Shipping booze (1 bottle) UK to Germany
Shipping booze (1 bottle) UK to Germany
Author
Discussion

Dibble

Original Poster:

13,276 posts

269 months

Tuesday 7th January 2020
quotequote all
I’ve no idea where to post this (“post”... Geddit? Never mind), so it’s in The Lounge for now.

I need to send one bottle of whisky from the UK to Germany. It seems that most/all carriers, including the Royal Mail, won’t ship alcohol (or most liquids, in fact) from the UK to Germany. Taking it on a trip isn’t really an option as my next few planned jaunts (a) aren’t to Germany and (b) hopefully will consist of only a carry on bag.

Any suggestions/recommendations? My Googling has come to naught. It seems there are carriers who will ship it, then when I double check the “Prohibited items” lists, liquids in general are prohibited.

Gareth1974

3,478 posts

168 months

Tuesday 7th January 2020
quotequote all
Have you actually bought it yet? If not, can you purchase it on Amazon.de and have them deliver it?

Dibble

Original Poster:

13,276 posts

269 months

Tuesday 7th January 2020
quotequote all
Gareth1974 said:
Have you actually bought it yet? If not, can you purchase it on Amazon.de and have them deliver it?
Yes, it’s already bought as unfortunately it wasn’t available on Amazon.de .

I can’t believe how much of a faff it is. The couple of places I’ve found online that do seem to ship want circa £50, which is almost double the cost of the booze. I’d rather spend the £50 on a budget airline and go and deliver it myself! I know in reality it’d cost more than the airfare, but still, at least I’d get a trip out of it!

john2443

6,541 posts

240 months

Tuesday 7th January 2020
quotequote all
Invite the recipient to come and stay with you for a weekend, give them the bottle.

Tango13

10,081 posts

205 months

Tuesday 7th January 2020
quotequote all
Look on https://www.masterofmalt.com/ and if they have it in stock get them to ship a fresh bottle and you can drink the bottle you already have smile

Dibble

Original Poster:

13,276 posts

269 months

Tuesday 7th January 2020
quotequote all
john2443 said:
Invite the recipient to come and stay with you for a weekend, give them the bottle.
The whole point of hunting for shipping is to avoid me actually having to integrate with another human being...

Dibble

Original Poster:

13,276 posts

269 months

Tuesday 7th January 2020
quotequote all
Tango13 said:
Look on https://www.masterofmalt.com/ and if they have it in stock get them to ship a fresh bottle and you can drink the bottle you already have smile
A possible solution, but I don’t like whisky... I can’t understand how so many online places seem able to ship booze abroad so easily, but it’s seemingly almost impossible for a normal bod to do so.

Tango13

10,081 posts

205 months

Tuesday 7th January 2020
quotequote all
Dibble said:
Tango13 said:
Look on https://www.masterofmalt.com/ and if they have it in stock get them to ship a fresh bottle and you can drink the bottle you already have smile
A possible solution, but I don’t like whisky... I can’t understand how so many online places seem able to ship booze abroad so easily, but it’s seemingly almost impossible for a normal bod to do so.
I like whisky whistle

Dibble

Original Poster:

13,276 posts

269 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
Tango13 said:
Dibble said:
Tango13 said:
Look on https://www.masterofmalt.com/ and if they have it in stock get them to ship a fresh bottle and you can drink the bottle you already have smile
A possible solution, but I don’t like whisky... I can’t understand how so many online places seem able to ship booze abroad so easily, but it’s seemingly almost impossible for a normal bod to do so.
I like whisky whistle
I wish I did. I feel like I’m missing out on something that a lot of people obviously get a lot of pleasure/enjoyment from.

It all stems from when a mate and I came back home after a shooting competition at Bisley, many years (30+) ago. We were both cadets and between us had done reasonably well in the competition, so once we got home, we bought a litre of Spar “best”/ blended whisky to share on the local rec. we drank it rather too quickly, as neither of us liked the taste. I think we were about 15 or 16 at the time. It took the pair of us us less than an hour to “down” the litre of whisky.

I have no recollection of most of the rest of the night after drinking the whisky. No idea how or when I got back home to my Mum and Dad’s house. I DO remember my Mum being less than impressed with me, after I’d vomited - copiously and repeatedly, it seems - all over my duvet, my clothes, my hair, the walls, my bedroom carpet, the landing, the toilet, the bathroom...

I thought I was going to die. For about the next three days. I’ve been as drunk as a skunk since then, but nowhere near as bad. I’ve had terrible hangovers since, but they were nothing to the lingering nausea, headaches and general all out malaise I felt after that night. I was (rightly) made to scrub everything clean the next morning. Which had the effect of making me vomit, again. Which I also had to clean up. Rinse and repeat - several times. I don’t think I ate anything for about three days and it felt like I didn’t stop shaking for about a week.

On reflection, I was probably lucky not to kill or seriously injure myself, either by alcohol poisoning, or the trip home from the rec that night on my bike. Now, even the mere thought of the smell of whisky makes me feel super nauseous. The only saving grace was that my mate was as pissed and ill as I was, but he went a stage further by stting himself, his duvet, the walls, the toilet, the bathroom at his own house...

shopper150

1,583 posts

223 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
I think DPD could send it on their road service.
You don’t need to declare the contents within the EU, so probably best to not mention that it’s alcohol. But you can stick a UN sticker on it so the carrier knows it’s a flammable liquid or similar.
I believe most carriers won’t carry it because they only fly packages over to Germany and aerosols/batteries/flammable liquids (including nail polish!!) and banned from flights without special precautions.

