Welcome to the third edition of High Spirits, the Dry Atlas newsletter on all the latest happenings in booze-free!
Comings and goings
Proteau is no mas. Apparently starting and running a beverage company is not for the faint of heart, as I bet all my brand partners would agree.
Proteau is the first brand I ever stocked at Spirited Away, so this one stings a little. I enjoy both of John’s two products, Ludlow and Rivington, but I sensed early on that they were ahead of their time.
Shrub-style i.e. vinegar-based NA drinks are still a small portion of the adult NA beverage world, but in time I believe they’re going to become very popular. Today, the taste of vinegar is still off putting to many people. We associate it with pickles or even house cleaning. But drinking vinegars are a rewarding category of beverages to develop a taste for.
Constructing a balanced, nuanced, non-alcoholic slow sipper with backbone is tremendously challenging. I think vinegars like the champagne vinegar and fig vinegar used in Proteau are some of the best solutions to that challenge. I’ll miss Proteau but I remain bullish on non-alc proxies and shrubs.
New Brand X Dry Atlas happy hours
Ceder’s gin alternatives from the Western Cape of South Africa aren’t yet available in any non-alc bottle shop in New York, but you can try them at Spirited Away next Wednesday.
I hear from many of you that you love to stay on top of the latest in non-alc. Starting next Wednesday, 11/9, I invite you to join me each week to try something brand new, something from Dry Atlas that’s not yet stocked at Spirited Away. I want to hear your thoughts and have them inform whether or not a new non-alc drink makes its way onto Spirited Away’s shelves.
I hope you’ll join me from 5-7pm on Wed, 11/9 to try Ceder’s four gin alternatives: Classic, Crisp, Rose & Wild. View the event and add it to your calendar here.
Survey results
The results are in. Most of you don’t think that widespread availability of adult non-alc drinks in supermarkets and convenience stores is detrimental to brands. The replies to that poll are thoughtful and worth reading, especially this from @rickieticklez: “It comes down to product quality. If it’s a poor representation of the possibility of NA then it becomes a poor ambassador. So shelf space may lead to more people trying and dismissing the category.” Luckily, the NA brands making headway in mass market retail so far, e.g. Ritual Zero Proof, are great stewards of the industry.
Challenges in coining a new phrase
The phrase “intentional drinking” has yet to take off. Does anyone have a better one? I’m not feeling “sober adjacent” either.
Building a better Yelp
Reviewers contribute value for which they deserve to be compensated. Who’s solving this?
In sobering news
I’m not sober but these numbers are sobering.
Origin story
I had the pleasure of speaking with Mocktail Mo this week about how Dry Atlas came to be and where it will go in the future.
Savoring non-alc
What are your favorite savory NA drinks? I know of so few that there isn’t even a category for this yet on Dry Atlas, but maybe there should be. I’d love to hear your suggestions.
Raising spirits
Thanks again to everyone who came to Spirited Away on Halloween to raise spirits with The Snaxshot, Al’s Beer, Aplos, Avec and Parch. It was a blast!
