{"id":142513,"date":"2017-12-28T02:16:20","date_gmt":"2017-12-28T07:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=142513"},"modified":"2017-12-28T02:16:20","modified_gmt":"2017-12-28T07:16:20","slug":"non-drinkers-pushing-bars-for-better-non-alcoholic-cocktails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/12\/28\/non-drinkers-pushing-bars-for-better-non-alcoholic-cocktails\/","title":{"rendered":"Non drinkers pushing bars for better non alcoholic cocktails"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"For<\/a>
For years, Carolyn Rebeyka has met friends at the same Regina bar every Friday afternoon for drinks. (Pixabay photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For years, Carolyn Rebeyka has met friends at the same Regina bar every Friday afternoon for drinks. Sometimes they’d be celebrating a birthday or triumph at work, other times it was just to catch up.<\/p>\n

Then, about three years ago, her doctor put her on medication and suggested she avoid drinking to better monitor her body’s reaction to the drug.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn’t permanent, but I actually kind of liked not drinking,\u201d Rebeyka said, adding she was never a heavy drinker, but enjoyed not feeling the effects of alcohol.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if you had a few drinks, you could still feel the difference the next morning,\u201d she added. \u201cIt’s not that you’re hungover, but you can tell the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Rebeyka rarely drinks, but going to bars and restaurants is still a big part of her social life.<\/p>\n

Like many others who have decided to cut back on drinking, Rebeyka has found there are often few interesting drink options that don’t include booze. Many of the traditional options are uninspired (juice, sparkling water) or overly sweet (Shirley Temples, virgin daiquiris).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe options for alcohol, those are almost unlimited,\u201d she said. \u201cIt seems like bars don’t want to be as creative when they’re serving their non-drinkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It’s not completely commonplace yet, but there is a growing push from some establishments to offer more interesting and complex non-alcoholic drink options.<\/p>\n

Kate Boushel, a bartender at Montreal’s Atwater Cocktail Club, said customers come in asking for non-alcoholic drinks \u201cevery night\u201d and she enjoys making them since it allows for creativity on her part.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve had fun and made cocktails that look exactly like other cocktails on my menu, just instead of alcohol, I’ve replaced it with low-sugar fruit juice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ll do apple juice with a touch of carrot and maybe some thyme syrup, with a little bit of our house tonic,\u201d she added. \u201cThat will be refreshing, light, but it will still be more complex than, let’s say, a virgin mojito.\u201d<\/p>\n

People ordering non-alcoholic drinks often don’t want to draw attention to the fact that they aren’t drinking, and in some cases, they’ll actually request Boushel’s help in not blowing their cover.<\/p>\n

This often happens with pregnant women, when it’s too early to make an announcement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith women who are pregnant, funny enough, the bartender is one of the first people who finds out,\u201d Boushel said. \u201cThey don’t want their friends to know, so (they ask), ‘Can you make me look like I’m drinking?\u201d’<\/p>\n

A similar request also frequently comes from people who are \u201cout and about with business partners, or clients,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe they’ve had enough, but they want to keep up appearances.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team at Pretty Ugly cocktail bar in Toronto have gone even further to accommodate patrons who don’t drink. They spent nearly a year developing \u201cplacebo\u201d liquors: non-alcoholic concoctions intended to replace actual booze. Owner and bartender Robin Goodfellow has developed an alcohol-free amaro, a Campari, and a plum wine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t feel that a bar is a place that only should serve people who want to get drunk,\u201d Goodfellow said, adding he likes drinking but hates being drunk, and that many of his friends abstain from alcohol. \u201cYou can enjoy the music, the decor, the conversations, the energy of a bar even if you’re not drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

He doesn’t want his drinks to completely replicate the taste of liquor, but instead provide an option that \u201chas that feeling of a Negroni or a Manhattan.\u201d He said his alcohol-free Negroni is \u201cdefinitely for a mature palate, someone who maybe used to drink Campari.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goodfellow has wondered about serving a non-alcoholic cocktail to someone with a drinking problem who might be at risk of a relapse. He’s asked his friend who coined the term \u201cplacebo drink,\u201d chef Matty Matheson, if he thought the offering could be dangerous.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I make something really similar-tasting to something he used to drink, is that going to trigger his same old habits that he’s trying to avoid?\u201d Goodfellow wondered. \u201cHe told us no, but … I would love to hear what people think about that, because that’s something I’m concerned about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Jonathan Bertram, an addictions specialist at Toronto’s Centre for Addictions and Mental\u00a0Health, said there’s no one single answer. Addiction experts have isolated two major triggers that can cause relapse in people with alcoholism, Bertram explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s the very obvious chemical trigger, which is a result of alcohol initiating a dopamine release in the brain,\u201d he said. \u201cBut then there’s also this sort of anticipatory excitement or euphoria that comes from a person engaging in the ritual of drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

In those cases, drinking something meant to resemble an alcoholic drink \u2014 or even being in a bar environment at all \u2014 can be a trigger.<\/p>\n

But that risk is \u201cnot an easy thing to standardize or isolate,\u201d because it doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone, Bertram added. And sometimes, the option of a placebo drink can \u201cmake it a lot easier for a person to go out and socially integrate into the drinking exercise without having to use alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n

He urged people in recovery to consult their doctors before making the decision.<\/p>\n

When Cory Bagdon of Thunder Bay, Ont., decided to take a break from alcohol for a summer while in university about ten years ago, he found the social pressure to drink was \u201cisolating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I gave up drinking, I would be treated differently,\u201d he said. \u201cI’d go out with the same people, but they wouldn’t talk to me the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalled friends seeming \u201coffended\u201d that he didn’t want to drink, and said an acquaintance once got physically aggressive when he refused a shot.<\/p>\n

Even now Bagdon sometimes feels pressure to drink more than he wants to at social gatherings. To avoid an awkward conversation he’ll sometimes order a bottled beer and fill it up with water once it’s empty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems strange that even though I don’t want to be a part of the drinking culture, I can’t separate myself from the social component of drinking culture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Goodfellow said his ultimate goal in dreaming up new drinks and running his bar in general is to make it more welcoming for people who aren’t interested in getting drunk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI very much promote alcohol consumption, done responsibly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I love that maybe we’re changing the way non-drinkers enjoy nightlife.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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