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Author: Peter Cutforth

  • Trends in Drinking You Can Expect to See This Year

    According to The Roy Morgan Alcohol Currency Report, in a 4 week period, 69.3% of Australians drink alcohol.

    The report revealed that in an average 4 week period Australians drinking trends are as follows,

    • 39.1 per cent drink beer
    • 44.5 per cent consume wine
    • 27.5 per cent drink spirits
    • 13.6 per cent consume cider

    Unsurprisingly men drink more than women with 75% drinking in an average 4 week period, compared to 65% of women.

    Although men drink more than women, drinking among males has declined over the past 5 years.

    Read more https://www.beerandbrewer.com/report-finds-that-wine-is-most-popular-but-beer-is-most-drunk/

  • How to Drink Cheap Wine Really Well

    An article on Esquire.com suggested ways to help enjoy a cheap wine, really well despite the affordable price tag.

    One piece of advice is to choose wine from the regions that produce the best quality wine for the lowest price, such as Portugal and the South of France.

    Another important tip is to treat your cheap wine, like an expensive one – decant it to aerate the wine and keep it in a wine cooler to ensure you get it to the right, cellar temperature before popping the cork.

    Find out more https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/g19739889/how-to-make-cheap-red-wine-taste-more-expensive/

  • Alcohol Consumption Guidelines Review Called for

    University of Queensland drug and alcohol experts have called for the thresholds for safer alcohol to be lowered, following a global alcohol consumption study.

    The recommendations were made by Wayne Hall and Jason Connor from the university’s Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research.

    The study was co-authored by more than 100 academics from around the globe and included analysis of 599,912 drinkers in 19 countries over a 50 year period.

    The study and a commentary by Professors Hall and Connor is published in The Lancet.

    Professor Hall explained that the study found that people who drank more had an increased risk of serious diseases.

    “The study found that increased alcohol consumption was associated with a higher risk of stroke, coronary disease, heart failure, aortic aneurysm, and fatal levels of high blood pressure,” 

    “Around half of people in the study reported drinking more than 100 grams (or 10 standard drinks) of alcohol per week and almost 10 per cent drank more than 350 grams per week.

    Source: https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2018/04/experts-urge-review-of-alcohol-consumption-guidelines

    Conversely the study found that reducing the amount of alcohol consumed, increased life expectancy in middle-aged drinkers.

    “The study suggests that reductions in alcohol consumption could increase life expectancy by up to two years in a 40-year-old drinker.

    “However, this gain in life expectancy is only seen when alcohol consumption is below 100 grams per week.”

    Source: https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2018/04/experts-urge-review-of-alcohol-consumption-guidelines

    While alcohol consumption guidelines around the globe vary, in Australia guidelines say we should not consume more than 14 standard drinks a week or 140 grams.

    The professor says the study supports an adoption of lower limits of alcohol consumption, which are currently recommended in other countries across the globe – 100 grams per week.

    “These recommended drinking levels will no doubt be described as implausible and impracticable by the alcohol industry and other opponents of public health warnings on alcohol.

    “Nonetheless, the findings ought to be widely disseminated and they should provoke informed public and professional debate.”

    Read more at: https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2018/04/experts-urge-review-of-alcohol-consumption-guidelines

    While suggested guidelines are still being reviewed, we should keep in mind that moderate alcohol consumption is best for your health. Currently we shouldn’t consume more than 2 drinks a day, according to guidelines.

    As servers of alcohol, we must  remember to serve alcohol to patrons in a way that does not knowingly cause them immediate or long term harm. For more about Responsible Service of Alcohol training click here.

     

  • Don’t Drink and Drive or Ride!

    A warning for people who drink and drive or those who think they can get around the law by riding their horse instead of driving a car or motorbike while intoxicated.

    A 51 year old woman was recently arrested by police in Logan, south of Brisbane after allegedly riding her horse to a tavern while over the legal alcohol limit.

    Police were called to the tavern because the woman didn’t want to leave. When they arrived they found she was intoxicated and riding her horse through the drive-through.

    She was taken back to the station where she returned a blood alcohol reading of .226 per cent – more than 4 times the legal alcohol limit.

    Read more http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-05/woman-charged-riding-horse-four-times-over-legal-limit/9837188

  • Bartenders – How to Stay Calm when The Bar Gets Busy

    Ask any experienced bartender what’s the key to working busy shifts and they’ll tell you “staying calm”.

    In this video we’ll get some tips on how to handle the crowd.

  • More Work Needed to Tackle Alcohol Drownings

    Following a Griffith University systematic literature review, there has been a call for high quality research to reduce alcohol related drowning.

