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A picnic is a logistics problem disguised as a nice afternoon. Everything has to be carried, usually on a bus or a tube, then sat on grass in direct sun for several hours with no fridge, no ice and no bin within a reasonable walk. Most picnic drinks ideas fall apart at exactly that point, which is why so many gatherings end up around a warm bottle of prosecco and a plastic cup nobody wants.
The good news is that the constraints are entirely predictable, so you can plan around them. Here is what works on Hampstead Heath, in Victoria Park, on Primrose Hill or anywhere else with a view worth carrying a bag up a slope for.
Drinking sensibly at a picnic is permitted across most of the Royal Parks and a great many borough parks, and it is a normal part of a London summer. What catches people out is that several boroughs operate Public Spaces Protection Orders covering particular parks and streets, where an officer can ask you to stop drinking and hand over what you have. The rules differ between neighbouring parks and they change, so it is worth a quick look at the signs by the gate or the park website.
Glass is the other consideration. A number of parks and most open-air events ban it outright, and even where it is allowed, broken glass in grass is a genuine hazard for dogs and barefoot children. Cans and lightweight plastic are simply the more considerate choice, and they weigh less on the walk in.
Cans chill faster, cool down more quickly if they have warmed up, do not shatter, take up less space and are far easier to carry out again once empty. The range in cans has expanded enormously, so this is no longer a compromise. Lagers such as Asahi, Peroni, Corona and Stella Artois all travel well from the beer selection, and canned cider is one of the most reliably refreshing things you can put in a bag on a hot day.
Where you do want wine, choose screwcap over cork, because nobody ever remembers the corkscrew. Half bottles and 250 ml single-serve formats are worth the small premium at a picnic, since a full bottle opened at two in the afternoon will be warm and flat by four.
Pre-mixed formats are the other genuine convenience. A ready-made case means no measuring, no carrying three separate bottles of spirits and mixers, and no ice requirement. The pre-mixed cases are built for exactly this kind of afternoon.
Freeze two large plastic bottles of water solid the night before. Pack them at the bottom of the bag, stack the drinks on top of them, and wrap the whole thing in the picnic blanket or a spare jumper. Cold air falls, so the drinks sitting above the ice stay cold, and the frozen bottles slowly become the drinking water you would otherwise have had to carry separately.
Everything should go in cold to begin with. A can that leaves the fridge at 4 degrees and a can that leaves the cupboard at 20 degrees are not remotely the same proposition once they have been in a rucksack for forty minutes. If you have space, a small insulated bag holds temperature roughly three times longer than a canvas tote.
On arrival, put the bag in shade immediately, even if you are sitting in the sun. Grass under a tree can be several degrees cooler than grass in the open, and direct sunlight will do more damage to your drinks than the air temperature will.
If you want something more considered than a can, make it at home and carry it in a bottle. The trick is to build drinks that do not need ice to taste right, which means slightly stronger than you would serve at home, since dilution will happen anyway as everything warms.
A cold-brewed jug of tea with lemon and a measure of gin per serving travels beautifully and does not go flat. A mix of white wine, soda and a little elderflower cordial is a better outdoor drink than either wine or a spritz alone, because it stays refreshing as it warms. Anything fizzy is a poor candidate for batching, since carbonation is the first thing to disappear and a warm flat sparkling drink is worse than no drink at all.
Carry batch drinks in a screwtop bottle rather than a flask with a pouring spout, and keep them in the same cold core of the bag as everything else.
Sun, heat and a long walk to the nearest tap mean people get through far more water than they expect. Plan a litre of water per person on a warm day, alongside whatever else you are bringing, and make sure at least half of the total volume you carry is non-alcoholic. Sparkling water, a bottle of good lemonade and a couple of cans of tonic or ginger beer will do more for the mood of an afternoon than an extra four beers.
For quantities generally, two to three alcoholic drinks per adult covers a three to four hour picnic. People drink faster outdoors than they realise, so keeping the alcohol modest and the water plentiful is what makes the difference between a good afternoon and a flat one.
Take a bottle opener even if you think everything is a ring pull, and a lightweight bag for rubbish, since park bins overflow by mid-afternoon in August and taking your own litter home is quicker than queuing for one. Reusable hard plastic or metal cups are better than the flimsy disposables that blow across the grass the moment anyone stands up.
Pack the drinks last so they come out first, keep a flat surface for pouring in mind when you choose your spot, and remember that a slight slope means anything set down will eventually fall over.
If the sun holds and you decide to stay out later than planned, we deliver across London inside the M25 in 30 to 45 minutes, 24 hours a day, so restocking on the way home or before you head out takes no planning at all. Have a look at the areas we cover and the wine range if you want something particular for the blanket.
Please drink responsibly. Drinks House 247 operates a Challenge 21 policy - you must be 18 or over to order, and our drivers will ask for photo ID if you look under 21.
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