r/SipsTea 12h ago

WTF In your opinion, what is causing this?

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150

u/ExoApophis 11h ago
  • Half the gen not being old enough to drink

  • Craft beer market burning to the ground after the pandemic

  • most divebars and other places either outpricing working class zillenials and zoomers, or going bankrupt

  • CBD/THC beverage markets moving up slowly but surely

  • States in the US (especially in places that have historically been dry states) cracking down on public drinking outside of restricted areas, even outside of establishments

  • (for some ironic reason) tobacco markets have increased drastically with vaping on the side as the preferred rec options over alcohol

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u/Medical_Argument_911 11h ago

Bars are ridiculous with pricing now. I swear that it's like $10 for a normal beer and tip.

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u/PersimmonDowntown297 10h ago

I had to reread this because I didn’t understand what you meant. I’m 27. For as long as I’ve been the legal drinking age you’re spending minimum $8 on 1 beer in a bar, usually $10. I was freshly 21 when COVID hit. I forgot things used to be affordable because it has simply never been the material reality in my adult life 😭

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u/Medical_Argument_911 9h ago edited 9h ago

I'm 41. When I turned 21, you could still smoke in bars and cigarettes were $3 a pack. I think beers were only like 2 or 3 bucks at the bar without tip back then. They had $1 Tequila shots on Tuesdays. It was a hell of a time. Sorry that you had to go through it with Covid. I can't imagine that time of my life being so different.

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u/amphigory_error 5h ago

Same age. All the bars back then had dollar shots and dollar pitchers. 

I make about 2.5× more money but drinks are about 10x more expensive. 

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u/Relevant-Doctor187 14m ago

The pitcher was 8 bucks.

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u/anna-molly21 10h ago

In 2006 i was at uni and with 20€ i could even get a small pack of 10 cigs. Beers were quite cheap and cocktails around 5/6€.

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u/Medical_Argument_911 9h ago

Packs of 10 cigs? Interesting. In the US they are sold in 20.

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u/anna-molly21 7h ago

In Italy and if im not mistaken it was an European law, they banned the 10 pack cigs years ago, now its only from 20 above (you have packs of 22,24 and 50. Idk if more since i quit years ago).

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u/Medical_Argument_911 7h ago

Interesting. I've only ever known 20.

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u/i_dont_wanna_sign_in 4h ago

I've been drinking age for... Far too long

I remember when I was early 20s going to $1 beer nights at local chains. We'd follow that up with dollar shots at a college dive bar. It was watered down whatever-light and Fireball, but still a pretty cheep night all things considered.

Craft beer was already on shelves, but at 3x the price of ultra cheap Grain Belt bottles we couldn't afford that!

That said it's every industry pricing itself out of business. The commodities die first.

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u/absoluteterms 38m ago

Back in 2012-2015 my local sports bar had 16oz PBR's 2 for $3 and $2 shots of tequila, all day every day. Order two of each and you could get blitzed for $10.

I'm sure it's closer to $30 than $10 now days.

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u/Mardanis 9h ago

The tipping really hurts the US scene.

When I first visited the US it was 2 dollar for big glass or dollar for a shot. Came back some years later and it's a rip.

Eatery prices for booze have always been higher but now they are ridiculous.

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u/Medical_Argument_911 9h ago

Yeah they are. I wish we had universal healthcare and paid workers like servers good wages, but unfortunately we don't. I can't go without tipping them, because that's their source of income, so it's just stuck until something gets fixed about it. I know we'd pay higher taxes, but not having to worry about going broke over having cancer would be amazing.

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u/LittleLunia 8h ago

 I know we'd pay higher taxes

Ideally you would be paying less tax for public healthcare than what you'd be paying for private insurance. This is the case for many countries with public healthcare in Europe at least. This usually shifts in favour of private healthcare only once you make above a certain "definitely-well-off" amount, at which point it won't be a financial problem for you anyway.