    According to Dr Kyra Hamilton from Griffith’s  Menzies Health Institute Queensland, the statistics are still high despite efforts to address this global public health issue.

    In Australia we are well aware of the drinking culture that often leads to drownings and the need to address this.

    In a research collaboration between the Griffith University researchers and Royal Life Saving Society – Australia, 73 related studies were looked into. Researchers found on average 49 per cent of fatal drownings and 35 per cent of non-fatal drownings involved alcohol.

    In Australia, alcohol is involved in about 23 per cent of unintentional fatal drownings since 2002 out of a total of 4256, according to Royal Life Saving’s National Fatal Drowning Database. Alcohol played a significant role, with a blood alcohol content of 0.05 or higher being present in 66 per cent of cases.

    Statistics also show that alcohol drownings are prevalent among males than females which is not surprising however what is surprising is that these alcohol drownings usually occur at inland waterways such as rivers, lakes and dams and not the ocean as you may expect.

    Researchers found that males boating and not wearing lifejackets as well as those swimming alone, at night and at locations without lifeguards were at an increased risk of alcohol related drownings.

    “Only two studies evaluated prevention strategies,” 

    “This study highlights the urgent need for high quality intervention research aimed at reducing alcohol-related drowning and the need for higher quality studies and behavioural research to better understand this risky behaviour.” Dr Hamilton explained.

    Source: https://app.secure.griffith.edu.au/news/2018/06/04/further-work-required-to-reduce-alcohol-related-drowning/ 

    For a number of years Royal Life Saving has been focusing on prevention of alcohol drowning and water injuries and in its latest campaign it urged the public “Don’t Let Your Mates Drink and Drown”. That campaign was developed with the aid of the Australian Government, urging men to look out for their friends and not allow the risk taking behavior that leads to drownings but more research is needed.

    “Future research should focus on the implementation and evaluation of prevention strategies to reduce further loss of life due to alcohol-related drowning,” Dr Hamilton says.

    Find out more at: https://app.secure.griffith.edu.au/news/2018/06/04/further-work-required-to-reduce-alcohol-related-drowning/

  • Latest Victorian Violent Venues List Released

    The NSW Government released it’s half-yearly Violent Venues list and according to it fourteen venues are a problem with 12 or more violent incidents occurring within their premises over a 12 month period.

    In addition to being featured on the list, these venues are also subject to high liquor license fees, closer monitoring by authorities and additional trading restrictions.

    Three venues made it to level 1 of the list which is the most restrictive of categories on the list while 11 more venues made it to level 2.

    Find a full list of venues at https://www.theshout.com.au/australian-hotelier/more-violent-venues-against-long-term-trend/

  • Spicy Mint Avocado Margarita Cocktail

    Isn’t it about time you got another cocktail under your belt? Here’s a delicious cocktail that’s fancy enough to impress your friends but simple enough that you can’t mess it up.

  • 2017 Alcohol Consumption Decline Reverses

    According to data released by the IWSR, total alcohol consumption around the globe has increased in 2017 compared to 2016.

    The slight increase of 0.01 per cent follows a decline of -1.25 per cent in 2016, so any growth is positive for the industry.

    The largest increase in global volume consumption was attributed to wine followed by cider while spirits, beer and mixed drinks consumption declined.

    The fastest growing regions for spirits according to the date are Asia Pacific and the Americas. The increase in Baijiu consumption in China is one of the main contributors to this growth, with whisky also proving popular in the region.

    For more information visit: https://www.theshout.com.au/news/global-alcohol-consumption-reverses-decline-in-2017/

  • 9000 Hospitality Jobs to Fill in Brisbane

    If you’ve been considering a career or even just a job in the hospitality industry in Brisbane, there’s no better time than now to make your move.

    It has been predicted that around 9000 new hospitality jobs will be created in Brisbane over the coming years to 2020 and the industry even fears a staffing crisis.

    As we know a shortage of workers in a particular industry means that not only are opportunities abundant but for the right talent, also lucrative.

    If you want to take advantage of this boom in the industry, you should consider completing Responsible Service of Alcohol training first, here’s why.

    Anyone who works in the hospitality industry, in a licensed venue needs to complete the training, whether you’re a waitron, bar manager, sommerlier or bouncer.

    Also having the training already completed will make you more attractive to potential employers.To find out more about the training click here.

    Read about Brisbane’s hospitality staff shortage at https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/queensland-faces-hospitality-staff-crisis-with-9000-jobs-to-fill-by-2020-20180519-p4zgaa.html