Alcohol to cost: What’s the best bang for your buck?
This was an interesting question we posed ourselves, but it seemed more than fitting in these trying times. As many will know, the UK gov recently decided to up alcohol duties, hilariously backfiring and harming their tax revenue, but sadly hitting the burgeoning English wine & already near-broken hospitality industries. This has made this question all the more important for consumers!
To be clear, drinking with the sole purpose of getting drunk is not the point of this article, nor something we suggest, recommend or condone. I’m a strong believer that you should only drink for the taste not the effect, although it’s hard to deny the millennia-year-old use of it for social lubrication. Still, alcohol abuse will take you far beyond the “social lubrication” element and obviously harm your health. Don’t do it.
Now that’s abundantly clear, we have indeed worked out the very best bang for your buck by taking ABV, bottle size and price to find the best value per unit. To do this, we trawled our database of hundreds of thousands of wine and spirits offers from numerous UK merchants and put them all together. Surprisingly, spirits don’t feature very highly with wine actually taking the majority of top spots.
The Cheapest Alcohol to Price: Top 10
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 6.5 | 3000 | 7.00 |
Taking the top spot are these two large bag-in-box Perry’s. A relatively punchy alcohol content, huge volume and shockingly good price make this our winner. Although we didn’t actively factor this in, it is worth mentioning that Perry is rather dangerously easy drinking too! For those who don’t know, Perry is a type of cider made with pears rather than apples. It is a drink centuries old, tending to be lighter and more floral than its more famous cider counterpart.
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 11 | 750 | 3.45 |
I’ve combined these two as I’m fairly sure they are exactly the same wine, albeit under a different label – just pick your favourite supermarket. Whilst they may not sound particularly complex for a Spanish Wine (and no doubt they aren’t), the remarkably cheap price is difficult to deny. This is one to crack open when your thirsty Aunt is over! In all honesty though, it gets remarkably good reviews which somewhat surprised me but if it hits the spot, then it hits the spot.
Also check out the Vineyards Fruity Red Wine and Vineyards Juicy Rose Wine.
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 30 | 700 | 8.95 |
A quick look at the bottle size and price for a delicious sounding liqueur like this might make you wonder why you haven’t already got one in your cupboard at home. Well, here’s your chance to right that wrong and get the blood cherry fix you need. It’s also got a touch of anise to enjoy.
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 8 | 750 | 3.75 |
The Time Keeper wines are an excellent budget range sold at Sainsbury’s. The price is handily kept down by the lower alcohol percentage making it great value and not too bad on the head either. Expect dark fruits and a nice smooth finish.
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 13 | 750 | 4.75 |
Wollemi is another brand of wines at Sainsbury’s that are well worth dipping into. These get great reviews but the Shiraz most of all. It’s a spicy, black fruit and vanilla laden gem from South Eastern Australia.
Also try the Wollemi Chardonnay, Wollemi Merlot and Wollemi Sauvignon Blanc Semillon.
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 20 | 750 | 9.49 |
Perhaps no surprise that a Port has made the cut. Being a labour of love to make, but without the regular enough backing of consumers to make them anything like the price they deserve to be, Port is great value from a price-ABV perspective. Don’t make it just a Christmas treat!
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 14 | 750 | 5 |
Kumala is one of those South African wine brands that I think is actually very good, especially with price considered. They have a much greater tendency to showcase the varietal characteristics of the grapes then other wines at this price point, which just shows off good winemaking. This one displays the lovely juicy dark berries of Pinotage, softness of Merlot and smoky spice of Cinsault.
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 32 | 700 | 10.75 |
Liqueurs have unsurprisingly proven their worth on this list, and here’s one for the coffee fanatics. Also flavoured with anise for extra flavour, this is superb with desserts, or in cocktails or just on its own.
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 43 | 375 | 7.95 |
An English Vodka made in London. It’s clean, pure and relatively high strength as Vodka goes. There’s shockingly little about this Vodka online but all we know is that value for money is up there.
| ABV (%) | Bottle Size (ml) | Price (£) |
| 36 | 700 | 12.50 |
So a brandy for £12.50 might not be the best in the world, but there are a number of reviews saying it’s better than the more expensive stuff. If this is to your taste then it’s going to be a very good brandy of choice for you. Even if it isn’t to your taste, it will still perform very well in a mixer.
The best alcohol for the cheapest price might be a tricky question to answer – it depends on your definition of best – but these are certainly the best value we have available from all of our partners. It’s definitely worth stating this isn’t a “get drunk quick” guide but you ought to find it helpful if you are hosting a casual event or party and don’t want to break the bank.
If these aren’t to your taste, using our search bar to find your favourite wine, beer or spirit is your next best bet. We compare prices at multiple retailers allowing you to find the best place to buy from!