Free-spirits?

It really started in earnest with the US and UK temperance movements of the mid-19th century proclaiming the “evil of drink”. By the 1920s America had totally banned the sale and consumption of alcohol under its Prohibition legislation. In the meantime, entrepreneurial barmen and mixologists saw an opportunity to cash in on the abstinence trend by designing alcohol-free cocktails, or ‘mocktails’. (To put this in context, the world’s first alcohol-free beer, Clausthaler, appeared courtesy of Germany’s Bindin-Brauerei Brewery in 1979). More recently, however, strict drink-driving rules, and a greater emphasis on the negative health aspects associated with drinking, have provided the market for drinks containing 0% alcohol with a further boost. Millenials and Gen Z’ers, early 1980s to early 2000s, are front and centre of this trend, (see Small shots, a big deal. this page). Not surprisingly, booze-free bars such as Hekate in New York City and The Sober Social in Atlanta, are becoming increasingly popular. Well-established mocktails include: Virgin Mary, a vodka-free version of Bloody Mary which Australians refer to as A Bloody Shame; Mock Mule, a vodka-less Moscow Mule; Veggnog or classic Eggnog minus Dutch advocaat; Frozen Tropical Colada, in other words, Piña Colada but hold the rum; Frozen Margarita, a tequila-and-triple-sec-free Margarita, and Frozen Mimosa or a Mimosa without the Champagne.