Cold Brew as an alcohol alternative

I’m now 24 days into sober October and it’s completely shifted my perception on drinks offerings in bars. Normally, like most, I will order a pint if I’m at a bar. I’ve never really considered what I would like to drink on a “night out”, if I wasn’t drinking alcohol. But now I’m realising the alternatives aren’t great. I’ve been really craving an adult drink that “does something”, and alcohol free beers don’t quite cut the mustard.

Whether you’re a big drinker or not, a large part of the night is based around drinking. I’ve realised how dependent I, and many others, are on some form of social lubricant. Before going to an event, I’d usually have a few drinks with friends, this has been fully replaced with drinking glass(es) of Solo, and it’s been putting me on a level, a level that I’m actually preferring to being drunk. I’ve been feeling compos mentis, but fully in the mood to socialise. Coffee, especially cold brew, affects you. And for this reason, it has helped me feel like I’m not missing out on drinking. I understand that that’s not the point of sobriety but the elephant in the room is that it’s quite hard to be around people that are intoxicated whilst nursing a lemonade.

Coffee as an alternative to alcohol isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but here’s where cold brew comes in. Needless to say, hot coffee is not really an option in a fast paced, high volume bar. Not just from the bar workers’ perspective. It is also quite frankly, weird, to walk around in a club with a mug of hot coffee. I’m hoping that one day we will be seeing glasses of Solo as the go-to alcohol alternative in bars and clubs.

So after experiencing first hand cold brew’s place in bars, we’re now making an effort to be stocked in bars. Bars have approached us in the past, and I’ve never really understood why (other than its use in cocktails) but now I’m seeing its potential. Teetotalism is on the rise, but late night events are just as popular as ever. People are always looking to be in the mood to go out and with alcohol consumption on the decline, our tasty little beverage could be a game changer in nightlife.