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My Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drinks
Please note that I have absolutely no connection to these companies and I do not benefit from your purchase.
In fact, if you find a better discount code on their site, use that!!
Order from the individual beverage companies directly or shop for a selection of beverages from a retail shop such as No & Low (use code MARTHA for 10% discount) or The Zero Proof (use code TENFORMARTHA for 10% discount).
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.
Joyus
A fantastic sparkling wine, female-owned, that is winning awards!! Both the sparkling white and sparkling rosé are crisp and very dry, low sugar. I highly recommend this! I like the still wine less well, but I love the sparkling rosé!!
No & Low
The retailer, No & Low, did their own bottling private label sparkling Chardonnay and it is one of my absolute 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!
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, quality product, female-owned. Founded by an American foodie and a French supermodel, this is a company to watch. Their sparkling rosé (while not a fully fermented wine like others mentioned above) is delightful, and is 100% AF. They are using their French savoir-faire and Champagne heritage and connections to aim for truly superb Champagne, vintage even.
Giesen AF Sauvignon Blanc
(New Zealand) - wow, yay, the best AF white I’ve tasted. Crisp, and dry. 85% fewer calories than a glass of white with alcohol. I found it 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 new rosé is excellent too!)
Proxies
Produced in Canada by a group of winemakers and chefs, these are layered blends of juices, teas, spices, bitters, and verjus designed to pair with food and be enjoyed in your best stemware. For me, this is something to open with friends, taste, and discuss (with a meal for sure.) I think these would be an incredible resource for restaurants wanting to offer AF pairing flights. Just don’t expect it to be wine.
Athletic Brewing Co.
A very exciting company to watch, exponential growth, picking up medals. If you’re a beer lover looking to cut back or get sober, you’re in luck! NA beer has arrived! There are many really good ones, but this is an ideal place to start. Stay on top of the exciting and growing NA beer market by checking out NA Beer Appreciation Society FB group.
For Bitter For Worse
Delicious non-alcoholic cocktails made in Portland Oregon, with all organic botanicals and ingredients such as Doug Fir tips, rhubarb, dandelion root, strawberry, bitter orange peel, locally available at gourmet grocers and specialty stores, or shipped to your door nationally. Family-run. A brand with incredible integrity. I like Rose City Fizz, Eva’s Spritz and Saskatoon best!
Wilderton
First AF distillery in the country with a beautiful, modern tasting room in Hood River, Oregon, where you can do a free tasting of their three spirits, both neat and with mixers. Of the 3 bottlings, I prefer the Bitter Aperitivo.
Ghia
Like For Bitter For Worse, 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.” Use my link here to get 15% off your first order, or just enter MARTHA15.
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 have a strong preference for No 1, 3 and 5. 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 (“what to drink when you’re not drinking.” world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit), but for my money, I’d much rather the Monday Gin. 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!
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!
Three Spirit
Serious fave right now, especially the bottling called Livener. This social elixir from the UK makes a great cocktail by just adding a good quality tonic and an orange slice - it has my perfect blend of fruit, herb, with a kick of burn! Three close friends thought it was the best AF beverage I’ve poured/mixed for them yet!
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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Jann Arden on Aging: I’m Sober, Single and Finally Proud of My Own Body by Jann Arden
The day I decided to get sober started off like a lot of days: I was at my mom’s house, making lunch. She was pretty deep into her Alzheimer’s at that point, and we were arguing about something—I don’t remember what.
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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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How My Normal Drinking Led To Dependence (It’s Not What You Think) by Matthew Ward
I’m not sure I’m ready for this, but then again, I’ll probably never be ready for it.
I’ve decided to tell my story for two reasons:
It’s so common.
It’s not what people think about when thinking about addiction.
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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.
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Why I’m Not Drinking During A Pandemic Even Though I Normally Would by Lorelei Bandrovschi, founder of a zero-proof bar in NYC.
While I’m the founder and face of an alcohol-free bar, I don’t talk much about my drinking. I don’t really put rules around it. I don’t identify as sober, nor do I see the choice not to drink as a one-size-fits-all movement.
Past Newsletters
FREE DOWNLOAD
How to Enjoy Wine Country
(Without the Wine)
Being AF 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.