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What are you drinking? It depends on where you are in B.C.

British Columbians get quirky when it comes to drinking. New information provided by the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch’s data team reveals the top 30 products sold by the branch in each of 28 regional districts in B.C.
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Customers pay for purchases in a liquor store in downtown Vancouver.

British Columbians get quirky when it comes to drinking.

New information provided by the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch’s data team reveals the top 30 products sold by the branch in each of 28 regional districts in B.C. in 2015, and it brings to light some surprising trends across the province.

There’s no disputing it: Budweiser, “The King of Beers,” reigns supreme in B.C., taking up 10 spots in the province’s overall top 30 list.

“Across the chain there are some products that are top-sellers regardless of where people live — Budweiser, Smirnoff, Apothic wine,” said April Kemick, spokeswoman for the B.C. LDB.

Molson Canadian, Corona and Crown Royal also dominate the list. Lucky Lager gets an honourable mention for its stake on Vancouver Island.

And there’s a lot the data doesn’t reflect.

For example, refreshment beverage sales are “exploding” and B.C. cider sales at B.C. Liquor Stores were up about 22 per cent by September over the year before, Kemick said.

Craft beer sales in B.C. have nearly tripled in the past five years, with $73 million worth sold in 2015.

But variations in lifestyle choices, income, family traditions — even weather — have a profound effect on how British Columbians drink, Kemick said.

Indeed, within the top 30 lists, The Province found many anomalies in the data reflecting local tastes, and the following are some highlights.

Cheers!
 

Sea-to-Sky apres-ski

Squamish-Lillooet sold an inordinate volume of the liqueurs Jagermeister and Fireball, both among the top 30 products sold in the district 2015.

Locals and tourists snatched up about 5,300 750-millilitre bottles of the herbal liqueur and 13,000 375-mL mickeys of the cinnamon whisky liqueur.

Jeannie Boscariol, manager at Scotties Liquor Score in Squamish, said the store’s solid selection of B.C. craft beers and ciders makes up most of its sales.

But she confirmed they get their share of skiers, snowboarders, mountain-bikers and other “outdoorsy” types grabbing Fireball to warm up after runs down local trails and Whistler’s slopes.

And Boscariol thinks there’s more than shipping economics behind Fireball’s switch from glass to plastic bottles for its mickeys.

“How many people do you think have wiped out (on the slopes) and smashed their Fireball, right?” she said.

Boscariol said Jagermeister is most popular among those who just recently hit legal drinking age and are looking for “bang for their buck.”

European visitors looking for an après-ski also frequently select the herbal liqueur. “They just want a little nip after they’ve done their ski runs,” she said.

Bubbles at the beach

Villa Teresa’s organic Prosecco Frizzante makes its lone top-30 appearance on the Sunshine Coast, where more than 5,100 bottles were sold in 2015.

Staff at several liquor outlets confirmed the semi-sparkling white is a local wine-rack staple.

Scott Shoemaker, owner of the Halfmoon Bay General Store, said it’s his top-selling white, along with the Italian winery’s organic Pinot Grigio.

The store’s health-conscious customers include a lot of middle agers and cyclists, hikers and kayakers, who “tend to buy the organic stuff,” Shoemaker said.

”When they want a picnic on the beach, they seem to grab a Prosecco and cheese and crackers,” as well as the store’s popular thick, double-smoked bacon.

In the summer, it’s hard to keep up with demand for chilled bottles of the stuff.

“The population doubles in the summertime with recreational people and people who have summer homes, lots of bed and breakfasts,” Shoemaker said.

“I’m running out constantly and it seems the liquor board runs out, too, so I’ll go a week or two without it, and when I get it back in it just flies off the shelves.”

Hey Mickey

Eschewing the traditional hip flask to keep warm in the winter, imbibers on B.C.’s northern coast picked up their fare share of mickeys, according to their top 30 lists.

