This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
db Reader
Blast from the perry past: Babycham
Perhaps let’s start with a question? Have you ever heard of Babycham? Because until I went to Maggie’s, neither had I…
Babycham is a brand of sparkling Perry, an alcoholic drink made from fermented pears. I know that many choose to identify it as a sparkling cider (which is readily available), but the Campaign for Real Ale (Camra) does not accept this.
Its image and age walk hand in hand; Babycham was hugely popular in the ’60s and 70’s. With many people seeing it as a cheap alternative to champagne it became increasingly popular and soon the nation was practically swimming in it. According to a Daily Mail article I read in 2011 “it’s the sparkling drink that symbolised the swinging Britain in the 1960s”.
In fact it was the first alcoholic product to be advertised on UK television screens. But times have changed now and TV is littered with ads for a multitude of drinks brands. Nice to know where it started though. My main gripe with Babycham is its use of a cartoon fawn makes me think they want kids on it asap, maybe there’s some correlation between it and Disney’s Bambi? But saying that, Laverstoke Park’s ale is currently under the same scrutiny for an apparent childlike image of a farmer.
In recent years Babycham has started to become popular again, with sales increasing in 2011. Around 15 million 200ml bottles are sold each year, priced at around £2 each, so that’s £30 million a year. Who knew a cheesy drink that invaded the ’60s to ’80s could be so lucrative? Maybe I’ll make my own Perry, but the chances are slim.
So Maggie’s in Chelsea is half Members Club, half ’80s good times bar. If you’re ever feeling nostalgic, then here’s the place for you. But a couple of months a go they decided to go forth and open a Babycham bar, because of its ’80s links and perhaps a portion of that frosty £30m. But for all the tackiness that I see in it, using it to top off drinks and bind various spirits and liqueurs it works.
I had a drink called the “The Lady in Red”, which was a reminder of something between a Cosmopolitan and a French Martini sipped out of a sundae glass. I can’t lie it was pretty good.
Will I be seen drinking some Babycham anytime soon? Probably not to be honest, it’s not really my thing as I went off most drinks of that style (a.k.a. lots of fruit) years ago.
But Babycham symbolised the ’80s party, an age when there was a certain measure of détente in the world and people could focus on having fun and not worrying about the world. Why not enjoy that a little bit more, 22 years on? For some it’s reliving the past and others it’s a guilty pleasure! And if you’re feeling guilty about your New Year diet, just pretend it’s one of your 5-a-day!
Wanting to know how to purchase a case of babycham,how much it wpuld cost.. Thank you
i am wanting to know how to purchase and how much it cost
how to buy & cost
Hi
I am from Ireland and I would like to buy babysham online how do I go about it Nicola.
Is there a particular brewing recipe for Babycham or is it a mixture of different drinks.
I love trying different recipes for home brewing (I’m trying Champein by the traditional way at the moment and will be trying Whisky in the future, although I have never and will never brew bear after hearing that there is more of a risk if the bottles cracking or exploding after fermentation I do love brewing home made wines and other things brewed in the same way.
I will also be looking to start up my own brewery when I move over to Africa in the future so I will have a nice little business to keep me going and working over there so I am looking for different recipes that are made from natural ingredients rather than all of the ready prepared juices, Yeast mixtures and other aditives that are available on the market now as I do not feel the same satisfaction once my products have been filtered and bottled with all these ready prepared products as I do with the results from the naturel ingredients, With the natural ingredients, starting with the grapes, sugar, yeast and citric acid and fruits, veg or plants for flavouring I feel the satisfaction that I can say “That is a wine that I have made from scratch” but with the ready prepared stuff I don’t feel the same satisfaction as someone else has prepared everything and all I have done is heated and mixed them to start fermentation.
Would like to know if babycham is available anywhere in Australia
As would I…..
Hi,
Has anyone gotten a reply back on here? I also would love to know if we can get Babychams here in Australia.
If it is only pear cider then we already have that here….
Cider is made from apples anything made from pears is a perry, these modern fruit ciders are not cider they are alcoholic fruit drinks cider is cider and it’s apples
it really brings back old memories…i use to steal a drink or 2,old man used to stack the fridge with these,how l really miss them
I live in Stevensville,. Michigan, USA. Where can I buy babycham? I first tried it in the 70’s. It was my all time favorite 4 pack. I would love to stock up on that again.
I tried to find Babycham in the USA the company who makes it told me it is not available here
Hey everyone, try clicking on this URL below and you can buy it from there. It’s a world wide distributor.
https://britishfoodstoreonline.co.uk/shop-by-category/drinks/alcohol/ready-to-drink-alcohol/babycham-sparkling-perry-4-x-200ml/
We have an unopened bottle of Babycham, We brought it 2010. Is it still drinkable.