In recent years, the sober-curious movement has been steadily gaining traction, driven by people reassessing their relationship with drinking and exploring the idea of reducing or pausing their alcohol consumption.

Rather than pushing any strict rules or restrictions, this trend is rooted in a desire to support mental and physical health, increase mindfulness, challenge social norms, and create authentic connections with others. It has also paved the way for brick-and-mortar sober bars, nonalcoholic pop-ups, and thoughtfully crafted mocktails. Take a deeper look at the sobercurious movement as seen through the eyes of four insiders.

The origin of the movement

In 2018, author Ruby Warrington published Sober Curious, a book aimed at social drinkers who were questioning and reexamining their habits surrounding alcohol. She sought to interrupt the binary of drinkers and nondrinkers and offer those who fell somewhere in between a space for discourse.

This idea initially captured the attention of women, but today it has greater mass appeal. In fact, according to Chris Marshall, owner of Sans Bar in Austin, Texas, there’s been a surprising new demographic frequenting his nonalcoholic establishment—college-aged men. He attributes this shift to young people being fed up with drinking to excess at bars and clubs. Younger generations are rejecting those expectations but still want a place to socialize and connect with their friends. To that point, most of his patrons are sober curious rather than sober or in recovery.

A place for everyone

Though Sans Bar and the sober-curious movement existed before the pandemic, Marshall believes it played a large role in giving the movement staying power. He explains, “COVID taught us to be aware of how we live in every aspect of our lives. It forced us to slow down and evaluate how our work and our diets impact us and how disconnected we feel from others. We live in the age of social media, but there is an epidemic of loneliness.”

Marshall’s years as a counselor sparked his interest in opening Sans Bar. He saw the way his clients struggled—not with sobriety but with the isolation that comes with not social drinking. To combat this, he opened a place where everyone could feel welcome. He continues, “Regulars are absolutely a thing at my bar. And the community that people have found is special. I didn’t anticipate how customers would build roots and connections. People who have been coming for years like to help others who are there for the first time.”

Marshall understands the challenges of his business model and believes the way forward is through strategic partnerships with other businesses that have underutilized brick-and-mortar spaces. For his newest venture, he partnered with fitness company Swift Fit Events to cocreate the Texas Wellness Oasis, a pop-up that serves boozeless cocktails out of Swift Fit Events’ space. Both this and his original East Austin bar are open on Friday nights, though he hopes to expand Sans Bar’s days of operation to include Thursdays and Saturdays in the future.

A different kind of spirit

Because this is a relatively new frontier, bottles of nonalcoholic spirits can still be quite expensive. It doesn’t help that the process of making them can resemble the lengthy distillation process of traditional alcohol. Chris Boyd, cofounder of Monday, one of the early makers of nonalcoholic spirits, explains, “This brave new world of adult drinks is still in its first inning. When only a small percentage of the world knows you exist, quite a bit of money needs to be spent on marketing. Plus, many brands are still dealing with supply chain issues.” Research and development is another hidden cost since the methods for creating something flavorful without alcohol can be daunting and time-consuming.

Boyd was inspired to start his brand after a birthday outing with friends led him to wonder why he couldn’t have a proper cocktail without alcohol so he could keep socializing but still be functional at work the following morning, a Monday (hence the brand’s name). His company’s first nonalcoholic spirit, Monday Gin, launched in December 2019. There is no playbook to follow when it comes to creating a nonalcoholic spirit, as Boyd explains: “Spirits that focus on a single hero ingredient, like the juniper berry for London Dry-style gins, tend to be a little easier to create. In contrast, spirits that have multiple star components can be quite complex and therefore difficult to nail down.”

A bartender’s experiment

As an international dance instructor, Ruth Evelyn frequently travels to different countries, which provides opportunities for her to try many different flavors and cocktails. But during the pandemic, the dance world shut down. Already a hobbyist bartender, she suddenly found herself with more time to experiment with her own recipes. The lull also gave her a chance to check off a bucket list item: work as a bartender at a fancy cocktail bar. At Backbar outside Boston, Evelyn learned under the tutelage of Sam Treadway, named the city’s best bartender in a 2013 Boston Magazine poll.

She soon began thinking that alcohol may not be necessary to create great drinks. She says, “One of the things I love about a well-crafted cocktail is the flavor journey it takes you on. You begin somewhere, perhaps take a sharp turn, then wind around to a finishing note. The difference a drop of salt tincture or a twist of oil from an orange peel can make is astounding. Alcohol isn’t needed to create drinks that contain that experience.” She also listened to friends who don’t drink and realized just how difficult it can be to feel a part of social events without drinking.

Evelyn eventually left Backbar but missed having an outlet for that aspect of her creativity. She discussed this with Kelsey Munger, the owner of a local bakery and coffee shop, who encouraged her to set up a nonalcoholic pop-up there. Evelyn’s community dubbed it Free Spirits, and the opening was packed. Says Evelyn, “People who drank alcohol and people who didn’t all said how much they loved the drinks and how much they didn’t miss the alcohol aspect.” The pop-up has led to more collaborations, and she is looking forward to other opportunities for people to form bonds in an alcohol-free environment.

Everyone deserves a place to connect with friends in an environment free from the pressures of alcohol. As the sober-curious movement continues to prove it isn’t going anywhere, the viability of nonalcoholic bars and pop-ups is expected to increase and lead to more opportunities for sober-curious patrons across the country.