Our neighbor’s son went to England to study for his Master’s Degree. He told me he was amazed at how much the British drank. Not a few cocktails either.. but LOTs and lots of them. He said it was very common even among the college professors. Believe it or not.. that was the image he took home.
According to wiki, the Brits consume 13.4 liters of pure alcohol per person per year. Americans are at 9.4.
The world leader is Moldova, at 18.2, with Ukraine, understandably, at #4, 15.6.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_alcohol_consumption
BTW, in colonial and early national days, Americans drank a lot more alcohol than we do today. 1830, 14.8 liters.
https://suite101.com/a/the-rise-and-fall-of-alcohol-consumption-in-early-america-a224180
They have a drinking culture. I actually like it, lol. When they come to NYC, they are shocked at how NYers don’t drink all that much.