The undertaking may seem difficult but the phenomenon of ‘sober bars’ (sober bars, where only non-alcoholic drinks are served) is growing year after year. There are some in the main American cities, from New York to Los Angeles, from Orlando to Austin and in the English ones (where they act as a counterpoint to the renowned pubs that fill up on Friday nights with customers looking to get drunk). In Paris, the opening of Déjà Bu is noteworthy, a bar where you can drink Spritz, Gin and Tonic and other zero-alcohol wines. They are also opening in Italy (the latest in Turin) and supermarkets on the peninsula are expanding the shelves dedicated to non-alcoholic drinks, including wines. Courageous entrepreneurs and bartenders are accepting the challenge of offering more and more drinks, sparkling wines, beers, cocktails and aperitifs without alcohol in the name of greater socialization between customers (drinking without alcohol content would help, they assure) and to meet the growing demand of those who do not drink alcoholic beverages for religious beliefs, chronic illnesses (we are an aging population) and other personal reasons. Finally, for questions of conscience of the bar managers themselves because there are also those who feel guilty in serving drinks that are bad for your health and alcohol is at the top of the list of toxic substances, along with smoking and so on.
“Sober bars are redefining nightlife,” CNN headlined, reporting the opening of a new venue in Austin, Texas, the Sans Bar. “Every Friday, when Chris Marshall opens his bar, he gets the same request from customers: alcohol, please. And every time someone asks for a vodka tonic or another drink familiar to him, he has to gently remind them that his bar, the Sans Bar, doesn’t serve alcohol,” the American TV station reports. “I can definitely help you with the tonic, not so much with the vodka,” replies Marshall, who has chosen to eliminate the alcohol-proof bottles with juices, extracts, syrups, herbs, ginger beer, fruits, chlorophyll, vegetable brine and so on. It’s not easy to create tasty concoctions that are often identical to the most famous cocktails in the world.
In Turin, too, entrepreneur Davide Piastra has just opened a ‘no alcohol’ bar. The name is ‘Atipico’, where alternative cocktails to classic spirits are served. Piastra decided to convert to Islam and the choice has influenced his career and his entrepreneurial approach, he himself declared to the food and wine magazine Gambero Rosso. He used to work in a bar but didn’t feel comfortable serving people who drank too much. Piastra, with over 20 years of experience in the sector, has thus created original non-alcoholic cocktails similar to the classics or completely new ones. “I know alcoholic products,” he explained, “I’ve done various aisles, the challenge was to maintain the intensity of the flavors to still have the impression of drinking a good cocktail, such as gin and tonic, amaro lucano, spritz, limoncello cocktails and negroni without alcohol content and not settle for the usual coke, crodino or iced tea.” Of course Piastra has lost a segment of customers looking for ‘alcoholic stoning’ but has gained another.
Sober bars are also called ‘temperance bars’ and the phenomenon is not new at all (the opening of the first alcohol-free tavern dates back to 1890, it is the Fitzpatrick’s Temperance Bar in the north of Manchester) but the trend is consolidating year after year because the consumption of alcoholic beverages is growing and, at the same time, that of non-alcoholic beverages. In a Gallup poll published last summer, it was found that 62% of adults (American sample) under 35 years of age declared that they drink alcohol, a decrease of 10 percentage points compared to 20 years earlier. Not to mention that even those who appreciate wines and aperitifs with an alcoholic content also like to sip alternative drinks, equally tasty but with fewer calories or without harmful effects.