Experts from CleanCo, founded by ex-MIC star Spencer Matthews, have teamed up with British life coach Michael Cloonan to identify 10 typical pandemic drinking personalities for FEMAIL.
By Kate Johnson, founder, Highball Cocktails2021-02-23T10:05:00+00:00
Source: Unsplash
When it comes to the low & no category, familiarity and great taste is a recipe for repeat custom
Dry January is behind us for another year. While in the past the temptation could have been to push low & no alcohol brands to the back of the shelf until Sober October, these are the very products driving the drinks category to become worth the £68bn it is today.
From the 6.5 million who took part in Dry January and the fact that over 15% of people now choose to have alcohol-free days, we know shoppers are interested in reducing their alcohol intake and therefore potentially open to trying alcohol-free versions of their favourite drinks. However, just like any growing market, taste is king. If a product does not satisfy or exceed taste expectations, consumers will not buy it again – no matter how many health benefits it claims to have.
The tagline of the email from RTÉ a few weeks ago couldn t have been more intriguing: Strictly embargoed until 6am Wednesday. Cannot appear in print, online or via social media. What could be momentous enough to merit such secrecy?
It turned out to be an announcement that Home Of The Year would soon be back for a seventh series, with two new judges joining architect Hugh Wallace - an event which, without being unkind, would hardly make a ripple in any normal year, never mind the current situation.
On Tuesday, it was back on screen anyway with the first three of 21 houses battling it out over the next eight weeks for the title of Best House In Ireland That Most Of Us Couldn t Possibly Afford . That includes the winner of this episode, a big black new build in Co Cork with a grand piano as the kitchen island.
illustration: Danielle Grinberg
Working as a drinks bizz journalist has its many boozy perks. But as the weeks, months, and, apparently, whole years have whizzed by, those innumerable bottles of something new, exciting and of substantial proof have been matched by their less heady but no-less-worthy no- and low-alcohol counterparts. Never more so than during Dry January or indeed, “try” January, as it has been dubbed for 2021 do I feel the full magnitude of the sheer abundance of this emerging category.
And while the beer and spirits are plentiful, the absence of low- and no-ABV wines in an otherwise flooded market is still noticeable. So, I asked a handful of prominent sommeliers in the United States and the United Kingdom which no- or low-ABV wines they’d like to put on their lists. Reader: They couldn’t name a single one. Instead, they favored the likes of sparkling teas, kombuchas, or low-alcohol table ciders beverages that you can still serve with that sparklin