The Domestic
Sophie White says no to constructive criticism
What will the coronavirus mean for the future of drinking? What is going to happen to one of life’s simplest pleasures? Nobody knows for sure, but we can make a few educated guesses. We know that the virus acts as a catalyst — speeding up existing trends. One sad trend that will be accelerated will be fewer pubs, fewer breweries and fewer distilleries as the economy sags.
The pubs that survive will change and evolve. With social-distancing rules in place, fewer people are going to be going to pubs to meet new people. The large bars where people congregate in the hopes of meeting a partner or new friends are going to really struggle. That will make pubs quieter places and probably lead to a greater emphasis on good food, good coffee and comfortable seating.
We are also going to drink differently. Price will become important again. This is bad news for the many innovative companies out there doing something new. Some of this innovation was plain annoying, but most of us will miss those craft beers, locally distilled gins and new whiskeys once they are gone.
The Puritans will cheer but these trends will probably encourage the use of cannabis and other drugs which lend themselves better to social distancing. This trend is already contributing to a widespread decline in drinking observed in Generation Z.
Finally, the country’s obsolete licencing laws will get a de facto overhaul as mail-order drinks become commonplace. At first, these drinks will be supplied by
Irish companies. Plenty of my friends appear to be buying cocktails delivered by enterprising firms over the internet. In some areas, pubs are delivering pints, which is legal due to gaps in the legislation.
The next step is inevitable: direct sales of wine from mainland Europe to Irish households. At present this is impossible due to onerous paperwork imposed by our customs and excise rules. But it is only a matter of time before Europe’s single market is extended to alcohol, and people here can order good wines and spirits at a fraction of the price available here. Unless we cut taxes here, that trend could destroy almost everything that makes social drinking a pleasure at present.