Slideshow

Research reveals top student drinks

19 September 2017 By Phoebe French

A study conducted by mobile payment app Yoyo Wallet has revealed that UK students are opting for spirits in favour of beer and cider, while wine does not appear in the list of the 20 most popular drinks bought through the company.

Through its purchase data, Yoyo Wallet analysed the spending habits of 18 and 19-year-olds during freshers month (in this case September) at universities across the UK. While it has been argued that so-called millennials or ‘Generation Y’ (those born between the early the 1980s and the mid 1990s) are driving wine sales to the detriment of other drink categories, so-called ‘Generation Z’ (those born between the mid 1990s and the mid 2000s) are choosing the hard stuff.

Of the 20 most popular drinks ordered over freshers month, four were beer brands and four were cider brands – the top four drinks are all spirits or schnapps based. Students appear to prefer spirits with the remaining 12 drinks being either straight spirits, spirits with mixers / cocktails or schnapps based drinks with an ABV below what is usually defined as a spirit.

As part of its study, Yoyo analysed over 14,000 transactions made using the app in September 2016. According to the company, out of the transactions analysed, over 4,100 contained at least one alcoholic drink. The research involved over 42 universities and student unions and purchases of over 160 alcoholic drinks brands.

See below and the following pages for the top 20 drinks ordered by students in the UK.

Corky’s range of sour and glitter schnapps.

N.B: Freshers week at some universities does not start until October, for example at the University of Warwick and Durham University.

20. Carling Cider

Cider
Owner: Molson Coors
Headquarters: Burton-on-Trent
Strength: 4.5%

19. Carlsberg

Lager
Owner: Carlsberg
Headquarters: Denmark
Strength: 3.8%

18. Tennent’s

Lager
Owner: C&C Group plc
Headquarters: Glasgow
Strength: 4%

17. Carling

Lager
Owner: Molson Coors
Headquarters: Burton-on-Trent
Strength: 3.7%

16. Strongbow

Cider
Owner: Heineken
Headquarters: Amsterdam
Strength: 5% (cans)

15. Corky’s Schnapps

Flavoured schnapps
Owner: Global Brands
Headquarters: Chesterfield
Strength: 15%

14. Coors Light

Lager
Owner: Molson Coors
Headquarters: Golden, Colorado
Strength: 4.2%

13. Vladivar Vodka

Vodka
Owner: Whyte and Mackay
Headquarters: Glasgow
Strength: 37.5%

12. Rekorderlig

Cider
Owner: Åbro Bryggeri
Headquarters: Vimmerby
Strength: 4%

11. Jungfrau

Herbal liqueur
Owner: Global Brands
Headquarters: Chesterfield
Strength: 22%

Click through to view the top 10 drinks ordered by students in the UK.

10. Jägerbomb

A shot of Jägermeister dropped into an energy drink
Owner: Mast-Jägermeister SE (Jägermeister)
Headquarters: Wolfenbüttel
Strength: 35%

9. Sex on the Floor

(Photo: Difford’s Guide)

Variant of ‘Sex on the Beach’ cocktail
Recipes do vary, in principle, the cocktail combines vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry and orange (either in the form of alcohol or juice) but unlike Sex on the Beach, it is topped up with pineapple juice.

8. Strongbow Dark Fruit

Flavoured cider
Owner: Heineken
Headquarters: Amsterdam
Strength: 4%

7. VK Apple and Mango

Apple and mango flavoured, vodka-based drink
Owner: Global Brands
Headquarters: Chesterfield
Strength: 4%

6. Blue Lagoon

(Photo: Difford’s Guide)

Cocktail (flavoured and coloured with blue Curaçao).
A Blue Lagoon is made with vodka, blue Curaçao (a liqueur flavoured with the dried peel of the Laraha citrus fruit) and is topped up with lemonade.

5. Foster’s

Lager
Owner: AB InBev (brewed under license in a number of countries including the UK and Europe where it is produced by Heineken.)
Headquarters: Leuven
Strength: 4% (Europe)