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The Guardian
6 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Wimbledon serves up Pimm's-inspired mocktail for alcohol-free tennis fans
For 54 years, Pimm's has been as much a part of the Wimbledon experience as strawberries and cream, with 300,000 glasses sold each fortnight. And now Wimbledon has experimented with creating a mocktail in the style of the beloved fruity punch owing to the growing demand for alcohol-free options at the championships. The club has introduced Stella Artois' booze-free beer on draught and mocktails made from non-alcoholic sparkling wines and spirits amid the move towards sobriety among gen Z. Charlie Cook, the business director of food and drink at Wimbledon, said: 'We look at market trends. Within our business we employ a food and drink futurist to look at where those trends are going. The younger generations are looking for lower or non-alcoholic offerings.' Staff at SW19 said there had been demand for Stella's 0.0 offering and an uptick in customers asking for an alcohol-free version of Pimm's. Cook said the club had yet to perfect a mocktail to fill the gap. 'We've tried a version using balsamic, which has a quite similar flavour profile, but we haven't really cracked that one yet. It would be a good one though,' he said. Wimbledon later stressed it was not attempting to create a booze-free Pimm's but a drink inspired by the popular beverage. Destiny Olusegun, 22, a bar manager at the grounds, said spectators were keen to try an alcohol-free version of the summer cocktail that has long been synonymous with the championships. 'Quite a few people come up and ask for non-alcoholic Pimm's,' he said. 'A lot of people aren't from here [the UK], so Pimm's is like a massive Wimbledon phenomenon. If everyone else is having a Pimm's or a beer, you don't want to have a soft drink. You want a nice drink.' A staff member at the Pimm's stall on the Hill had had a similar experience. 'People do ask quite a lot, especially if they are pregnant, what sort of non-alcoholic versions we have. I worked here last year and people were asking the same thing,' she said. 'I'd say around one in 50 people ask if there's a non-alcoholic version of Pimm's. Some people will also ask if we can do half pints as well, older people in particular. But young people ask as well – especially pregnant women.' Wimbledon has been offering a mocktail spritz which includes non-alcoholic gin, sugar syrup and pink grapefruit soda for £12.60 and a 0% paloma made from a booze-free bergamot aperitif for £10.40. Olusegun said demand for non-alcoholic drinks had grown in his three years at Wimbledon and suggested they were most popular among those aged 25 to 50. 'People are shifting away from alcohol,' he said. 'People are more conscious of what they're drinking, how they're drinking, – especially if you're going to be here all day. You don't want to be drinking 20 pints, but you may still like a drink and be able to engage in the same social culture, be able to cheers your beer, have something cold. 'Having a non-alcoholic Pimm's option, even if it was just in a can, would still give people that feeling of being included.'
Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Times
Alcohol-free Pimm's? Wimbledon fans think drink would be a winner
The US Open has the honey deuce, the Australian Open the lemon ace and Roland Garros is sponsored by Moet & Chandon, but no tennis grand slam has a signature drink as popular as Pimm's at Wimbledon. Spectators buy nearly 300,000 glasses over two weeks but this year have been asking for an alternative. 'I'd say around one in 50 people ask if there's a non-alcoholic version of Pimm's,' a barmaid at the Pimm's stall on Henman Hill said. 'I worked here last year and people were asking the same thing.' She added that the question usually came from young people or pregnant women. Even before noon, fans on the Hill were watching the tennis with a Pimm's in their hand. Georgia McCarthy, 33, from Essex, said she would have preferred something non-alcoholic but added: 'Pimm's is something you associate with Wimbledon. It's our first time here and when we arrived we thought we had to go in, get the Pimm's and get the strawberries.' Destiny Olusegun, 22, a bar manager, said customers asked for a non-alcoholic drink that resembled Pimm's on a regular basis. 'People are shifting away from alcohol, people are more conscious of what they're drinking, how they're drinking,' he said, adding that demand for alcohol-free drinks had grown in his three years at Wimbledon. 'Especially if you're going to be here all day, you don't want to be drinking 20 pints the whole day, but you may still like a drink and be able to engage in the same social culture, be able to cheers your beer, have something cold. 'Having a non-alcoholic Pimm's option, even if it was just in a can, would still give people that feeling of being included.' Pimm's does not sell a non-alcoholic version, but a spokeswoman said: 'We're always working on new ideas across all of our brands, and when we have new products to announce consumers will be the first to hear.' Charlie Cook, business director of food and drink at Wimbledon, said there had 'definitely been a move' towards more non-alcoholic drinks on offer, although he had not seen a reduction in alcohol sales. He said supply decisions were influenced by trends as well as data from the other grand slam tournaments. Cook said the club tried to stock an alcohol-free alternative in each drinks category and had experimented with fruity mocktail recipes to meet demand for an alternative to Pimm's. 'We've tried a version using balsamic, which has a quite similar flavour profile, but we haven't really cracked that one yet,' he said. 'It would be a good one though.' • Wimbledon's most annoying spectators — ranked The recipe for Pimm's is closely guarded. Tom Bronock, founder of the creative drinks agency Wilde Toast, said: 'It's obviously a secret recipe Pimm's. It's what's called a compound liquor, meaning there's a base spirit, then there's a secret blend of botanicals, bitters, some spices, herbs, things like fruit extracts that go into it. So it's the sum of its parts, it's very hard to recreate'. Bars at Wimbledon sell Stella Artois 0.0; Freeglider, an alcohol-free spirit; Everleaf, an alcohol-free aperitif; and Wild Idol, an alcohol-free wine. Sipsmith said Freeglider sales at the tournament last year were up about 25 per cent compared with 2022. Stella Artois launched its alcohol-free beer on draught at the tournament before rolling it out to the rest of the UK. A barman at the Perfect Serve bar said that on one day they sold nearly 200 pints. Not all visitors were converted to alcohol-free drinks, however, particularly by the prices. Sam Bushby, 28, from Essex, said: 'If I'm going to pay for a drink then I want to have a proper drink, otherwise I would just have an orange juice or a lemonade. It's just a waste of money otherwise.'