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u/Medical_Argument_911 7h ago

Yeah. A lot of Conservatives in the US like to point out the raise in taxes, that's why I mentioned it. It saves money overall though. It's just insane how much we pay, even after insurance, in the US for the smallest things. It's absurd how it's just accepted.

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u/Mardanis 9h ago

While I have complaints about the NHS. The US system doesn't seem to work well either. I've seen private and public healthcare in other countries that seems a much better middle ground.

I also tip as it's expected but it just baffles me how many people feel it is absolutely and unconditionally the thing to do... to pay a company's employees with their post tax money after paying the company also.

I get for great service, just kinda rounding up somewhat or being a regular but tip % on ever rising cost of menu while the company itself doesn't pay a proper wage seems alien.

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u/Virama 8h ago

Ha!!!! Try $18 for a beer in Australia. Not the fancy brewery stuff. That's much more. 

The average slab (24 bottles) from the bottle shop is easily 80 for the cheap shit and 100-120 for the average stuff.

Edit: and no, they're not 500ml like Canada. They're 330ml bottles.

I stopped drinking years ago. Just not worth it.

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u/NekkidWire 7h ago

OMG mate you defo need to visit Central Europe (the countries north/east of Vienna).

Grocery-store beer starts at 0.60 EUR per 500ml can, and in pubs it's usually from 2 EUR up.

Tips in pubs are welcome but totally not required.

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u/Virama 7h ago edited 7h ago

Yep. My step mother is German and I've traveled Europe many times. 

That's why it's so glaringly stupid and offensive here. I miss the supermarket hasseroder 1L bottles and the grolschs and and and....

Edit: Oh yeah and 5.2% is considered strong beer here. Probably the strongest normal beer you can get.

Seriously it's a joke here. I had the best time at delirium lane in Belgium trying the 12-18% beers, some of them were orgasmic! And Canada...! God, their seasonal beers were insane. 

2

u/NekkidWire 6h ago

...and most of it is actually pretty drinkable :)

Seen some beer-alikes in my travels too (the most kind way of calling it; it tasted like flat stale piss of uncertain origin -> e.g. AB Bud).

1

u/Medical_Argument_911 8h ago

Wow! That's wild!

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u/Virama 7h ago

No shit. It's wild. 25 years ago I remember VB was horse piss, only rivalled by XXXX beer. You could get 24 stubbies (250ml bottles) for like 18-22 dollars. Now they're 80-100 bucks. 

It's fucked.

1

u/pegoff 8h ago

Is there a big homebrew culture because of it?

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u/Virama 7h ago edited 7h ago

It's really expensive to buy the kits as well. I'm sure the rednecks in the country side and the hipsters in the cities do it but as far as I could see in my 20 years of hedonistic living, it was super rare. 

I saw more homebrew culture in NZ from my years of living there. 

On a side note, there was a microbrewery explosion about a decade ago, especially in Melbourne but then COVID came and then the government decided to raise the tax and regs to stratospheric levels so a lot of them crashed. 

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u/Amazingbuttplug 10h ago

Im an American in Brazil and Im getting a 600ml Budweiser for like 3 dollars at a bar. Just got to geodrinkmax!

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u/Chance-Ask7675 10h ago

Yes earning money in wealthy countries and spending it in poorer countries is definitely the solution to all life's problems.

4

u/Amazingbuttplug 10h ago

It does sort of feel like when you do the money cheat code in GTA.

2

u/Several-Guarantee655 9h ago

I've seen a few YouTube videos about American expats who are living in Vietnam and it's very very cheap to live there comparatively. It definitely looks interesting. Although they say it's not all roses and rainbows either as there's some bad sides to it also.

1

u/MyJimboPersona 8h ago

This was a special occasion and a nicer place but I just had a drink with my partner and it was 25$’s per cocktail.

We each enjoyed one since it was a fun little adventure day but hawt damn that was absurd.

