As an increasing number of Kiwis say no to booze, alcohol-free alternatives to beer, wine and spirits are gaining popularity.
Now the New Zealand company AF Drinks has opened the country's first alcohol-free bottle store.
The Curious AF alcohol-free bottle shop in Ponsonby, Auckland Photo: @sobercurious_af
The Curious AF pop-up bottle shop opened in Auckland's Ponsonby Central precinct on 22 June and will be trading through Dry July.
Although some people ask 'what's the point of a G&T without alcohol?', feedback for the store and its range of alcohol-free beverages has been mostly very positive, says AF Drinks founder Lisa King.
"I think coming out of Covid, people are more mindful of their relationship with alcohol… and people are going finally there is something that is great-tasting and means they dont have to drink [alchoohl] all the time or stick with water or soda," she tells RNZ reporter Leonard Powell.
Listen
Lisa King, founder of AF Drinks Photo: Supplied
Lisa, who also founded the social enterprise Eat My Lunch, first cut back on alcohol several years ago when she began to suspect drinking was giving her bouts of vertigo.
When she realised alcohol was to blame – and gave up her usual weekend gin-and-tonics – socialising became a bit of a challenge, she says.
Saying no to alcohol in a social situation can make you feel excluded and "like a kid", Lisa says: "People would be like why aren't you drinking? What's wrong?"
At the time, the options for non-alcoholic drinks in Aotearoa were just fizzy drinks, juice or kombucha, Lisa says, and she began formulating a non-premixed alcoholic version of the G & Ts she missed. Now the AF Drinks range of canned low-sugar drinks includes alcohol-free versions of classic cocktails like the Cuba Libre and Dark & Stormy.
Unlike most non-alcoholic spirits, beers and wines – which are made the usual way and then have the alcohol removed – AF Drinks are made entirely without alcohol. To mimic the tingle, warmth and "lingering mouthfeel" of alcohol they contain a naturally heating botanical extract called Afterglow.
Lisa's products are just one of the 36 different alcohol-free beverage brands that have joined forces at the Ponsonby store, Lisa says.
"It's been really great because we're all on the same mission – to give really great alcohol-free alternatives and to reduce that need to have alcohol at every social event."
Delicious alcohol-free drinks are not just for people who have totally given up drinking, she says, but also good for people who want to moderate, designated drivers and expectant mothers.
"I think there's an occasion for everybody to have alcohol-free drinks."
Related:
Read / Listen - 'Everyone was happy but without the loudness': a visit to Greytown's alcohol-free bar
Read / Listen - Free to be alcohol-free: a collection of recent RNZ stories about people choosing to skip booze
Watch - Journalist Guyon Espiner explores New Zealand's drinking culture in the documentary PROOF: