How depressing is this! OMITTED FROM THIS REPORT IS MY MOST-HATED JOINT, THE ODIOUS, SORRY I MEAN ODEON - RIP-OFF MERCHANTS THAT THEY ARE... - The cost of a late night drink in Dublin Irish independent 19 aug 2003 The late night license has brought a revolutionary change to the capital's night life. No longer are drinkers forced to pay into night clubs just to have a late night drink. Right across the city, every night of the week, there are plenty of bars where you can go to have that late night tipple, which you can now do till 2.30am. And the sheer variety of bars means that just about every taste is catered for. But late night drinking often comes with a nasty financial sting. To ease the cost of the special late night license, the attendant expenses of hiring extra security and, in many cases, extra bar staff and DJs, late night bars are charging their customers a surprisingly high amount of money for the apparent privilege of staying for a late drink. This week City Life investigated the cost of having a late night drink in ten popular late night bars in Dublin city centre, once the late night license comes into effect, which entitles bars to serve till 2.30am. When we did the figures, the results were, quite simply, astonishing. Not only are the city centre's late night bars extremely expensive - but there is an astronomical and seemingly arbitrary difference between the price some late night bars charge for drinks and the prices charged by others.. We surveyed the price of several popular drinks at various bars in the city centre. First of all, we checked the price of the old reliable, a pint of Guinness. The cheapest late bar we surveyed for the pint of plain was Hogan's on George's Street. There, you will pay EUR4.10 for a Guinness. Meanwhile, on the increasingly trendy Dawson Street strip, expect to pay EUR4.90 in what is reputedly the most profitable late bar in Dublin, Café en Seine. The Left Bank in Temple Bar also charges EUR4.90 for a Guinness. Samsara on Dawson Street wasn't cheap, either - there, a Guinness cost EUR4.70. Next order at the bar was a pint of Heineken. Yet again, Hogan's was the cheapest - at EUR4.45. And again, Café en Seine sold the priciest pint, a staggering EUR5.40 for our humble Heineken, almost EUR1 dearer than Hogan's. At four other venues - Samsara, Fitzsimons in Temple Bar, Dakota on South William Street and Zanzibar on Ormond Quay - a Heineken had already reached the EUR5 mark. Temple Bar's Left Bank did not stock Heineken, so we left it out of the reckoning this time around. When it came to buying a Smirnoff vodka, the trendy Morrison Hotel, on the hitherto unfashionable side of the Liffey, left every other watering hole in the shade as far as price was concerned. A princely price tag of EUR5.20 rests on a vodka at the hotel named after an album by The Doors; obviously price is not a factor for the Morrison's affluent clientele. On the other side of the river, Hogan's sold the same shot of vodka for EUR1.20 less.. Red Bull on its own is a very popular drink, so we checked out how this non-alcoholic 'energy' drink fared, and came across an interesting coincidence. Two of the busiest late bars in Temple Bar (aka the Temple of Bars) charged exactly the same for Austria's most famous export - a whopping EUR4.80 a bottle. That's almost EUR1 more expensive than Hogan's, which is only about five minutes' walk away. But of course, the drink of the moment is vodka and Red Bull - on manic late nights in Dublin, it's the accelerated heartbeat of the city's nightlife. Most people don't specify a particular brand of vodka to go with the Red Bull they order to accompany it, and we came across anecdotal evidence of cheap, sub-standard vodka being dished out to these unsuspecting tipplers. So, just to make sure we were getting good quality vodka - as well as comparing like with like - we specified Smirnoff vodka when ordering it on its own, and also when buying it with a Red Bull. Step forward the Morrison Hotel, and that will be EUR9.65 please for your Smirnoff vodka and Red Bull. Perhaps no prizes for guessing the cheapest bar for this combo drink: Hogan's. Hogan's charged us EUR7.90, which, compared with the damage at the Morrison, seemed positively charitable - almost EUR2 cheaper. An unassuming 33cl bottle of Smirnoff Ice will set you back a painful EUR6.45 at The Temple Bar. But in Samsara, the same drink cost us EUR1.15 less. But what about the big picture - when it's your turn to go to the bar? Which late bar was the dearest? The answer to that depends on whether Red Bull is included in the cost of the round - because neither Café en Seine nor Zanzibar stock Red Bull. If Red Bull is included in the round, then Temple Bar's Left Bank is the priciest. There, the round cost us EUR25.30. Admittedly, The Left Bank doesn't sell Heineken, but it does sell its counterparts, Carlsberg and Budweiser, which both cost EUR5 a pint. A mere 5c less for the same round, The Temple Bar was the second dearest late bar in our survey (see panel). There was a considerable difference of EUR3.20 between the cheapest late bar - Hogan's - and the dearest ones. In other words, almost enough to add another drink to the round! When Red Bull was left out of the round, Café en Seine was the dearest late bar overall. There, a pint of Guinness, pint of Heineken, Smirnoff vodka and Smirnoff Ice set us back EUR20.70 - closely followed by The Temple Bar, The Left Bank and the Morrison. Between the dearest and the cheapest round in this category, there was a difference of EUR2.50, with Hogan's once again being the cheapest overall, at EUR18.20 for the round. DEAREST DRINKS: * Pint of Guinness: Café en Seine, The Left Bank * Pint of Heineken: Café en Seine * Smirnoff Vodka: Morrison Hotel * Red Bull: The Left Bank, The Temple Bar * Smirnoff Vodka and Red Bull: Morrison Hotel * Smirnoff Ice: The Temple Bar How much you pay for your late night round (with Red Bull included) * Café en Seine: N/A (doesn't stock Red Bull) * The Left Bank: EUR25.30 * The Temple Bar: EUR25.25 * The Morrison Hotel: EUR24.55 * Fitzsimons: EUR24.20 * Judge Roy Beans: EUR23.15 * Dakota: EUR23.15 * Samsara: EUR22.90 * Hogan's: EUR22.10 * Zanzibar: N/A How much you pay for your late night round (without the Red Bull) * Café en Seine: EUR20.70 * The Left Bank: EUR20.50 * The Temple Bar: EUR20.45 * The Morrison Hotel: EUR20.10 * Fitzsimons: EUR19.60 * Judge Roy Beans: EUR18.65 * Dakota: EUR19.25 * Zanzibar: EUR19.20 * Samsara: EUR18.90 * Hogan's: EUR18.20