A growing number of non-alcoholic bars and shops are offering booze-free beverages while creating space for socializing and community-building.
For many sober-curious individuals, adopting an alcohol-free lifestyle — even temporarily — can be a new, exciting experience with incredible health benefits including better sleep and skin, and weight loss. (Just ask the World Health Organization, which reports that no level of alcohol is safe for health.)
With that (and for a bevy of other reasons, such as religion, pregnancy, or alcohol use disorder), in recent years, many are reevaluating their relationships with alcohol. The term “sober curious” was coined when Author Ruby Warrington wrote a book by the same name, which was published in 2018. In 2020, 12% of people identified as sober curious, compared to 19% in 2022, according to a survey by CivicScience. And, even the youngest drinkers of legal age, Gen Z, was more likely to drink nonalcoholic beverages in the place of alcoholic ones to cut back on alcohol consumption (54%) compared to Millennials (41%), Gen X (21%) and Boomers (44%), according to the 2022 Drizly Consumer Trend Report. Not only is the movement away from booze growing, it isn’t hush-hush or taboo anymore, either.
“Long gone are the days of hitting rock bottom in order to step away from alcohol,” says Cait Madry, the Los Angeles based founder of Clearheaded, a sober care platform, podcast, and guide to an alcohol-free lifestyle. “Modern sobriety can be approached for so many reasons and so many lengths of time.”
Still, individuals opting to abstain from booze may prefer to sip unique cocktail flavors and miss the community that comes with them. Wine, beer, and cocktails that aren’t alcoholic (read: 0.0 to 0.05% ABV) are starting to make their way onto traditional restaurant and bar menus, but they aren’t at every venue.
Enter: the non-alcoholic bottle shop, a place for happy hour socializing and gathering with like-minded patrons over a range of alcohol-free drink options. N.A. bottle shops aren’t just retail spaces; they offer opportunities for consumers to learn, try, and buy zero-proof spirits and ready-to-drink cans or bottles. They’re also a place to meet new friends, enjoy tastings, listen to speakers, and take part in interactive classes and events.
When a typical gettogether, milestone, or event doesn’t have alcohol, it can seem odd to people who regularly, or socially, drink alcohol. But, for nondrinkers, the experiences are invaluable, says Jillian Barkley, the CEO and founder of Soft Spirits, a nonalcoholic bottle shop in Los Angeles. “As adults, many activities are centered around alcohol, so oftentimes those who don’t want to drink are limited in their opportunities for social experiences,” Barkley explains. “Providing an environment where everyone is able to participate offers a sense of inclusivity that isn’t available at a typical bar.”
Just like a traditional neighborhood bar, non-alcoholic bottle shops serve a community of folks who share the same intentions — to have a good time, meet people, and chat, just without getting buzzed. “The bar is a beautiful gathering place, and the bar's vibes are far better when more people than not are clear-eyed and high-minded,” says Douglas Watters, the New York based founder of Spirited Away, America's first booze-free bottle shop. “Connections are deeper and [more real]. And the experience of waking up the next morning is far more pleasant.”
Of course, non-alcoholic bottle shops aren’t reserved solely for the fully sober; there are often people who drink alcohol who come to these spaces and events. Sometimes they’re looking for a night, week, or month off from imbibing. Regardless of their reason(s) for ditching booze or the amount of time they sip on zero-proof cocktails, they’ll learn that drinking alcohol at parties, nightlife, and public gatherings isn’t a requirement to have fun.
“It was never the alcohol that created the good times,” says Aqxyl Storms, the owner and founder of Minus Moonshine Dry Drinks + Potions, a non-alcoholic wine, beer, and spirits shop in Brooklyn, NY. “The good times have always been provided by the company I keep.”
The Bottom Line
You don’t have to be a nondrinker to attend an N.A. event, activity, or check out a nonalcoholic bottle shop.
• Modern sobriety can look like abstaining from alcohol for a night, forever, or an amount of time in between
• Nonalcoholic bottle shops welcome drinkers and nondrinkers, alike
• Drinking less can enable better sleep, potential weight loss, an elevated mood and more time for new experiences
Hilary Sheinbaum is the author of The Dry Challenge: How to Lose the Booze for Dry January, Sober October and Any Other Alcohol-Free Month