Stockton bar offers 1p gin to combat January blues

Visitors to Oscar’s Gin Bar in Stockton-on-Tees this month can buy a measure of Gordon’s gin for £1 on Fridays and can double up on any gin on Thursday for 1p.

Oscar’s Gin Bar

Though the indulgence of the festive season is long behind us, Oscar’s Gin Bar in Stockton is looking to dispel the gloom in a month of biting cold and empty wallets.

The bar, which opened last November, is offering special deals allowing drinkers to buy a gin shot from the full Gordon’s range for £1 on Friday. They can also turn a single measure into a double for 1p on Thursdays. The deal will run until the end of January.

Craig Harker, aged 30 who co-owns the gin bar with his childhood friend Kevin Ward, said: “I’ve got another two pubs [The George Pub, Stockton and The Buck Inn, Sadberge] and the trend is in January things do dip. People are skint in January. This is just a way that they’re not going to have to spend as much as they normally would.”

The deals were criticised by Gazette Live as “irresponsible”, but Harker said there were no signs that the deal encouraged people to drink to excess. He said: “It’s not that kind of bar. It’s an up and coming area with a really nice clientele. They’re not doing [the deals] to get pissed, they’re doing it to enjoy the normal night.”

Though it’s still early in the month, last week the offers proved very popular. For Stockton residents, January might not be so dull after all.