Latest news with #ThePotStill
Scottish Sun
03-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Scottish Sun
The truth behind Gen Z's return to booze & why they're ditching sober, clean living
We explore why the previously clean living generation are turning to drink THAT'S THE SPIRIT The truth behind Gen Z's return to booze & why they're ditching sober, clean living MORE young adults - who were turning their noses up at alcohol - have started drinking according to major research on changing social habits. Gen Z - people of legal drinking age to 27 years old - had been dubbed 'generation abstinence' for shunning booze. 4 Gen Z are beginning to drink more, according to a major survey. 4 Frank Murphy from The Pot Still believes Gen Z is following the ethos of drink less, but drink better. 4 Frank also reveals how a hauf an' a hauf is back in fashion. However, a survey of more than 26,000 people in the world's 15 biggest drinks markets found that 73 per cent of Gen Z respondents had consumed alcohol in the previous six months, compared with 66 per cent two years ago - while in the UK that number soared to 76 per cent. Chief Features Writer MATT BENDORIS finds out why the previously clean living generation are turning to drink. FRANK Murphy has had a ringside seat on changing drinking habits over the last 40 years from when his family owned a string of boozers to taking over the Glasgow landmark The Pot Still. But in the last couple of years the publican has noticed a shift in both the frequency of younger drinkers and exactly what they are now spending their money on. And he reckons students of old, who traditionally looked for the cheapest and quickest way to get drunk, have been replaced by Gen Zers who have more discerning tastes. They're also more likely to drink spirits than any other generation, according to the recent poll. Frank, 49, says: 'Gen Z definitely drink a lot less than students did previously, but I believe they now follow the ethos of 'drink less, but drink better'. 'What it means is that we're now seeing more young people who have a keen interest in more expensive single malts, so the likes of flavoured gins aren't moving now. 'Rums are also becoming more popular again with that age group, partly because they are cheaper than single malts but still of high quality.' The survey also found that millennials - people aged between 28 and 44 - were the most likely to drink. Gen-X icons, women refuse to let age diminish their sensuality While 72 per cent of baby boomers, folk who are 60 and over, said they had drunk alcohol over the same time period, a slight fall on the last time the survey was conducted two years ago. Overall 78 per cent of the 26,000 who took part said they were drinkers. But with The Pot Still's blend of older drinkers, along with city centre office workers, students and tourists, it has given Frank a unique view of what is in demand from a Scottish perspective. And he insists that home brewed craft beers are also high on the agenda. He says: 'I see a lot of foreign students coming to the pub often with their parents when they're looking for accommodation. 'They always ask for what's local and want a pint of craft beer. They even want to know exactly where it's come from. 'So yes Tennents and Guinness and Magners will always be popular, but young folk, not just the visitors, are also looking for provenance.' However Frank has witnessed an old Scottish favourite 'a hauf an' a hauf' - a half a pint of beer with a measure of whisky - also become popular with younger customers. He says: 'I have no idea why it's come back in fashion but we have started getting new customers asking for the traditional hauf an' a hauf. 'Of course the older crew have always asked for it, but it's become very much in vogue with the younger ones too. It's odd but the two drinks do fit perfectly well.' Frank also believes that that gentrification of areas - with old man boozer's being transformed into trendy bistros - may also be urging Gen Z to drink more. However The Pot Still proves that is not always the case as it still has all the hallmarks of a scuffed-floored traditional pub. He says: 'I've seen some right little dumps being renovated into beautiful bar diners. 'But believe it or not I think younger drinkers also want the traditional experience. 'We've certainly never tried to compete with bistros as the only food we serve are pies, toasties and soup.' ELLE McCANDLISH, 24, FROM EAST KILBRIDE IS A GEN Z DRINKER OVER the last couple of years my friends and I have definitely been hitting the pubs more. It doesn't have to be anywhere fancy, as long as it has live music and good beers, we're happy. Most of us enjoy pints, with a lot of my group into IPAs, although I've always been a Guinness girl. The demise of nightclubs means more people of my generation are preferring a drink and a chat - rather than somewhere you can't hear yourself think over a DJ. You want to be able to catch up with pals in a more chilled-out environment and there's no better way to do that than over a pint or a bottle of wine. So I can understand the rise in drinking with my generation as it's a great social thing to do, compared to the rest of the time when we're communicating with each other over WhatsApp or social media. But with an estimated 1,000 bars closing across Scotland in the last 20 years, Frank believes that all premises need to make themselves more appealing for the next generation of pub goers. He says: 'I've been around the pub business since I was six and the change has been fundamental. 'Many pubs closed their doors when the smoking ban came into force in 2006, believing that people simply wouldn't come in if they couldn't smoke at the bar. 'Instead it brought different customers who didn't smoke or didn't want to leave smelling of it. 'Well it's the same thing now. We all need our own unique selling point that gets new people coming in the door. 'Because drinking culture has changed and more of the marginal pubs, ones with no USP, will go to the wall.' He adds: 'But if you serve Gen Z drinks they want in an environment they like, then they will come out and they will spend more.'