Edited by shopper150 on Wednesday 8th January 06:58

psi310398

11,067 posts

232 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
As a matter of interest, where in Germany and how urgent?

Many PHers travel to/through Germany. I was in Freiburg and then Lörrach last week, for example, having driven through the West of Germany (broadly up the Rhine Valley after Venlo) from the ferry at Hook of Holland. I would have been happy to take a bottle over and even make a small detour etc to see it delivered.

Someone here might be prevailed upon to deliver/meet the recipient to hand over such a bottle. But the logistics of getting a bottle to a UK address might prove as tricky as getting it to Germany, I suppose.

It will be a couple of months before I'm passing through again, though.

jet_noise

6,095 posts

211 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
Dibble said:
I wish I did. I feel like I’m missing out on something that a lot of people obviously get a lot of pleasure/enjoyment from.

It all stems from when a mate and I came back home after a shooting competition at Bisley, many years (30+) ago. We were both cadets and between us had done reasonably well in the competition, so once we got home, we bought a litre of Spar “best”/ blended whisky to share on the local rec. we drank it rather too quickly, as neither of us liked the taste. I think we were about 15 or 16 at the time. It took the pair of us us less than an hour to “down” the litre of whisky.

I have no recollection of most of the rest of the night after drinking the whisky. No idea how or when I got back home to my Mum and Dad’s house. I DO remember my Mum being less than impressed with me, after I’d vomited - copiously and repeatedly, it seems - all over my duvet, my clothes, my hair, the walls, my bedroom carpet, the landing, the toilet, the bathroom...

I thought I was going to die. For about the next three days. I’ve been as drunk as a skunk since then, but nowhere near as bad. I’ve had terrible hangovers since, but they were nothing to the lingering nausea, headaches and general all out malaise I felt after that night. I was (rightly) made to scrub everything clean the next morning. Which had the effect of making me vomit, again. Which I also had to clean up. Rinse and repeat - several times. I don’t think I ate anything for about three days and it felt like I didn’t stop shaking for about a week.

On reflection, I was probably lucky not to kill or seriously injure myself, either by alcohol poisoning, or the trip home from the rec that night on my bike. Now, even the mere thought of the smell of whisky makes me feel super nauseous. The only saving grace was that my mate was as pissed and ill as I was, but he went a stage further by stting himself, his duvet, the walls, the toilet, the bathroom at his own house...
clap
Vivid anecdotage.
I have a similarly caused lack of enthusiasm for cider. Although at least I threw up out of my bedroom window. Apparently the dog lapped it up!

psi310398

11,067 posts

232 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
jet_noise said:
Dibble said:
I wish I did. I feel like I’m missing out on something that a lot of people obviously get a lot of pleasure/enjoyment from.

It all stems from when a mate and I came back home after a shooting competition at Bisley, many years (30+) ago. We were both cadets and between us had done reasonably well in the competition, so once we got home, we bought a litre of Spar “best”/ blended whisky to share on the local rec. we drank it rather too quickly, as neither of us liked the taste. I think we were about 15 or 16 at the time. It took the pair of us us less than an hour to “down” the litre of whisky.

I have no recollection of most of the rest of the night after drinking the whisky. No idea how or when I got back home to my Mum and Dad’s house. I DO remember my Mum being less than impressed with me, after I’d vomited - copiously and repeatedly, it seems - all over my duvet, my clothes, my hair, the walls, my bedroom carpet, the landing, the toilet, the bathroom...

I thought I was going to die. For about the next three days. I’ve been as drunk as a skunk since then, but nowhere near as bad. I’ve had terrible hangovers since, but they were nothing to the lingering nausea, headaches and general all out malaise I felt after that night. I was (rightly) made to scrub everything clean the next morning. Which had the effect of making me vomit, again. Which I also had to clean up. Rinse and repeat - several times. I don’t think I ate anything for about three days and it felt like I didn’t stop shaking for about a week.

On reflection, I was probably lucky not to kill or seriously injure myself, either by alcohol poisoning, or the trip home from the rec that night on my bike. Now, even the mere thought of the smell of whisky makes me feel super nauseous. The only saving grace was that my mate was as pissed and ill as I was, but he went a stage further by stting himself, his duvet, the walls, the toilet, the bathroom at his own house...
clap
Vivid anecdotage.
I have a similarly caused lack of enthusiasm for cider. Although at least I threw up out of my bedroom window. Apparently the dog lapped it up!
My wife similarly with a mix of Cointreau and Baileys eek. Not mixed - just one (or, more accurately, several of each) after the other.

I can't even bear to smell brandy now for rather similar reasons...

Steve Benson

300 posts

183 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
I sent 12 bottles of gin over to Germany with UPS just before Christmas.

Didn't mention what it was just informed them of the weight and dimensions of the parcel.

It got there with no trouble.

Greshamst

2,480 posts

149 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
Am I the only person here who’s thinking of the simplest solution... just don’t tell them what’s in the box and send it?

Unless it’s a v expensive bottle that needs insuring etc, just package it up and put it in a box, and say that it’s books?
It’s not compressed gas, or a battery etc, so whilst against the rules I don’t think you have much worry of gravely endangering anyone.

anonymous-user

83 months

Wednesday 8th January 2020
quotequote all
Greshamst said:
Am I the only person here who’s thinking of the simplest solution... just don’t tell them what’s in the box and send it?

Unless it’s a v expensive bottle that needs insuring etc, just package it up and put it in a box, and say that it’s books?
It’s not compressed gas, or a battery etc, so whilst against the rules I don’t think you have much worry of gravely endangering anyone.
Apart from confiscation if detected