The coastal Kitimat-Stikine could be B.C.’s vodka-mickey capital, going through about 13,000 petite bottles of Silent Sam and 5,400 of Smirnoff in 2015.

Mickeys of Fireball and Smirnoff were hot in Skeena-Queen Charlotte, where about 3,300 of each were picked up, and Mount Waddington, where it was 2,750 and 5,000, respectively.

Eastward, the North Rockies went through about 2,700 mickeys of Smirnoff, 2,000 of Alberta Pure vodka and 1,200 of Wiser’s whisky.

Golden Geese 

Mickeys didn’t make Peace River-Liard’s top 30, but expensive premium vodka Grey Goose did.

“It’s a good-quality vodka, and obviously we must have some high-end customers in Fort St. John that love it,” said Warren Mears, general manager of three On The Rocks liquor stores in Fort St. John.

“It’s a diversified community and of course we’re oil and gas. We also have the Site C dam coming on stream ... we have a lot of professionals here, too, and so it’s all of them, they all buy the Grey Goose.”

Mears said the urge to splurge on premium booze in the area might be stronger because Fort St. John residents earn a bit more than the rest of British Columbians.

According to the 2011 National Household Survey, the median after-tax income for families there was $84,515, well above the provincial average of $67,900.

Boarder's brew

Surf’s up in the Central Okanagan, where 50-litre kegs of Big Surf’s Laid Back Lager made a huge dent in the district’s top 30. More than 5,000 kegs of it were tapped in 2015.

Anne Stewart, co-owner of the Turtle Bay Pub in Lake Country, described it as a highly-sessionable beer, “a really light lager for a very affordable price.”

It’s drunk by locals and tourists alike, year-round, and used as a house lager at many other waterfront pubs and restaurants, she said.

Stewart said the lager’s “snazzy” surfboard tap handle ties in well with the district’s lake and wakeboarding culture.

“Anybody that’s kind of looking to sit on a patio and have lots of beer, that’s a good one,” she said with a chuckle.

It also helps that the brewery’s staff likes to post up at the bar for a pint of the ubiquitous lager and chat up regulars, she said.

Creamy 50th parallel

The North Okanagan went through a remarkable 10,000-plus litres of Irish Cream — both Baileys and Carolans — in 2015.

The district’s fans of the liqueur, which is often added to coffee or hot chocolate, don’t discriminate between brands: They bought 5,600 bottles each of Baileys and Carolans, slightly preferring the 1.14-litre format over 750mL bottles.

Strathcona, another district on the 50th parallel with four Irish Cream entries, went through 6,500 litres of it — about 3,500 bottles of Baileys and 3,700 bottles of Carolans.

Kemick noted that cream liqueurs outsell other liqueurs by a four-to-one margin in December.

Micro goes macro

Alberni-Clayquot sends out a tidal wave of Tofino Brewing beer. The cozy craft brewery in the surfing community dominates its top 30 with 11 entries, more than any other brand in any regional district. The brewery piped out close to 138,000 litres of its Blonde Ale through the liquor board.

Also crushing top-30 lists were Powell River’s Townsite with 10 entries, Central Kootenay’s Nelson Brewing with eight and Columbia-Shuswap’s Mt. Begbie Brewing (Revelstoke) with seven.

Buzzed and buzzing

Mount Waddington is the only place in B.C. where a refreshment beverage other than cider or Twisted Tea hard iced tea made the top 30.

Rockstar+Vodka was a hit in the district, which went through 9,750 tall cans of it in 2015. The spiked energy drink packs a punch at 6.9 per cent ABV.

Debbie Derksen, marina manager at the Quarterdeck Marina in Port Hardy, said the marina’s beer and wine store has customers who swing by for four cans of it every day.

There’s a simple reason for that, she said with a laugh: “Because it gives people a good buzz.”

Rockstar+Vodka sells year-round and is popular with commercial fishermen, who will often pair it with a mickey of Fireball, Derksen said.