Why Spirit Drinkers are Paying More For Less

I've spent a lot of this year in and out of bars, micro pubs, bottle shops and garden centres, and the same story keeps repeating itself. People are drinking less, but they're spending more on what they do buy. If you're not leaning into that shift yet, now's the moment.

It starts with what's on the shelf. Forget chasing volume, craft and small-batch spirits are outselling the big mass-market names, even at a higher price, because people want a bottle with a story behind it. A distillery they could find on a map. Botanicals grown down the road rather than shipped in from nowhere.  The thing I keep coming back to is that none of this sells itself. If your staff can tell the story behind a bottle, it moves. If they can't, it just sits there looking expensive.

And here's the thing, people will pay more for it, provided they can see why. The right glass, the right garnish, a bit of ceremony around the serve, all of that makes a premium price feel earned rather than cheeky. A tasting flight, a pairing night, a gift bundle, these all lift what someone spends without you ever having to discount a thing. But it always comes back to confidence behind the bar or counter. If your team can explain why something costs more, people rarely blink. If they can't, all the customer sees is the price.

None of this holds still through the year either.  Drinking habits shift hard with the seasons, so the same range on offer in spring won't land in November. Spring wants something light and floral, elderflower and fresh citrus. By summer it's all about long, easy, garden-friendly drinking, with summer fruit serves that don't knock you sideways on a warm afternoon. Come autumn, it swings toward warming spice and stone fruit, that shift into cosy season. And then the festive period arrives, and it's rich, indulgent and gift-led by far the biggest spend of the year, and worth planning for properly rather than reacting to.

Which brings me to the bit people always leave too late. Order your premium and limited stock early, because it sells out with distributors well before the season hits. Get your gifting range sorted early too.  Miniatures, gift sets, seasonal bottles all make strong impulse buys at the till. Design your festive cocktail menu before the rush hits rather than during it, and don't forget the tail end of the season either.  New Year, and the crowd cutting back afterward looking for something decent that isn't just soda water. Train your team before the rush starts. You won't get the chance once it does.

Summer's worth its own thought too. A summer gin rather than the usual go-to goes down well, and batching cocktails in pitchers keeps a beer garden moving when the sun actually comes out. A good garnish of fresh herbs, a bit of charred citrus also earns you free marketing the moment someone posts it online.

And don't let gin clock off once summer ends. A gin that pairs itself beautifully with autum ingredients is a lovely thing as the nights draw in. Sloe gin has its moment right now too, a proper autumn tradition, ready to drink from early in the season onward,  pair it with apple or ginger and it earns its spot on a shelf display all on its own.

Whatever corner of the trade you're in, it all comes back to the same thing: people want quality, they want to trust where it's from, and they want a reason to believe the price is fair. Back small, local producers where you can, plan around the seasons rather than fighting them, and get your team telling the story instead of just ringing it through the till. Sort the festive season while it's still warm outside, and the rest tends to follow.

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