This month marks Sober October, a month-long sobriety challenge—and a relatively new phrase for some St. Louisans.
“Sober October just recently hit my ears for the area,” says Patrick Gioia, beverage director with STL Barkeep and brand advocate for BARE Zero Proof Spirits, a zero-proof craft cocktail ingredient. Gioia already knew about Dry January and Dry July but says the phrase Sober October was “pretty new” to him.
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Ritual Zero Spirits marketing director Tom Halaska was familiar with the month-long from his days at WellBeing Brewing Company. “It’s a health program that started in England about seven years ago to help people reevaluate their relationship with alcohol, and it bled over into the United States, “Halaska explains. “I first knew about Sober October five years ago, when I joined WellBeing as brand manager.”
At the time, Halaska was introducing WellBeing nonalcoholic beers to the St. Louis market and announced that he had quit drinking on his Facebook page. “I decided to give up the booze in a very public statement,” he recalls. “I had been in the bar business for so long, I couldn’t walk into a bar or a restaurant without somebody sliding the shot of whiskey across to me… I quit drinking, but I didn’t leave the industry.”
He found some St. Louis businesses were willing to embrace such nonalcoholic beers, including The Heavy Anchor. “I saw the demand for nonalcoholic drinks rising,” recalls owner Jodie Timbrook. More recently, Timbrook began stocking Ritual Zero Spirits and BARE Zero Proof. The South City bar has also long offered coffee, hot tea, and soft drinks. “People don’t expect that from a dive bar venue,” she says, “but honestly, it’s because I’m here all the time, and I want options. Why not have better options for my customers?”
When the opportunity arose, she added zero-proof spirits to the bar as well. “We carry zero-proof gin, rum, tequila, and whiskey,” says Timbrook. “We don’t have an N/A cocktail list. We used to have a few mocktails on our list, but I think when people aren’t drinking alcohol, they still want what they used to order: a Gin & Tonic, an Old Fashioned, a Dark & Stormy. They want to abstain, but they don’t want to miss the party.”
For Gioia and Halaska, who have both worked as bartenders and managers in the industry, they know how to build a good cocktail for folks who want to step away from the standard options.
For Halaska, it’s about balance and expectations. “It comes down to the viscosity,” he says. “Zero-proof drinks can be a little thin. Today’s zero-proof drinks aren’t a sugary sweet witches’ brew of Coke, fruit, punch, and lemonade mixed in a glass. Today, bartenders build zero-proof drinks that have thought and purpose behind them. With Ritual, you can still have that bite and a little burn, like with alcohol, in a well-thought cocktail.”
Platypus and Meredith Barry, in particular, have been a huge piece of the zero-proof cocktail scene,” Gioia says. “Platypus also hosts no-alcohol events, as does Pop’s Blue Moon on The Hill. Heavy Anchor offers a lot of choices on its menu, too.”
For Halaska, the fact that bars and restaurants now routinely carry nonalcoholic beers and zero-proof spirits is a sign that more people are drinking mindfully, which is one of the goals of Sober October.
“We’re seeing liquor stores and grocery stores have specials on nonalcoholic products,” Halaska says. “Bars, restaurants, liquor stores, and grocery stores actually seem to cater not just to the drinker but also to the person who’s deciding not to drink.”
Sangria Sans Wine
Todd Brutcher of Southside Alchemy is known for his award-winning Sweat & Tears Bloody Mary mix, as well as flavorful, shelf-stable sangria mixes. He shared a recipe for an alcohol-free sangria made with locally produced Mighty Kind cannabis seltzers in place of wine.
By the glass:
- 2 ounces of mix
- 6 ounces Mighty Kind CBD seltzer
- Stir gently, serve over ice, and garnish as desired.
By the carafe:
- 1 full jar of sangria mix
- 24 ounces of Mighty Kind
- Stir gently, and serve over ice.
Brutcher also has a personal favorite N/A sangria: Paradise Plum sangria mix and Mighty Kind violet mango.
