Photo: Lorenzo Cerioni/EyeEm, Getty Images.
You expect to be judged on your looks, personality, and even your job when you go on a date, but did you know your date is also judging your drink order? WineBags.com recently released results of a survey about how men’s and women’s first date drinks are perceived. Responses from 1,000 Americans aged 21 and over revealed what the most attractive drink orders are to the opposite sex, what drinks were viewed negatively, and how those perceptions changed as people aged. Study up and sip accordingly.
Wine FTW
Men and women surveyed overwhelmingly cited wine as the most desirable drink order. Craft beer came in second, while water or another non-alcoholic beverage surprisingly climbed to third. Mixed drinks, top-shelf liquor, and well liquor fill out the bottom of the desirability hierarchy.
Manly Men Drink Beer
When drink preferences are broken down by gender, a few differences emerge. Almost a third of women prefer that men order craft beer, the most popular male drink order. (Though both genders rated regular beer far below craft beer in attractiveness.) Not into brewski? Your next best bet is to order water or a non-alcoholic drink, which 23.9% of respondents found to be an attractive drink order. Top-shelf liquor was the third most attractive drink ordered by men, and wine came in fourth.
As for drink orders made by women, 34.1% of respondents preferred that the lady order wine. Water or another non-alcoholic beverage came in second, while craft beer and a mixed drink ranked a close third and fourth place with 15.2% and 14% of respondents, respectively.
Everyone seems to agree that well liquor is lame, with a mere 1.8% and 1.9% percent of respondents saying it’s attractive when ordered by a woman or a man, respectively.
Drink Order Attractiveness Doesn’t Change Much…Until Old Age
Women like when men order craft beer. That fact doesn’t seem to change as they age, remaining the most attractive drink order for almost 1/3 of those surveyed from age 21 to age 70. From ages 21 to 60, respondents still say a man is more attractive dry than if he orders top-shelf or well liquor, wine, mixed drinks, or regular beer. After age 60, however, something changes: respondents find men who order top-shelf liquor as more attractive than they do craft beer drinkers (33.3% to 26.7%, respectively). On the flip side, the most attractive drink ordered by women is wine, a preference that almost doubles from 34.1% in the 21 to 30 age group to 69.2% in the 61- to 70-year-old demographic. Water and non-alcoholic beverages stayed strong and steady as the second most attractive drink ordered by women until age 51, when 1/4 of respondents said a woman’s drink order of craft beer became the next best thing after wine.
Survey respondents were asked if they viewed craft beer, a glass of wine, a gin drink, a rum drink, a tequila drink, and a sugary and colorful drink as “positively”, “neutral”, or “negatively” when ordered by men. By far, the most frowned upon drink a man could order was a sugary, colorful drink, with almost half (47.7%) of respondents stating they viewed that order negatively. Guys would also be wise to avoid tequila; 20.9% of respondents viewed that drink order negatively.
The Take-Away
If you have to take the edge off during a date, stick with wine and craft beer until you’ve gotten past the first impression stage. Don’t worry about coming off as boring if you order water or a non-alcoholic drink, either; survey respondents associated words like “healthy”, “smart”, and “safe” with a sober date. Want to analyze (or agonize) further over drink order impressions? Check out the rest of WineBags.com‘s survey results here.
