Watered down alcohol in foreign countries

Daledge

I hear it all the time that drinks in the likes of Spain etc are all watered down which is why it's so cheap, but I've never personally seen any hard evidence. Anyone here ever worked in a bar abroad to share some inside knowledge? No reason for wondering just curious.

I find you can definitely drink at lot more abroad but I always put this down to different factors like being in a good mood and sweating half of it out before it even kicks in. I've even watched sometimes for the seal on the bottles to be broken just to be sure out of curiosity.

Rodin

Daledge wrote: »

I hear it all the time that drinks in the likes of Spain etc are all watered down which is why it's so cheap, but I've never personally seen any hard evidence. Anyone here ever worked in a bar abroad to share some inside knowledge? No reason for wondering just curious.

I find you can definitely drink at lot more abroad but I always put this down to different factors like being in a good mood and sweating half of it out before it even kicks in. I've even watched sometimes for the seal on the bottles to be broken just to be sure out of curiosity.

Alcohol in Spain is cheap because everything is.
Their minimum wage is half of what ours is.

Have had watered down pints in Galway and the Cobblestone in Dublin were done for watering down the vodka.
Don't need to go abroad to find crooks.

dulux99

Did a season in Ibiza in my younger years, none of the drinks were watered down but it was a constant accusation. Chinese whisper stuff. They buy drink, wholesale, for a pittance over there.

Atlantic Dawn

A litre of smirnoff in Spain is less than €12, the same bottle here is circa €30, that's why drink is cheaper in bars in Spain
https://www.carrefour.es/supermercado/vodka-smirnoff/R-538002112/p

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=255248898
https://shop.supervalu.ie/shopping/wine-beer-spirits-vodka-smirnoff-1-litre-/p-1019571000

I've never noticed any watered down.

Lorelli!

I remember when I was a late teen going on holiday with my friend and her family and we couldn't drink the standard vodka there because of the taste. Not sure if it was watered down but it tasted strong. Tbh we rarely got drunk there but we had to specifically ask for Smirnoff and whenever the reps would see us they'd call us the "Smirnoff Girls"

Trigger Happy

It always seems watered down because your tastebuds are shot and your tolerance is sky high after a few days of holiday boozing.

antodeco

Also, alot of the spirits are different brands (unless you ask for it) so you can normally taste the difference. Could never stomach Spanish vodka so always asked for brands!

andekwarhola

I know people that claim that lager is watered down there and then come back here and drink Bud and Heineken

I think it's just a lot easier to put back lager in the sun when you're drinking every day on holiday, hence the assumption.

Also you might get Guinness drinkers that go onto lager for the holiday (because 'Guinness doesn't travel' apparently) so a typical lager will taste watery in comparison

Wonder be surprised if spirits get watered down in tourist spots though.

CelticRambler

Have spend many years working as a festival bartender in France and once we get going, we don't have time to be adding water to the kegs!

Something that does catch people out is French cider, which come in two forms - the most popular is "doux" at only 2% and even the "brut (hard)" is usually only 3.5-4%.

We'd also serve a lot of beers that are promoted more for their flavour than their alcohol content, so they'd be considered relatively light by Irish standards - but that's how they come from the brewery, they're not watered down.

Oh, and it's cheap because the government doesn't slap a huge amount of duty on every glass. And we don't have ridiculously inappropriate licensing laws.

HalloweenJack

I help out in a bar here in Spain on Saturday nights.

Watering down is a myth, unless the drink comes watered down from the source. A lot of bar staff go out of the way to make a show of how the stuff you're getting is fresh. If you order a spirirt and mixer, they bring the bottle over and put it down in front of you and pour then get the mixer and open it in front of you and leave it to you to pour.

Spaniards can be massively stingey so it wouldn't surprise me if it was the case but, in my experience, its not true.

AndyBoBandy

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

A litre of smirnoff in Spain is less than €12, the same bottle here is circa €30, that's why drink is cheaper in bars in Spain

This. And not just Spain.

I’ve lived in France, Spain, Lithuania and have worked in many many other European countries over the years, and everywhere spirits were a lot cheaper than in Ireland.

1L of Absolut Vodka was €12 in a Lithuanian supermarket in December, 1L of Jameson was €16.

A bit sad when you see the same bottle in your local Tesco for €42!

It wouldn’t be worth the bars time to water down their spirits when it costs feck all to buy!!

biko

You realise that bars in foreign countries are bars that locals use all the time?
I wouldn't rule out night clubs, but bars don't mess with the stuff. It would kill their reputation.

dxhound2005

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

This. And not just Spain.

I’ve lived in France, Spain, Lithuania and have worked in many many other European countries over the years, and everywhere spirits were a lot cheaper than in Ireland.

1L of Absolut Vodka was €12 in a Lithuanian supermarket in December, 1L of Jameson was €16.

A bit sad when you see the same bottle in your local Tesco for €42!

It wouldn’t be worth the bars time to water down their spirits when it costs feck all to buy!!

That's very expensive for Lithuania, with the low wages there.

AndyBoBandy

Prices sky rocketed in the last few years ever since the €uro came in.

When I was there in 2011/2012, we were typically paying the equivalent of about €0.60 for a pint

Gloomtastic!

Used to be a barman in Kavos, Corfu. All the spirits, with the exception of Metaxa brandy (which the locals drank) was flavoured wood alcohol. People would be coughing up blood after two weeks drinking.

Reati

Worked in Bars all over the tourist spots in Canary Island. Never seen or heard of watering down the drinks. In fact most people commented on how "too strong" the drinks were (our singles were equaled an Irish double or triple if she was pretty ). Remember, like cigs, drink is cheap as sh*t there esp buying wholesale. We used to buy 1 litre bottles of a Spanish rum at 1.50 (yes 1 euro 50 cent) from the suppliers and sell it for 2 euro a shot. Can't remember what Smirnoff was a bottle but it was very cheap ~10euro maybe less.

Miaow_grl

I'm pretty sure the 'watered down' alcohol in Spain is table wine, which is common at mealtime. Same goes for Italy. And alcohol in the eastern countries is definitely *not* watered down, with vodka having a higher percentage and that being the norm...

s7ryf3925pivug

Dangerous thing to do, since people might get a badly incorrect idea of their alcohol tolerance. I think it should be treated seriously, as though they were spiking drinks.