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Culture
Non-alc drinks are changing social drinking for the better
And that’s a good thing.
Photo courtesy of T.I.N.A.
At some point in our lives, many of us go from buying chocolate milk after school, to buying cocktails after work. It’s a strange and totally unnecessary behaviour shift, spawned by our belief that alcohol is synonymous with adulthood. And so we continue on this way - swapping Ribena for Rioja, Sprite for Sparkling, OJ for an Old Fashioned - for the better part of our lives, lugging these adult beverages to dinner parties, picnics and BBQs, never stopping to wonder why adding alcohol gave these drinks a sense of occasion that the other stuff didn’t have.
But that is beginning to change.
Our growing repetoir
"Statistically, people are drinking less,” says Mike Bennie, writer, presenter and owner of P&V Wine and Liquor Merchants in Sydney. “Social Media's imagery of wellness has engendered a sense in people that the pursuit of a more healthy lifestyle is something to be proud of. And I think our value systems have shifted from Australians being rugged, [alcohol] sinking legends to something that's a bit more balanced.”
Mike has done a lot of thinking on the topic of non-alcoholic drinks for grown-ups. Which is unavoidable when you have a reputation for stocking some of the most innovative and satisfying adult beverages on the market. And from what he can discern from cultural shifts that are driving changes in what people are buying, the rise of non-alcoholic beverages, especially the rise of “non-replica” drinks (drinks that aren’t your regular wine or spirits minus the alcohol), is thanks to a long and windy road in the beer, wine and spirits industry over the last decade.
Mike Bennie“People's drinking repertoires have expanded greatly in a couple of generations,” explains Mike. “If you look back to statistics of beer consumption 15 to 20 years ago, you had the session beer that most people would drink, the upmarket beer when you wanted to impress people and then the fancy occasion beer. And that was about it.”
With the growing desire to branch out and experiment, came a rise in craft brewing and small batch distilling. Suddenly as consumers we had many choices and we found ourselves building a much longer list of go-to drinks, which had the flow-on effect of enticing more and more innovation into the category. In fact, for many of us, our expanding repertoire and hunger to discover interesting drinking experiences has led us to the non-alc section of our favourite bottle shop.
Christina Trabucco, Imogen Hayes (T.I.N.A)Freedom to innovate
Christina Trabucco, owner of coffee and tea retailer Assembly in Melbourne and creator of the runaway hit, T.I.N.A, was drawn to creating non-alc drinks because of the near-limitless freedom. “The space isn’t as defined or restricted by rules, the way say wine or beer is, and this has allowed for more innovation,” she points out. “Lots of brands are thinking out of the box or trying to find ways to make sure there is something for everyone.”
Without the restrictions that come with creating alcoholic drinks, makers are experimenting with the handbrake off, sourcing interesting ingredients and reimagining distillation, brewing and mixing methods.
Image courtesy of T.I.N.A.An epic backstory
All this innovation not only results in new flavours and textures, it has another satisfying side-effect: a great story.
“I think it’s interesting to note that people are talking about a lot of these [non-alc] beverages in the same way they would natural wine,” says Mike. “The majority of conversations about these products in store is that they want to know where they’re coming from and how they’re made.”
A great origin story provides us with two things: superficially, it gives us bragging rights, but more deeply, it gives us a sense of the impact our drink has both on the planet and our bodies. Our values have changed, and our drinking habits have changed to reflect a more exploratory, conscious and balanced self.
This leads us back to the humble chocolate milk.
Here’s what your childhood drink lacks that the new guard of alcohol-free drinks offers: provenance. We care about where our drinks have come from and how they made their way into our hands. Something that never crossed our minds as 12 year olds looking for our next sugar rush. As adults, what we expect from most drinks we consume is antithetical to the qualities you find in mass-produced beverages.
As Mike said, when it comes to drinking, we care more and more about what we’re putting in our bodies— both in and out of the adult beverage category. And as consumers we’ve become more aware of the environmental impact of our purchases.
A sense of occasion
It’s a shift that is reflected not only in stores but also in venues.
“We’re very lucky that the response to T.I.N.A has been super positive. The amazing restaurants and bars that put us on the menu from our early days made such a big difference to us kicking off, and they really supported the concept," says Christina.
“Challenges do come up—sometimes we have to do some convincing to show a venue that there’s value in having a meaningful alcohol-free selection," says Christina. "And oftentimes, it can be tricky when we don’t fit perfectly into a category that everyone is familiar with.”
When you think about how much the adult identity is intertwined with social drinking, it’s no surprise to find out that despite all the benefits, this new style of drink is still hitting bumps in the road to ubiquity. You only need to ask yourself if you’d open a bottle of alcohol-free gin at 10am to realise how fuzzy the logic begins to seem.
“We get asked a lot, ‘what occasion is this beverage for?’” says Mike of the customers who are curious about P&V’s growing selection of non-alc drinks. “If you defy a category, then you need to know where you're meant to use the product. But again, [non-alc drinks] sort of defy the occasion as well. They're encouraging people to consume these beverages more broadly than just as a switch out for something that they would have done with alcohol in the past.”
However, non-alc drinks continue to evolve the culture around what and where we drink; there’s something comforting in the fact that growing older doesn’t have to mean leaving behind childish things.
Christina Trabucco is the founder of T.I.N.A and has been immersed in the world of tea and coffee, for more than a decade. Chrissie owns coffee and tea retailer, Assembly in Melbourne, Australia.
Mike Bennie is the owner of P&V Merchants in Sydney, Australia, as well as a wine and drinks writer and journalist, wine judge and presenter. He is currently wine and drinks editor for delicious. magazine
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