The Herald Scotland
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Team behind The Pot Still reveal plans for pub near Hampden Park
The family-run team behind one of Glasgow's most celebrated whisky bars is preparing for a busy summer season after taking ownership of a popular Southside pub near Hampden Park. Late last year, it was announced that the Murphys would be taking over The Clockwork in Mount Florida after more than a decade at the helm of city centre institution, The Pot Still. Though the news came as a pleasant surprise to some, others familiar with Pot Still were well aware of the strong connection Frank Murphy holds with the bar. 'I've always wanted Clockwork, and waiting for it to come on the market felt like a long time coming,' he told The Herald. 'I started working there when it had just been opened by Robin and Gay Graham as the Clockwork Beer Company on Cathcart Road in 1997. 'I had learned a fair bit about beer and whisky while working with my dad, who used to own pubs like The Arlington, and various other hospitality roles after that, but this place was another level. 'A six-foot double fridge full of German beers at a time such fridges were usually rammed full of Bud, fruit beers from Belgium, varieties of Hoegaarden I never knew existed, magnums of Trappist ales, and over 20 draught beers. 'I was working half of my time at the bar and half at the brewery, learning how to brew beer. 'But then the chance to reinvigorate the Pot Still came along, and it was too good an opportunity to pass up.' Both Frank and his sister Geraldine had previously worked at the Pot Still in the early 00s under then-owner Kenny Storrie and knew they could be the perfect fit for the small but characterful unit on Hope Street. With the help of their father, Brian, who had decades of experience running high-profile pubs in and around Glasgow, the Murphys officially took over the bar in 2011. Since then, they have gone from strength to strength, continuing the family-run tradition of The Pot Still and building a collection of over 1,000 whiskies from all over the world on the gantry. Pictured: Mad Men star Christina Hendricks visits The Pot Sill (via Instagram) (Image: The Pot Still) Famous faces to have visited over the years include everyone from Mad Men star Christina Hendricks to English heavy metal outfit, Iron Maiden, while of a weekend, locals sit side by side with international visitors from all over the globe in search of the finest whisky Scotland has to offer. Brian eventually retired in 2023, with daughter Katie Ritchie taking over his place, not long before another opportunity would present itself with The Clockwork. 'We had been on the lookout for another pub for years and went for a few we didn't get, maybe because we were too timid or not fast enough.' Murphy continued. 'The Clockwork isn't exactly what we would have picked as our second venue because it's such a large unit. I mean, the function space upstairs is probably bigger than the entire Pot Still. 'But we couldn't not take the chance, because we knew if we didn't go for it now, someone else would.' Taking over from the Three Thistle Pub company, Murphy and his family team are now hard at work to re-establish Clockwork's standing as 'one of the best pubs in Glasgow'. 'There will always be a bit of overlap between The Clockwork and Pot Still, but there's no point in trying to do the exact same thing in both pubs. 'What we want to do is try and get the guys who drink in Pot to come to the Southside and see us over there, where it won't have to be quite as classic. 'We're focusing a lot more on blended malts because that's where a lot of the action is at the moment, thanks to guys like Woven Whisky in Leith.' As well as reintroducing a selection of German and Belgian beers, the bar also takes lead from events at Hampden Park stadium to explore a range of worldwide spirits. 'When the women's team were playing the Netherlands recently, I put up a bottle of whisky from Millstone in the Netherlands, and when Scotland play Iceland this month, I've got a smoky whisky from Floki in Iceland. 'They don't have peat, so they have to use another form of rapidly decomposing vegetation to smoke their barley, which is sheep s***. "...It's really not as bad as it sounds. 'Then there are big gigs at Hampden with Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar and Chris Brown. 'The only problem with that is that they are three very different acts, and I have no idea what those crowds will drink. 'If it were someone like the Foo Fighters, we would be preparing to sell a lot of beers and Jack Daniels, but we'll figure it out.' Alongside catering to customers old and new in Mount Florida, Murphy is also looking forward to the chance to add his own mark to Clockwork, with an ultimate goal to reinstate the microbrewery side of the business so that the smell of hops will 'cascade through the building' once more. 'Clockwork was the last place I worked before we took over the Pot Still, so I know it very well, but over the years it's been refurbished within an inch of its life with a lot of the parts I liked the most cut away,' he said. 'We're now fixing that, but it's a daunting task. 'When my dad had pubs, he made sure that we understood why he would buy another place even if one was already doing well. 'While the Pot Still is still running absolutely fine and there's no reason to kill that golden goose, we lease it, which means that we will never fully own it, and there's a limit to the changes we can make. 'It's the engine of everything we do, but we could be kicked out tomorrow with nothing but our bottles of whisky. 'Every single brick at Clockwork is now family owned and ours to do what we want with, that's really important to us and offers a bit of security. 'It's brought us a new challenge, and it's a big one, but it can't be the last one. 'I want to continue what we're doing and spread the good word further.' The Clockwork Bar is located at 1153 to 1155 Cathcart Road, Glasgow.
