As youngsters drink Britain dry of Guinness, OLIVIA DEAN, 25, reveals the real reason they can't get enough of the black stuff - and it's nothing to do with the taste
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What drink would you expect me, a middle-class 25-year-old from Tunbridge Wells, to order in the pub?. A medium glass of sauvignon, perhaps? A gin and tonic, if I'm feeling posh? Well, no. For me, it's always a pint of Guinness. I flatter myself that this is an unexpected choice, one that will pique the interest of my drinking companions. In order to be irreplaceable, Coco Chanel said, one must always be different.
![[According to Diageo, there's been a 24 per cent surge in the number of female Guinness drinkers in the past year, and a sharp upswing in younger drinkers generally]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/22/93324423-14210727-According_to_Diageo_there_s_been_a_24_per_cent_surge_in_the_numb-a-118_1734647133766.jpg)
But I'm not the only twentysomething opting for the black stuff; in the run-up to Christmas, pubs are facing an alarming Guinness shortage as demand surges. Diageo, the conglomerate that owns the brewer, has announced it's limiting the amount pubs can buy because of 'exceptional consumer demand' in the UK. One East London hipster pub hit by the drought is handing out 'ration cards', only allowing drinkers to purchase a pint of Guinness once they've proved their mettle by buying two other alcoholic drinks.
Guinness might once have been the preserve of red-faced old bar-proppers in flat caps but, according to Diageo, there's been a 24 per cent surge in the number of female Guinness drinkers in the past year, and a sharp upswing in younger drinkers generally.
Special mention must go to my sister-in-law, who, desperate to please my Irish family, once ordered a Guinness in a Galway pub, with blackcurrant cordial added to disguise the taste. 'Here's the one with the poison in it,' the bartender barked. Nonetheless, the Irish porter is facing an unprecedented popularity boost — and it's almost entirely driven by my generation.
