and ginger was £12!!

Cocktail are the biggest con ever. A group of us who rarely do such a thing went to a city bar 'for cocktails'.

I picked one that sounded nice but in reality was a single gin, a thimble full of cava, half a bottle of fever tree and a slice of orange poured over so much ice that I couldn't actually drink it. For about £12. I asked if I could have the rest of the Fever Tree and was refused.

Fortunately we all agreed it was nonsense and went to a quieter pub round the corner where normal drinks like double spirits or glasses of wine were little more than half the cost of the cocktails, the music wasn't as loud and we could actually sit round a table and talk to each other.

I think the whole policy around alcohol consumption is muddled… ie use taxation to discourage abuse but then wonder why pubs close!

Same for transport. Everyone should cycle everywhere. But we still need to buy shed loads of cars.

Councils discourage private motoring with parking charges and pedestrianisation.But we still need to buy shed loads of cars.

Planners discourage car ownership with little to no off road parking for a single car. But we still need to buy shed loads of cars.

I bought a lime and soda and a small Diet Coke for a friend in the local last night. £6. I was surprised but guess we have to chalk it up to ‘use it or lose it’ as places are struggling to stay afloat.
For context we used to be affirmed G and T fans but knocked that on the head when it hit £9 with one ice cube and no fruit.

Also adding that I drink so infrequently I wouldn’t usually mind one £9 gin and tonic. But at least chuck in a bit of ice and garnish.