Ever since I opened America’s first non-alc bottle shop in 2020, I’ve heard a common question from friends and family: “Where do I start?”
First, see if there’s a local, independent bottle shop near you and visit during a tasting. Tastings are a great way to try products and learn more about how they’re made. After attending a few of these, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a non-alc expert!
A few recommended bottle shops:
- Ocean Beach Cafe – San Francisco
- The New Bar – Los Angeles
- Soft Spirits – Los Angeles
- Sipple – Houston
- Minus Moonshine – Brooklyn
- My own, obviously! Spirited Away – Manhattan
The intentional drinking revolution is not just happening in big cities, however. Booze-free bottle shops are opening in small towns across America, so check your local listings.
A few recommended small town bottle shops:
- Gem Life – Pittman, NJ
- WB’s Bottle Shop – Ogden, UT
- Loren’s AF – Carmel, IN
ZeroProofNation also maintains a great list of bottle shops nationwide: https://www.zeroproofnation.com/na-bottle-shops-retailers
Once you’re there, get yourself oriented. Here is what to expect.
If you can’t get to a bottle shop, you can still do a lot of research online now. Much like you check Rotten Tomatoes before going to a movie or TripAdvisor before going on vacation, you can now read ratings and reviews of virtually every adult non-alcoholic drink on the market on Dry Atlas before you buy.
I launched Dry Atlas earlier this year to take what we do at Spirited Away – helping customers browse, explore and discover the best in NA – and scale it globally.
As you browse Dry Atlas, you may become overwhelmed by the 700+ products now available globally. To help you wrap your arms around it, here are a few places to start:
- Bestsellers (based on sales at Spirited Away)
- Select your favorite category, e.g. Beers, or sub-category, e.g. IPAs and sort by Rating (Descending)
- Editorials from yours truly: Best Gins, Best Tequilas, etc.
- Select a niche category like Herbal Liqueurs or Honey Wines and marvel that someone made a non-alc Fernet-Branca alternative and a de-alcoholized sparkling mead! What a wonderful world we live in.
Each product’s Description tab is self-explanatory. Details is where you’ll find alcohol content, ingredients, pricing, etc. Reviews is where you’ll find the ratings and comments that make Dry Atlas a resource to dry drinkers around the globe. If you find a product you’ve tried that hasn’t yet been reviewed, I invite you to leave the inaugural review (and I thank you!).
As you browse, you’ll find that most products are available to purchase from two or more online stores via Dry Atlas. Just check the Details tab of any product to see your options.
In addition, almost every brand on Dry Atlas will ship their product directly to you. Ordering direct from the brands is a great option if you know what you like and want to stock up on it. If you’re really a fan, you may even choose to subscribe to regular shipments.
Most of us are still exploring though, so I find that ordering a mixed basket of a few beers, a few ready-to-drink cocktails, a wine or two and maybe even a bottle of a spirit alternative is a great place to start figuring out what you will love.
For just one example, Nanobar has a bundle called The Believer that’s a no-brainer. You can’t go wrong with its spirit, bitters, beer or wine. Or create your own bundle based on what looks interesting to you from Dry Atlas.
Lastly, if you’re buying for someone else, it’s impossible to go wrong with a gift card, either to an online store or a brick & mortar one.
