Drinkers are using new 'zebra striping' method to completely change their nights out

The way people drink is pretty much always changing and there's a growing trend which is becoming known as 'zebra striping'.

Rather than leave you twisting in the wind and trying to guess what 'zebra striping' is supposed to mean in a drinking context, we'll just go ahead and tell you.

"That's one stripe of the zebra..." (Getty Stock Photo)

It's basically where you go on a night out and alternate your drinks, so in between quaffing the booze, you'll have a tot of something that's not slowly poisoning you.

This has the consequence of letting you stay out for longer without getting too drunk and you probably won't wake up the next morning feeling like you died during the night.

It's long been standard advice to alternate your drinks when you're on a night out, and that to stay properly healthy and hydrated you ought to be quaffing water in between your pints.

A new study into the drinking habits of Brits has found that one in three trips to the pub don't involve buying alcohol, and that 2.6 million fewer adults are drinking on a weekly basis in 2024 compared to 2021.

It also found that a quarter of Brits are already 'zebra striping', while two thirds of drinkers who were surveyed have been fitting non-alcoholic drinks into their boozy sessions, even if they weren't always using this method.

Health experts have already recommended that you follow your drinks with water to stay hydrated, especially as the hot weather rolls around and you might not realise how inebriated you're getting as you become increasingly dehydrated.

It also dovetails with evidence which indicates that younger generations are drinking less than their parents did, so 'zebra striping' may be the key to a long night out without actually imbibing much alcohol.

"Aaannnd there's the other stripe..." (Getty Stock Photo)

There are apparently some other benefits to switching your drinks, as a 'master mixologist' told the Metro that adding water makes a lot of cocktails taste better.

It turns out that bombarding your tongue with strong flavours can rob each one of its distinctiveness and make things less enjoyable.

Having some water between your drinks helps reset your palette and lets you better enjoy your tipple as you make the most of a night out.

This particularly helps if you're changing cocktails each time, as water between them allows you to better enjoy the radically different new taste landing on your tongue.

Perhaps in the future we'll all be 'zebra striping'.