Sunderland pub launches 'pouch to couch' drinks delivery service

The Saltgrass in Deptford had success last year with their drinks collection service, however, with the new Lockdown 3 restrictions pubs are no longer allowed to sell takeaway alcohol.

With the initial guidance unclear as to whether the sale of sealed drinks was permitted, owner Walter Veti approached Sunderland City Council.

After looking into the issue, they confirmed neither open or sealed takeaway drinks could be sold from pubs during the current lockdown and Walter put a new delivery service in place instead.

Related: Sunderland breweries and distilleries sell straight to the consumer in lockdown.

Some of the pub’s most popular drinks, including craft ales from Tiny Rebel Brewery, as well as nine different cocktail varieties, such as Pink Gin Fizz and Pornstar Martini, are put in 1litre pouches which are then delivered to your door.

Speaking about the deliveries, which are permitted in the current restrictions, Walter said: “We ran the service for the first time last weekend and it sold out.

"We’re the only place, that we know of, doing Tiny Rebel deliveries in the area and the cocktails are some of the favourites from our bar, so it’s not the kind of drinks you can get from the supermarket.”

He added: “A lot of people are still doing Zoom quizzes on a weekend so we’ve had friends ordering cocktails to their different homes and then doing the quizzes together when they’re drinking them.

"When we’ve done some deliveries people are even dressed up for a Saturday night in the house, and you can’t blame them, having a drink in the house is one of the only things we’re all allowed to do at the minute and it helps break the monotony.”

Prices are £10 per litre for a cocktail, with Pornstar Martini priced £20, and £4.50 for a litre of Tiny Rebel brews, Club Tropicana, Good Times and Hello Goodbye. There’s an additional charge of £1 per pouch and £3 delivery to SR1-SR6 postcodes. Deliveries are made from noon to 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

You will need to pre-order through direct message on the pub’s Facebook page for a delivery slot.

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