Survey: The UK’s post-lockdown drinks

With the UK following social distancing measures as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, many of us have been looking to the future. Not just being able to see our friends and families again, but being able to enjoy a freshly poured pint at our local watering hole.

This got us wondering, what exactly will the UK be drinking when we are allowed out again? What’s the most popular drink that Brits can’t wait to celebrate with?

We ran a survey to show exactly that – asking the UK population what beverage they’d like to enjoy in pubs, bars, or restaurants as their first public drink beyond our ‘new normal’.

Here’s what we found.

Gin will be the UK’s most ordered alcoholic drink post-lockdown

The results show that the majority of Brits are going to order a gin when asked what their first drink would be. Although this will be the first alcoholic drink of choice, the most popular drink overall was actually chosen as tea or coffee. How very British of us.

These are the most popular 20 alcoholic drinks that the UK will be ordering first post-lockdown:

The results show that the alcoholic drink most men in the UK are looking forward to is a pint of Stella Artois, whilst the most popular post-lockdown drink for women is a Gin & Tonic. Men are also planning to spend £23.30 while women plan to spend just £16.07, on average.

25-34-year-olds are planning to spend the most on drinks after lockdown is lifted (£28.13) followed closely by 16-24-year-olds (£24.46).

Kaizen also spoke with Neil Harrison founder, Chef and Master Distiller at Nelson’s distillery and school who had this to say about our research and the fact that gin came out on top:

“The explosion in the popularity of gin over the last five years can be attributed to the growing numbers of younger consumers who have been attracted by the adventurous range of flavours, engaging social media, and the direct to consumer activities of craft gin companies such as Nelson’s. 

These results are no surprise and mirror our own growth in online sales. We have sold 4 months of sales in April alone, which I think is a symptom of people spending a lot more time at home and in their gardens due to the sunny weather. We always see a marked increased in sales as the weather improves around May – August.”

These are the most popular drinks for each UK region and city

Does first drink choice differ across regions as much as our favourite takeaways or the way we say bread roll?

Taking a look at the results these are the most popular alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for each region:

Region	Most popular drink (Alcoholic)	Most popular drink (Non-alcoholic)
East of England	Guinness Kronenbourg 1664 Stella Artois	Coke Tea or coffee
Greater London	Chardonnay	Tea or coffee
East Midlands	Gin Whisky	Coke
West Midlands	Peroni	Tea or coffee
North East	Fosters	Tea or coffee
North West	Corona	Tea or coffee
Northern Ireland	Daquiri Pina Colada	Coke
Scotland	Pinot Grigio	Tea or coffee
South East	Gin	Tea or coffee

Pulling out key results for each city, here’s what our research found the most popular drink and average spend to be across the country:

With gin taking the top spot, Koppaberg the most ordered cider and 1 in 10 beers first ordered after COVID-19 being Stella Artois, what will your post-lockdown drink be?