Holiday Buzz

 

Linking to an NPR story may seem as though I’m going rather far afield this morning, but, I’m not. Here’s the story.:

You don’t have to drink to celebrate the holiday season, Brian Mann for NPR

That’s a local story wherever there are alcoholic beverages and holidays. The article touches on the stress experienced by party-goers when coaxed to imbibe at social events and offers a variety of helpful suggestions. This one made me sad:

Or: If you want to avoid the "Where's your drink?" question altogether, you can also carry around a cup of a non-alcoholic beverage like soda, seltzer or even water.

Good grief. What kind of a world is it where something as simple as not wanting to drinking alcohol at a party requires so much planning and even subterfuge?  For heavens sake, let’s not ever be that person who conveys to others that it’s just not a party without a drink, or that they’re just not a legitimate part of the party unless they drink. 

Now, here’s where it gets local.

Local nonprofit Sobar had its origins when founder Beth Harbinson envisioned:

• Beautiful bars serving non-alcoholic beverages with healthy ingredients, innovative, sophisticated flavors and exciting tastes;
• A separate point of purchase for events serving alcohol to remove a potential trigger for people in recovery from alcoholism and addiction; and 
• Creating exciting alcohol-free events. (Sobar website)

Since 2017 Sobar has operated with a mission to “encourage choice in how we celebrate by providing a variety of sophisticated non-alcoholic beverages to consumers and hosting alcohol-free bars and events.” They’ve hosted both in person and online New Year’s Eve celebrations, and they’ve been a part of local events like HoCo Pride as vendors of alcohol-free beverages. You can follow their current goings-on here on Facebook.

This holiday season Sobar is offering for sale an array of alcohol-free beverages to help you make sure your home bar is fully stocked for your guests. 

I think if you order today you can still do local pick-up. You can contact them through their website for details.

I reached out to Ms. Harbinson for nutritional/allergen information for these beverages because we have someone in our family who can’t have anything with gluten in it. I got an immediate response. Yes, I was impressed. I’m including the information here because you might have similar concerns.:

The Rock Grace Sparkling is sugar free and calorie free and info can be found at rockgrace.com

Non-Alcoholic | No Allergens | No Artificial Colors or Flavors | Non-GMO | Made with Organic Ingredients

Calorie, Gluten, Sugar, Sweetener, Sulfite, Preservative, and Guilt Free

Ingredients: carbonated filtered water, natural flavors, rose water, organic raspberry juice concentrate, organic rhodiola extract, organic schisandra berry extract, eleuthero extract 

Mocktails - https://mocktails.com/

Each one has just 5 ingredients, is vegan and low in sugar and calories. Alcohol Free, Low in sugar and calories, All Natural ingredients, Vegan friendlyAlcohol Free, Low in sugar and calories, All Natural ingredients, Vegan friendly

Lyres Classico - CLASSICO: Carbonated Water, Sugar, Non-Alcoholic Fermented Grape Juice Concentrate, Grape Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Sodium Citrate, Natural Flavoring, Preservative: Sodium Benzoate. **DAIRY FREE, NUT FREE, EGG FREE, GLUTEN FREE, VEGAN FRIENDLY. Sugar Contents: 10g/250ml. Added Sugars: 10g/250mL. Carbohydrate Contents: 10g/250ml. Sodium: 70mg/250mL. Fat - Saturated: 0.0g/250mL. Fat - Total: 0.0g/250mL. Protein: 0.0g/250mL. Energy: 188kJ/45kCal (per serve).

Link to order is here.

Back to NPR - - Dr. Anna Lembke is quoted in the article as making this suggestion:

There can even be a fun side to downsizing alcohol consumption during the holidays — Lembke says some hosts are offering fancy, celebratory drinks that aren't alcoholic.

"It's something to look forward to," she says. "They want to find ways to reward themselves and celebrate without having an alcoholic drink."

If you’re like me and still won’t be heading out to indoor social functions this season, you may just want to stock up to give yourself some holiday options. Being stuck at home with a whole bunch of alcohol isn’t good for anybody. I’m curious about those mocktails. Apparently I’m not alone.