The landscape of the drinks industry has been turned on its head, for the foreseeable future at least, perhaps forever.

Without falling into Paddywhackery or typical stereotypes, it’s clear that we Irish have a unique and deeply cultural relationship with the pub. If you were to say rural Irish towns typically centre around (in no particular order) the church, the GAA and/or the pub, few would argue with you. Until a vaccine is widely available, the idea of visiting your favourite local packed full of family, friends and soon-to-be-friends seems a distant wish. But we’re an optimistic bunch, our pint glass is half full, so for the purpose of this blog we’re looking at solutions to the immediate challenge.

If you can’t go to the pub, let the pub come to you…

1) Drizly:

Touted as the ‘Amazon for Alcohol’ (or the ‘Uber for Boozers’), Drizly is a drinks delivery service that is active across USA and Canada. Users download the app, check their local off license stores and purchase as they would any online item. Drizly is an aggregator like Just-Eat or Deliveroo where merchants can show their inventory off. The hope is that no matter what you order, it will be at your door within 60mins. For those currently cocooned or others struggling with the weekly shopping load as it is, a Drizly in Ireland would be a welcome addition to the landscape. Deliveroo and Just-Eat do have access to some restaurants that deliver alcohol but not a dedicated service.

2) Pint Delivery:

We scratched our heads at the feasibility and safety at this when it popped into our timelines initially, but the longer this whole ordeal wears on the more appetising it seems. Hatfield House in Sth Belfast came up with this novel way of delivering fresh pints to its loyal customers – call the pub, put in your order, then later a kitted out van arrives to your door and pulls a fresh pint for you to enjoy. It’s since been stopped by the PSNI but the owners argue they are in compliance with all safety measures and legislation, so we’ll be keeping a watchful eye on its resurgence or other projects just like it.

Closer to home there are similar dial-a-pint services some Dublin pubs are offering their regulars which have “been inundated with calls” to deliver fresh pints and drinks to people within a 1-2km zone; Grainger’s Pub at Hanlon’s Corner getting recognition of its service in the newspapers recently is a key example of publicans adapting to situations and checking in on cocooned customers.

3) Zoom Cocktail Making Classes:

Yep, we’ve all achieved expert Zoom level by this stage and the while it’s only one of a number of live streaming tools at our disposal, it’s clearly the one with most uptake. We’ve noticed a number of brands jumping on the platforms demonstration properties (Ann Summers’ online product parties are a real laugh apparently) so it makes sense to adapt your offering into an online class – enter the skilled mixologists across the country. The premise is simple, each week there are 2 recipes, you buy the products prior to the event (or raid the closest thing in your own cabinet), send the kids/pets/parents to bed early and join in the fun in real time. Daiquiris?!

4) Make Me A Cocktail

If live-streaming isn’t your thing and you haven’t had time or been able to add your favourite tipple to the shopping list then there’s a tidy little website that has exploded in recent times which might be of interest. Take a look in your drinks cabinet/press/attic/pantry (posh!), head over to makemeacocktail.com, pop your ingredients into the ‘bar’ and let the website generate a number of cocktail recipes and directions you can try in your own good time. Breakfast Highball anyone?

5) VR Pubs:

The technology isn’t quite there yet and the functional headsets have not had mass uptake so the VR pub experience is a long way away. There are some amazing examples of brands creating VR experiences so that people with limited mobility can access areas for the first time, but the two-way engagement with other people in a VR capacity, which would replicate the pub scenario hasn’t been perfected yet. Facebook Horizon is as close to social VR we’ve got, but built around Oculus, so we don’t imagine the traditional Irish pub is high up on its development list.

Last week three Irish entrepreneurs launched ThePub.ie which seems to be a mix of Zoom and Chatroulette with the framework of an online pub, we like the idea and the promise of live entertainment, but worry about the screening process mixed with anonymity and security - anyone who has spent more than 5mins on Chatroulette will understand where we’re coming from, if they can navigate that then they could be onto a winner.

While nothing will replace the pub – let’s face it, it has always been more about the people than the pints anyway – the points above are reasons for measured optimism. We may need to rethink how the on-trade works in the future but for now kick back at home, pop the cork, and enjoy a well earned one while daydreaming of the glorious day we can return to the local.

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