Other beverages mimic the taste of a particular alcohol, without ever being alcoholic in the first place – such as a growing segment of botanical drinks that riff on the flavors of gin. She toasted her own recent engagement with Prima Pave, a “dealcoholized” sparkling wine from Italy. Some products are traditional alcoholic beverages, like whiskey or wine, that have gone through an additional process to remove the alcohol, making them less than 0.5% alcoholic, about the same alcohol content as a ripe banana, as Gonzalez put it. Like alcohols, zero-proof drinks are produced through a variety of methods. Taste-testing the optionsĪt first glance, alcohol-free bottle shops look almost identical to traditional liquor stores, with shelves and refrigerator cases subdivided into categories of wines, beers and different kinds of spirits. Gonzalez tries encourage customers to rethink what they’re getting out of a beverage rather than simply valuing “the psychoactive impact of the ethanol”, they should focus on “the beautiful complexity of the flavor profile, the active mixing and working with wonderful ingredients”. A lot of them are very, very small companies.”
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“These products have the added challenge of really making an authentic experience and having to go through trial and error. It’s something that’s new and being developed, which requires a lot of research,” Barkley said. Its founder, Jillian Barkley, said her Silver Lake store, which grew out of an Instagram account, focuses on providing education and tastings, as well as making the case that non-alcoholic beverages are worth their premium price, which range as high as $50 a bottle. A viral video about the shop, which opened in mid-2021, generated dozens of dismissive comments including: “What’s the point of all that?”, “So, soda” and “That’s just overpriced juice.” Right: Brianda Gonzalez, owner of the New Bar.Īt Soft Spirits, Los Angeles’ first non-alcoholic bottle shop, employees get a lot of the same basic questions. Public health officials in Canada recently warned that even a moderate amounts of alcohol can cause serious health risks, and a growing body of research suggests that, at any level of drinking, it’s healthier to consume less. But they’re looking for ways to consume less, while still maintaining familiar cocktail culture rituals or habits of drinks with friends. The vast majority of customers at zero-proof bottle shops still drink some alcohol, according to shop owners. Many customers come to the New Bar already having had a similar bad experience with a non-alcoholic drink, “and we regain their trust”, Gonzalez said.
My first zero-proof cocktail in Los Angeles was advertised as having woodsy, piney notes reminiscent of a redwood grove. “We’ve come a long way,” Gonzalez says, though the quality of new products can still vary greatly. Now, there’s a zero-proof option for everything from craft brews to small-batch botanical mixers to artisanal faux whiskeys. The average non-alcoholic spirit, for instance, costs $26, according to Nielsen IQ, compared with just $12 for the alcoholic version.Īlcohol-free beverage choices used to be limited to a single brand of beer, O’Doul’s, or a fruit-juice “mocktail”. Many products sell at a price point that’s actually higher than similar alcoholic beverages. US consumers now spend nearly $400m annually on non-alcoholic drinks, according to a 2022 Nielsen IQ analysis, with at least 70 new non-alcoholic products introduced in the previous year. Brianda Gonzalez makes a zero-proof cocktail at the New Bar.
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