Ask anyone to name wine from 70s and almost everyone will mention Blue Nun (a German Liebfraumilch – mother’s milk, anyone???) and Mateus Rose – as drunk by the Queen and Jimi Hendrix – apparently! I suspect the unusual packaging made them memorable: a tall, thin blue bottle a blue and white-clad nun on the label, and the extravagant, bulbous bottom-heavy Portugese offering. But a brilliant marketing campaign convinced that “The French adore Le Piat d’Or,” so this custom-built-for-the-UK wine became a brand leader. You can find our more here
I’m sure there were plenty of others – for example, the prosecco of the day was Lambrusco, and the other one – Lambrini which I now discover was made from Perry – just like Babycham. Which people used to add to cheap brandy, ruining both drinks.
The one I remember for having a kick was Thunderbird – I’m pretty sure it was the pear one, but I do remember it being kinda thick and treacly and making me very squiffy. When researching, I came across this advert which proper puts it into place – even if the clothes are actually 1969, rather than 70s.
All I can remember from my first outings to pubs (at 14, but my boyfriend was 18), was not having a clue. So being a guy’s guy, his best suggestion was half a lager and lime. I’ve never been a fan of beer, I moved to rough cider (with the dead rats floating in the barrel) then to pilsner – but I wouldn’t thank you for a dash of lime. *Shudders!*
The TV told us a Double Diamond works wonders, Guinness is good for you and Courage Tavern was what your right arm’s for. But the one I remember most was the Watneys party seven – no party was complete without one. Apparently sales of lager rose from 2% in 1965 to 20% in 1975, but the long hot summer of 1976 saw lager as a real contender. We had Carling Black Label, Guinness’ Harp, Heineken and Carlsberg.
I never tried them till the 80s, but these are some I missed out on:
Stinger with crème de menthe
Rusty Nail with Drambuie
Brandy Alexander with coffee liqueur, cream and nutmeg
Grasshopper with cream, coffee and crème de menthe
Legal aspects
Remember when pubs actually closed? In the seventies, the official opening hours were 11.30 am–3 pm and 5.30-10 pm, Monday to Saturday and 12.30-2.30 pm and 7-10 pm on Sundays. They didn’t go 11am-11pm until the late 80s and it was only from 2005 that publicans could apply for licences for up to 24 hours a day.
Although the maximum legal blood alcohol (drink driving) limit in the UK was set in the Road Safety Act of 1967, it wasn’t enforced so stringently, and if you could walk in a straight line for a few yards you could generally get off. The maximum BAC (blood alcohol concentration) was 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, or the equivalent 107 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of urine which equates to roughly 4.5 units of alcohol. As a rule of thumb, two pints of regular-strength lager or two small glasses of wine would put you over the limit. This was followed by the 1981 Transport Act which stated that 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath was to be the maximum legal breath alcohol limit. Although the act introduced evidential breath testing legislation, it was not actually established and implemented until 1983. These limits still hold true, but you are far more likely to be tested these days.
Over to you – what do you remember about drinking in the 70s? Share your experiences in the comments below.
JRo Author 