Gone are the days when only people who used the label 'alcoholic' asked for something non-alcoholic in pubs and bars. Mind you the days when the best their search could turn up was a Becks Blue have also gone.
Alcohol-Free is now a lifestyle choice and it is growing more acceptable to be mindful about your drinking. Meaning more and more of us are sober curious and looking for that special drink for the evening out when we don't want to get smashed!
Luckily pubs and bars at are getting better at providing choice, and the drinks producers are getting better at delivering amazing flavour. Heineken 0.0 tastes like - well Heineken, Eisberg Fizzy wine pops like prosecco, and people are actually drinking kombucha on a night out.
So you are you sober curious? How can you tell?
Well, you can take a quiz, but here are 4 tell tale signs of growing sober curiosity:
- Have you ever been out with your mates to a pub, club or party but not been drinking alcohol because you're: Pregnant, driving, on antibiotics, dieting, healthy living, trying to give up smoking, got a big day the following day, hit it too hard lately, going dry for January, just not feeling it, moderating or generally don't drink?
- Have you taken to twitter to rage against the poor drinks options or how the bar staff make asking for something non-alcoholic embarrassing?
- Did you spend the day in the gym and eating kale and decide that you don't want to undo the hard work with a pint of beer or glass of wine, but don't want another pint of water either?
- Do you ever wake up in the morning and say 'I am never drinking again'?
By my reckoning, we are all a bit sober curious. Not a surprise when you discover that an alcohol-free beer is the healthiest thing to drink in the pub next to the tap water and a wine only 28 calories a glass.These are not just alternatives to alcohol they are also alternatives to sugary soft drinks. Good for your sugar-free, mindfulness, exercise junkie lifestyle.
Not sure what to drink instead? Well neither did I when I first gave up drinking. So I have decided to hold the UK's first alcohol-free drinks festival.
I have no particular favourite drink, but I am passionate about helping you find a new favourite tipple for those days when you don't want to drink but still want to party. Personally, I am feeling pretty excited about hosting a drinks festival where only the glasses get smashed!
Get free tickets for the Mindful Drinking Festival in Bermondsey Square, London on August 13th.