Category Guide

The Best Dragons’ Den Liquor & Alcohol Products (2026)

Every liquor & alcohol product that pitched Dragons’ Den, the ones that landed deals, the ones still selling, and where to buy them.

Dragons' Den IndexUpdated 9 December 20256 min read

Liquor and alcohol is one of the smaller and tougher categories in Dragons' Den history. Of the 24 pitches in our index, 9 secured investment, a 38 percent success rate against the show's overall average of 30 percent, modestly ahead of the show-wide baseline. Twenty of those 24 businesses are still trading today.

Here is how the category performs, the biggest deal it has produced, who invests most in it, and which drinks brands from the pitches are still on sale now.

How Liquor and Alcohol Fares in the Den

A 38 percent deal rate sits modestly above the show's overall average of 30 percent, placing liquor and alcohol in the middle of the pack rather than among the Den's standout categories. Drinks brands face a genuinely crowded, heavily regulated market outside the studio, and that reality appears to make some Dragons more cautious than they are with food pitches, despite drinks being just as easy to taste and judge in the room.

The average deal size in the category is £62,000, one of the lower averages in the index, reflecting a mix of small-batch and craft producers pitching alongside more established drinks businesses.

The Biggest Liquor and Alcohol Deal in the Den

The largest deal in this category went to Craft Clubs Ltd, which secured £75,000 for 12.5 percent of the business in series 14. That is a relatively founder-friendly equity split, valuing the business at £600,000, one of the stronger valuations to come out of the category.

Craft Clubs Ltd's deal shows that even in a category with a below-average cheque size overall, a well-structured pitch can still command a strong valuation.

Who Backs Liquor and Alcohol Pitches

Touker Suleyman leads investment in this category, with one deal in our index, more than any other Dragon, though the category's small overall size, just 24 pitches and 9 deals, means no single Dragon has built up a significant track record here compared with larger categories like fashion or food and drink.

Drinks pitches appear to be a category the Dragons approach cautiously and individually, rather than one any single panellist has made a specialism. With just 9 deals from 24 pitches, liquor and alcohol has produced fewer total investments than almost any other category tracked in this index.

Which Liquor and Alcohol Businesses Are Still Trading

Twenty of the 24 liquor and alcohol pitches in the index are still selling today, an 83 percent survival rate, a solid figure for a highly competitive and regulated sector. Among the names still trading are Raka Staka, Pebblebed Vineyard, bar Mate, Rocktails and Drink Command Limited.

That survival rate, well above the category's own deal rate, suggests that drinks founders who make it onto the show, whether or not the Dragons bite, tend to have a product with real staying power in a tough market.

A Crowded Shelf, A Cautious Room

The UK drinks market is one of the most saturated on the high street, wine, spirits and craft beer brands fight for a limited amount of supermarket and off-licence shelf space, and the Dragons know that competition as well as anyone watching from home. That awareness likely explains why liquor and alcohol pitches convert at a lower rate than food, despite being just as tangible to taste and evaluate in the room.

Drinks licensing rules add another layer of complexity that food products generally do not carry, from duty and labelling requirements to age-verification obligations for online sales. Founders who can show they have already navigated that regulatory maze tend to have an easier time convincing the panel their business is investment-ready.

Distribution is another hurdle unique to this category. A drinks brand needs wholesalers, distributors and retail buyers on side long before it can scale, and a founder who has already secured even a handful of stockists tends to look far more credible to the Dragons than one still selling exclusively from their own website.

The Takeaway

Liquor and alcohol is a modestly above-average category for landing a deal: a 38 percent deal rate, a £62,000 average cheque, and 20 of 24 businesses still trading today. Touker Suleyman leads investment in the category, and Craft Clubs Ltd's £75,000 for 12.5 percent in series 14 stands as its biggest single deal.

For drinks founders eyeing a Den pitch, the numbers suggest getting a deal is harder than in food, but the survival odds afterwards remain strong, provided the regulatory and distribution groundwork is already in place before they walk in.