Some of my favorite resources to help you on your alcohol-free journey.
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My Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drinks
*female founder
Cocktails, Spritzes, Spirits, Beer
Ghia *
This is a botanical drink and comes from French-born Melanie Masarin, the former creative force behind Glossier. A wonderful blend of botanicals, with prominent orange peel and lemon balm. I love both the bottled botanical beverage (in a very stylish bottle) and their new canned “Le Spritz.” Berry is their newer bottling - great for folks who don’t like things quite as bittter. Use this link.
Muri
Produced in Copenhagen by alumni of the famous restaurant NOMA, these bottlings are blends of sparkling teas, kefir, various botanicals, and maybe verjus… designed to pair with food and be enjoyed in your best stemware. Really lovely. I’ve enjoyed it at James Beard Award winning restaurants in Portland, Oregon, as well as in a starred restaurant in Copenhagen.
For Bitter For Worse *
Delicious non-alcoholic cocktails founded in Portland Oregon, with all organic botanicals and ingredients such as Doug Fir tips, rhubarb, dandelion root, strawberry, bitter orange peel. Family-run. I like the canned Rose City Fizz, and Eva’s Spritz and Saskatoon best!
Aplos *
Another fab, female-founded, mixologist-forward creation….I love the canned Chili Margarita and Mandora Negroni. Highly recommend!
Three Spirit *
This social elixir from the UK — especially the one called Livener makes a great cocktail by just adding a good quality tonic and an orange slice - it has an ideal blend of fruit, herb, with a kick of burn.
Crodino
Made in Italy since the 1960s, comes in a chic, cute little glass bottle, is bright orange like an aperol but zero alcohol. Very summery vibes over ice with a citrus slice. Yes, it’s got sugar, but it’s bitter so not cloying. Widely available and inexpensive in Europe, it’s available in the US too. I’m a big fan.
Curious Elixirs
Their motto is: “shaken, not slurred.” use my personal link to get a 10% discount) - A ready-to-pour cocktail with nice packaging. I am partial to No. 1. This is one of the first products I tasted and it still stands up and deserves a top spot. Pure ingredients, botanicals, adaptogens, with sophisticated layered flavors.
Monday Gin
Smells heavenly, tastes better than gin. Your drinking and non-drinking friends alike will be blown away that such an alternative exists. They’ve now added Mezcal and Whiskey that I haven’t tasted yet. I’m more of a Gin girl.
Seedlip
Beautiful packaging, distilled in copper pots, family heritage, world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit, but for my money, I’d much rather the Monday Gin or Ritual Tequila. I enjoy the smell and packaging of Seedlip but don’t get much on the flavor. I think Seedlip is good in the hands of experienced mixologists and they totally invented and started this entire category so they deserve major props!
Athletic Brewing Co.
A very exciting company to watch, exponential growth, racking up medals and now very very widely distributed. If you’re a beer lover looking to cut back or get sober, you’re in luck! NA beer has arrived! I also like Best Day Brewing and closer to home in Oregon, female founded Roaming Nobles, or Deschutes Brewery’s Black Butte Porter NA. Stay on top of the exciting and growing NA beer market by checking out NA Beer Appreciation Society FB group.
Lagunitas Hoppy Refresher
Pretty widely available in grocery stores, very refreshing, carbonated hop water - this as been a crowd-pleaser with everyone I’ve introduced it to. The hops smell/flavor is subtly floral, and not bitter at all. Much more interesting to me than a LaCroix water. This is one I like to have in the fridge at all times. 0 calories, 0 sugar! Another favorite hop water is Hop WTR.
Wines
Joyus *
A great sparkling wine, female-owned, out of Seattle! I recommend the sparkling rosé which is crisp and very dry, low sugar. I like their still wines less well.
Sovi Wine Co. *
A huge fave of mine and has been a big hit with many guests and clients - a very dry sparkling rosé, sparkling white, or still red in a can, made by a wine industry veteran husband/wife team in Napa Valley. Even fits in a purse. Delightful and very low sugar/calories!! 10% off any Sovi order with code MARTHA at check out.
No & Low
The retailer, No & Low, did their own bottling private label sparkling Chardonnay and it is one of my faves. Very low sugar, crisp, notes of pear and apricot. It’s a great value at $21 and they offer this bottle for free with an order over a certain dollar amount, so check it out! (Update: their new still rosé is quite good!).
Noughty *
By Thomson & Scott from the UK, also female-owned, their sparkling Chardonnay is a very good sparkling, 100% AF, crisp and very dry (low cal)! Recently tried their still red (Syrah) and it’s tops in that category!
French Bloom *
Elegant packaging, female-founded by an American foodie and a French supermodel. I like their sparkling rosé - it’s a blended beverage rather than a fully fermented wine like others mentioned above. Now they’ve released a super dry (1 calorie per glass) Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs that I like. Will be interesting to see where they go next because they have a lot of French savoir-faire and LVMH investment on their side.
Giesen AF Sauvignon Blanc
From New Zealand - wow, yay, the best AF white I’ve tasted. Crisp, and dry. 85% fewer calories than a glass of white with alcohol. Often available at Whole Foods. It gets favorable reviews from wine professionals who tasted it blind against both alcoholic and non-alcoholic wines. Have heard that their rosé is excellent too!
Love to read? Check out these great “quit lit” books.
Favorite Articles
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What Being Sober Has Meant to Me by Brene Brown
“I celebrated 23 years sober this month – May 12 to be exact. About a year ago, I was talking to a dear friend who was newly sober, and our conversation shifted something in me. For the first time in my life, I realized that my sobriety isn’t a limitation. Sobriety isn’t even a “have to” – it’s a superpower.”
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9 Reasons There Is No Such Thing As Alcoholism by Holly Whitaker
This piece should be called irony. Because the thing I am most nervous to make a statement about is the exact opposite of the one I was afraid to as I began this journey.
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Why Are People Sober Curious with Author Ruby Warrington who coined the term
A drink after a long day to take the edge off before bed, then a few more on the weekends to loosen up when she went out with friends: Ruby Warrington’s alcohol use was seemingly normal compared to most people’s. “I was going through a period in my life when everything looked perfect on the outside, but I was experiencing some of the worst anxiety of my life,” Warrington says.
Past Newsletters
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How to Enjoy Wine Country
(Without the Wine)
Being alcohol-free doesn’t mean hiding at home. You CAN enjoy life (even wine country!) without the pressure of drinking. Download my free guide How To Enjoy Wine Country Alcohol-Free & 4 Other Crazy Things I Learned By Taking A Break!
In the wine business, I grew to dislike the phrase, Rosé All Day as a marketing slogan. I mean it was just promoting over-drinking, right. Here though, is a great NA rosé that would be a delight at any time of day. I’d love this for a picnic or on summer evenings. Plus the Ted Lasso of beers, a new NA from Dax Sheppard and friends. And news about the retailer Boisson, shuttering its retail stores.