By Sam Hindman, Content Strategist, Dry Atlas
I’ll be honest: I walked into Drinks With Benefits at The Altman Building with zero expectations.
Not low expectations—literally zero. I’d never been to a non-alcoholic beverage festival before. I didn’t even know events like this existed until this year. My plan was simple: try a few new things, network a little, and maybe learn something new about the industry.
What I got instead was a full-blown revelation about where this space is headed.
The Energy Was Infectious
Over 60 brands were pouring at this event, and the festival sold out the day before. When I arrived, the place was packed, and it had only started half an hour before.
I wasn’t sure what sort of crowd I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised to see people of all walks of life. Gen Z-ers like myself, Millennials, people in their 50s and 60s. It didn’t feel niche or exclusive, which was a great sign.
But this is what stood out most: every single brand rep and founder was deeply proud of their work. Not in a fake or sales-y way, but genuinely excited to share what they’d created.
Take Stephanie from Seraphim, for example. She used to be a fashion designer; studied integrated health in college, somehow ended up in fashion, and then pivoted to creating a non-alcoholic social beverage.
Nearly every vendor I took the time to speak with was incredibly eager to share not just their product, but their life’s passion with me. Because, in this space, it seems those two things are often intertwined.
The Products? They’re Getting Very Good
Not every non-alcoholic drink is going to be a winner, full stop. Some brands will flop. Some will be too generic, miss their moment, or simply fail to figure out their positioning.
But, let’s put emphasis on some.
Opius, a Belgian brand trying to break into the U.S. market, served up a non-alc elixir called Negredo, a coffee-caramel-smoky after-dinner drink. If I mixed that with a shot of espresso, I’d have the best darn Espresso Martini ever made, alcoholic or not.
Then there was (parentheses), a small-batch non-alc brand based out of Brooklyn, where co-founder Tawny Lara still handwrites the packaging date on every single bottle. It makes the product feel bespoke without being kitschy, and earthy without being pretentious.
And don’t even get me started on the THC and CBD section. This wasn’t just another lineup of run-of-the-mill seltzers (though, albeit, there were some great seltzers there).
Just a few of the most impressive were THC-infused wine from Mariona (all three SKUs were shockingly delicious, and I’m not even a wine person), and THC-infused apple cider from Ayrloom made with New York apples.
These brands are innovating in ways that go far beyond “let’s make a mocktail and call it a day.”
The Amenities Didn’t Disappoint Either
The Omakase food pairings were incredible. My highlight was Seatopia—a seafood brand that’s making luxury-level fish accessible to regular people—paired with Three Spirit and Surely. Three servings, zero notes. Delicious.
At the zero-proof bar, I tried a Kava Haven Margarita that somehow managed to balance kava’s notoriously strong bite with enough complementary flavors to make it refreshing instead of overpowering. Plus, I got that signature kava tongue tingle, which is always a good time.
The DJs were jamming. The VIP room was comfortable and worth the ticket price. The space itself was big enough that, despite the massive crowd, I never felt like I was drowning in people. You could actually have intimate conversations with brand reps, which is kind of the whole point.
Oh, and there wasn’t only drink brands sampling, either. Alice Mushrooms was there with their functional mushroom chocolates. I tried the energize variety and took home a focus chocolate (which has caffeine in it, because caffeinated chocolate is one of humanity’s greatest inventions).
This Matters Much More Than You’d Think
What made me happiest? I saw brand reps visiting other brands’ booths. Tasting. Talking. Giving honest feedback. Building relationships.
It’s beautiful to see community instead of competition.
And that community is what’s going to keep this movement alive. When you put 60+ passionate brands in a building, give them a platform to share their work, and invite hundreds of curious attendees to experience it, you’re not just “hosting a festival,” you’re working to legitimize an entire industry (So major props to you, The Daily Pour!).
To be clear: I’m 23 years old. I’m not sober. I still go out for the occasional happy hour. But after Drinks With Benefits, I’m convinced that the future of drinking culture will include (and maybe even center?) non-alcoholic options.
Not because people are being shamed out of drinking. Not because alcohol is going away. But because people want options that don’t make them feel like garbage the next day. They want drinks that taste good, feel intentional, and align with how they actually want to live.
TLDR: The non-alc movement isn’t going anywhere. If anything, it’s just getting started.
