Illustration by Rachel Joan Wallis
If you or someone you know isn’t drinking alcohol for any reason at all, you have options. The non-alcoholic drinks space is evolving. Bars dedicated to booze-free hospitality offer creative menus, and there are scores of spirit-free bottles of booze, beer and wine at specialty shops and digital retailers.
In this episode, Associate Managing Editor Emily Saladino explores non-alcoholic drinks culture with John deBary, a semi-retired bartender who is also an author, creator and CEO of Proteau, and cofounder and board president of Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation. They’re joined by Dylan Garret, another semi-retired bartender and senior editor at Wine Enthusiast.
They discuss how the cocktail lounges of the early aughts and 2010s precipitated the rise of non-alcoholic drinks, and how those of us who do and don’t drink alcohol can’t raise glasses to a more inclusive scene moving forward.
Want to create your own non-alcoholic concoctions at home? Here are some of our favorite non-alcoholic spirits, beers and wine shops to try and mocktails to make. Learn how bartenders create non-alcoholic drinks here or read Dylan Garret’s tips to make non-alcoholic cocktails at home and on a budget.
