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NEW YORK (AP) – Five years ago, Lorelei Bandrovschi, on the occasion of his 27th birthday, had stopped drinking for a month on the bet. She drank occasionally and thought it would be easy. It was true, but she did not bet so much on herself.
"I realized that going out and drinking was something that I really liked and for which I agreed very well," she told the Associated Press. "I realized that I am a pretty extroverted, spontaneous and uninhibited person."
And that's how Listen Bar was born in Bleecker Street downtown. Barely barely one year old, the bar that Bandrovschi opens only once a month is alcohol free, one of the many sober bars that pop up across the country.
Non-alcoholic bars serving high alcoholic cocktails attract more young people than ever before, especially women. The rise comes as fewer people are drinking alcohol out of their homes and the #MeToo movement is leading women to seek a more comfortable bar environment, said Amanda Topper, Director Food Services Research Assistant for the Mintel Market Research Firm.
Non-alcoholic cocktails do not only proliferate in sober bars. The usual bars and restaurants are convinced that alcohol-free customers want more than a simple Shirley Temple or a hint of cranberry accompanied by a spritz.
Non-alcoholic beverages have increased by 35% as a type of beverage at the menu of bars and restaurants from 2016 to this year, according to Mintel. Topper said 17 percent of the 1,288 respondents aged 22 to 24 who drink far from home say they are interested in soft drinks.
The interest, she said, is also motivated in part by the movement for health and well-being and by the availability of better quality ingredients, as bartenders take non-alcoholic cocktails more seriously.
"It really started a few years ago with the whole idea of a dry January, when consumers cut alcohol for that month," Topper said. "It has changed for a long-term movement and a lifestyle choice."
Listen Bar recently hosted a non-alcoholic cocktail competition for mixologists, who made beverages such as The Holy Would, citrusy, distilled and non-alcoholic bitters, palo santo syrup, low acid apple juice, lemon and lime, with glycerine. and verjuice, the pressed juice of unripe grapes. The drink was designed by Fred Beebe, a Sunday bartender in Brooklyn. The restaurant is not devoid of alcohol, but Beebe helped create a menu of non-alcoholic cocktails that goes far beyond today's sweet choices, using unique ingredients.
Palo santo, for example, is a tree native to Peru, Venezuela and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, which vaguely translates as "sacred wood" and is widely used in folk remedies.
"Everyone should be able to drink a delicious drink in a bar," said Beebe. "Hospitality means making sure everyone has a good time. Alcohol, for me, is no longer the most important part of a cocktail party. Juices, syrups, tinctures, blends and anything fresh are a lot of fun. "
Listen Bar took advantage every month of packed halls. Photographer Zach Hilty, 40, was a guest for the first time on the night of the competition. He said that he drinks alcohol on occasion.
"My girlfriend and I are interested in the health benefits of different plants, etc.," he said.
Cat Tjan, 27, from Jersey City, NJ, was also present and brought a colleague, Ammar Farooqi, 26, from Williamstown, in southern New Jersey. Neither drinks alcohol. Tjan said that Listen Bar is the only sober bar she can find in Manhattan, where she works for a pharmaceutical company.
"That does not interest me," she said about alcohol. "It's not particularly fun. It is very expensive. There are better ways to have a good evening.
Many bartenders will mix regular cocktails and leave out alcohol if you ask them, but it's different to pick something blank from a separate menu, Farooqi said. Non-alcoholic cocktails usually cost a few dollars less than cocktails, but it's always difficult to find separate menus.
At the sober Getaway bar in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood, non-alcoholic cocktails cost $ 13. There is the Paper Train, with lemon juice, tobacco syrup (without nicotine leaves), vanilla and San Pellegrino chinotto. And there is A trip to Ikea, a mixture of lingonberries, lemon, vanilla, cardamom and cream. Getaway opened in April in a permanent space.
"Weekends are usually very busy," said co-owner Regina Dellea. "My partner's brother is recovering and when he became sober for the first time, they ran out of space to spend the night, where you can meet and talk."
The main suppliers are growing. Brewing companies are experimenting with non-alcoholic selections and Coca-Cola North America has swallowed the popular Topo Chico sparkling mineral water. The British brand Seedlip is the world's first alcohol-free alcohol. It comes in three flavor profiles with ingredients such as hand-picked peas from founder Ben Branson's farm in the English countryside.
At the Listen Bar, Tjan and Farooqi sipped a non-alcoholic cocktail called Me, A Houseplant, a green blend of Seedlip's Garden 108 (pea), cucumber, lemon and elderflower. Each glass was garnished with a large slice of cucumber. It was imagined by Jack McGarry, co-founder of the Dead Rabbit bar serving liquor in Lower Manhattan and renowned mixologist.
McGarry has also been sober for three years. At the "Good AF Awards" of the Listen Bar, he was one of the judges, the notebook in hand.
"Alcohol-free has the habit of being very simplistic with, like, homemade lemonade and ales with ginger. People want more varied offers, "he said. "I'm intrigued by how all this will unfold. I've seen a lot of trends coming and going. When people ask for non-alcoholic beverages, we have prepared a series of drinks that have been thought of. "
Chris Marshall, in Austin, Texas, has been sober since 2007. He used to be an addiction and alcohol counselor whose clients often shared their frustration at not having a non-alcoholic night out. They were his motivation to found the Sans Bar in Austin, with pop-ups all over the country, including Anchorage, Kansas City, Washington, Portland, Seattle, New York, Nashville and St. Louis. .
"The answer is just overwhelming," he said. "We are leaving community spaces, cafes and other places of the same kind. The lack of a social circle is the only thing that was missing from many of my clients after the treatment. "
Marnie Rae Clark, who lives outside Seattle, is also a convalescent alcoholic. She lived the socialization struggle while staying sober and launched a sober lifestyle blog in 2017. She founded National Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Week this year. Part of its mission is to encourage bars and restaurants to participate in alcohol-free cocktail games.
"I just want to be able to hang out with my friends and sip a good, sophisticated adult cocktail," said Clark, 51. "It's really about promoting inclusion and connection in the hospitality industry."
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