Photo by Caitlin Abrams
Beverages on a store shelf
Sober Curious
Not everyone ends a long workday with a cocktail. Far from it. Still, if you ask people who are sober (or folks looking to drink less), our local scene is still getting its sober-curious sea legs. “Half of Americans say they’d like to drink less—or not at all—but the minute they walk into a bar or restaurant, that all falls away,” says Jen Gilhoi, co-founder of Zero Proof Collective, a local group that helps integrate NA options into bar programs. “Until recently, there weren’t great NA cocktails, but during the pandemic, that’s exploded.”
New in Town
One of the new hits in the NA industry is DryWit, a wine-like bev developed by former Marvel Bar manager Peder Schweigert, who doesn’t drink. He created Marvel’s hit Dry January menu in 2020, and that opened him up to the world of well-made zero-proof drinks. “I knew I couldn’t be the only one who was looking for something better,” he says, noting that many NA drinks rely heavily on sugar or caffeinated teas, which doesn’t always make for a great late-night sip. Instead, DryWit is made of clarified juices, vinegar, and single-note botanicals for a light, not-too-sweet sip. (Look for it in shops and restos starting this month.)
The Future
Restaurants like Owamni, Chip’s Clubhouse, and Spoon and Stable already offer menus full of NA drinks and carefully crafted zero-proof cocktails. Many breweries offer their own NA beers. And our market’s first fully nonalcoholic bottle shop, Marigold, is opening in Kingfield. But that doesn’t mean we’ve fully made it as a sober safe haven. One of Zero Proof Collective’s goals is to create consistency within cocktail menus locally so people know there will be a well-crafted NA drink available for them at nearly any restaurant. “It feels like we’re on the cusp of a big boom in this market,” Schweigert says. We’ll raise a zero-proof glass to that.