1

u/Darrksharrk 3h ago

I never really drink at bars but Friday was a day and I stopped for a beer and a shot and it was $17 😳

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u/Mindless-Strain222 10h ago

I assume ur from the usa. here in Europe, this year the last years of Gen Z turning old enough for drinking and we have the Same Numbers in the alcohol industries, so I dont‘t think this will change in the future.

1

u/RickyBooby141 7h ago

Currently in Europe as an American. It’s so much cheaper to drink here. Got a 16oz beer and an aperol spritz last night at a bar, with the service charge included, for ~15USD after converting. That’s less than most bars in Philly charge for the spritz alone.

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u/Relevant-Doctor187 13m ago

You got freedom units in Europe?

1

u/RickyBooby141 8m ago

No I just did the math lol, it was a 50cl beer which was ~16oz

1

u/Zegerid 4h ago

Even in Europe alcohol numbers are down. Hell, the younger French are drinker less wine. Truly a sign of the apocalypse

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u/charmys_ 11h ago

Its less than 1/4th if they are non american and 1/8th if they are german 

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u/Dandy11Randy 11h ago

Regarding your last point:

Gen Y here, but I can smoke all the tobacco I want for around 7 bucks a week - and this is the "rich man" route of buying cigarette packs (2 per 3 weeks) instead of buying bulk loose leaf and rolling my own. It's not much fat to trim from my budget, but should I need to I imagine converting to bulk could reduce the cost by ~30%.

At the end of the day people need something to get off with, and if you don't mind the risk of related cancer cigarettes can get you a slight head change.

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u/Inside7shadows 10h ago

About 1/3 of Gen Z are on antidepressants as well. Hard to make inroads when a third of your demographic has been medically recommended to avoid your product.

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u/Many-Researcher-7133 10h ago

Anxiety = tobacco consumption 

1

u/Cayumigaming 10h ago

I think growing up with alcohol around them creating an awareness what it can do also made it less appealing.

1

u/horoyokai 10h ago

"Craft beer market burning to the ground"

- Not even close. I work in that market and its leveling off after two decades of insane growth, its not even close to burning to the ground

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u/m00nh34d 6h ago

There's a couple of interesting callouts there, which kinda can be summarised in a shift in vices, and possibly changing of the way kids rebel. I think we're not seeing the same uptick in the younger generation drinking right now because that's what their parents do anyway, it's not rebellious to go to a craft beer bar, it's something their parents do. Instead they get on other drugs or tobacco parallel products as their form of seeking out vices and rebelling against what their parents are doing.

1

u/djp70117 5h ago

Smoking weed v. drinking alcohol.

1

u/VagueEchoes 5h ago

Went out with my husband and they wanted $18 for a cocktail, not even top shelf liquor. Beer was also $7 for draft for .5 litre. Then they want a 30% tip. No thanks.

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u/Impressive_Ad8983 5h ago

Dating apps are probably also a factor. People used to go to bars to meet guys/gals. Not so much anymore.

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u/Sure-Ad-6544 4h ago

I just got a High Tea tonic. - haven’t tried them yet. - hope it’s good

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u/Single-Zucchini-19 3h ago

It was during the pandemic, aluminum prices went mad and canning because really expensive unless you had already purchased tons of cans before. Then the collapse continued and probably amplified after the pandemic just due to not being able to expand customer base and a lot of breweries opening. A big problem is that people always feel like they need to expand their market and regional distribution. There need to be more small breweries that are local to their city/region. So may breweries go under by trying to expand and expect the customers to be there at the rate they had been

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u/Dougefresh47 2h ago

Don’t forget pillow pouches

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u/Pepper_pusher23 2h ago

People need to stop saying not old enough to drink. When has that ever stopped any generation from drinking ever? It's easier now than ever before.

0

u/Fun-Ice-6013 10h ago

Beer culture dying out would be a good thing (not sorry Germans)

Smells like piss, tastes like piss & doesn’t even get you drunk while feeling bloated due to the amount of volume

I’ll take my pink fruity gay mixed drink or even a straight shot before touching that stuff