Plant magic. Soothing botanicals. Notes of vanilla. The world of non-alcoholic (NA) drinks is a copywriting nerd’s dream. As new brands enter the market, the vocabulary around sober drinking expands—or, at least you hope it would.
Inevitably, similar competitors begin to emerge, one upping each other on the finer details. There are too many out there to name, but I still dug into a handful. I wanted to learn more about how they were positioning themselves against sobriety, and what kinds of flourishes they would use to spice it up.
SIDEBAR: I knew the category was growing, but it wasn’t until researching for this piece that I realized just how much. Drizly’s BevAlc Insights Report says the number of NA brands has grown 70% year over year. And according to Forbes, the market is worth $11 billion, up $8 billion from 2018.
The message:
Whether sober, sober curious, or here to try something new, there’s an NA brand for you. Folks like Kin, Ghia, DeSoi reposition sobriety as a more “modern” lifestyle focused on wellness you can savor.
- Kin: non-alcoholic, functional beverage, designed using ingredients that nourish mind and body.
- Ghia: A spirits-free apéritif adapted for modern times.
- DeSoi: We put the fun in functional. Inspired by the French ethos of pleasure and restraint, De Soi is a range of non-alcoholic apéritifs made with natural adaptogens.
Figlia, Athletic, and Seedlip, while very different in their expression, all lead with a pride/desire to change relationships to alcohol and support those on their journey.
- Figlia: Figlia was born out of the desire to have honest conversation around alcohol consumption. We've saved you a seat.
- Athletic Brewing Co.: Using an innovative, proprietary method of brewing beer without alcohol, we’ve created a lineup of non-alcoholic craft beers that don’t compromise on taste.
- Seedlip: The original non-alcoholic spirit on a mission to change the way the world drinks with the highest quality non-alcoholic options.
And somewhere in the middle, Proxies, Ish, and Curious are just happy to make the best non-alcoholic beverages out there for whoever wants them.
- Proxies: A new form of wine alternative—not dealcoholized wine, but layered blends of fruit, teas, spices, and bitters, designed to pair with food and be enjoyed in your finest stemware.
- ISH: ISH offers one of the world’s broadest and most award-winning ranges of non-alcoholic wine, spirits and cocktails that all deliver on the experience we know and love, but with one major difference – no alcohol.
- Curious Elixirs: Curious Elixirs are booze-free craft cocktails, infused with adaptogens to help you unwind. Our beverages are handmade with the best ingredients and no refined sugar.
The voice:
It’s not surprising given their similar position—and founders—Kin, Ghia, and De Soi all have a reverence for feeling good and a love for descriptive sensorial flavors. Proxies joins the club, though more from the lens of a sommelier vs a vibe.
- Kin: Invigorating energizer. Untap good, clean energy.
- Ghia: Ghia is a non-alcoholic apéritif made with the purest ingredients. Vibrant, fresh and satisfyingly bitter, it tastes like summer on the rocks.
- DeSoi: Champignon Dreams is made with a dreamy duo of reishi mushroom and passion flower to ease you into the evening.
- Proxies: From a crisp white and rich red, to two sparklings—one fresh and zesty, the other tart and aromatic. Cheers to new beginnings and shared bottles with all the complexity, none of the alcohol.
In most places, Curious and ISH all aim to be the approachable, simple option. So does Athletic, despite its more outward aim to support sobriety, they keep the conversation more about the beer and less about the ABV content. However, Curious and ISH seem to get specific with the product descriptions.
- Athletic: Run Wild is the ultimate sessionable IPA for craft beer lovers. Brewed with a blend of five Northwest hops, it has an approachable bitterness to balance the specialty malt body. Always refreshing and only 65 calories.
- Curious: Beautifully bitter booze-free pomegranate cocktail inspired by the Negroni Sbagliato, infused with rhodiola to lift you up.
- ISH: A dry non-alcoholic white wine inspired by a classic French Chardonnay with notes of citrus, green apples and pears combined with a nice minerality and slight oak finish.
Figlia and Seedlip sit on a more sophisticated, knowledgeable, and principled side of things.
- Figlia: Fiore bottles the lushness of Italian gardens and the energy of sidewalk dinners in New York City. It is an ode to the spritz, a token of leisure and a reminder to take your time. It is for sipping with intention. Not for hangovers. We recommend Fiore poured over ice, adorned with an orange peel.
- Seedlip: A warm, aromatic blend of Allspice & Cardamom with fresh citrus top notes to balance the long bitter finish.
Sidebar - Sales funnels: No matter if the brand was looking for something sexy or something smart, almost all of these brands lose their heart and meaning when it comes to that dreaded pop up.
A flavorful frontier.
Fun and flirty used to be reserved for the tipsy, but now anyone can imbibe with a little non-alcoholic fun. I’m partial to those who acknowledge and romanticize the power of sobriety without getting too sommelier with it. I also enjoy those who create something new vs constantly pitting themselves against the past or drinking.
However, for the sake of this review, we wondered if any non-alcoholic beverage brands are/will going to play with:
- anarchy or heroism over drinking culture (kind of like Liquid Death, but less about the planet).
- leading with a single ingredient’s power.
- other pockets of wellness culture.
- comedy beyond a pun.
- analytics/numbers (academics and Wall Street need beverages, too, no?).
- connecting over drinks.
Which approaches are your favorite? What else have you seen out there? What do you hope to see?
About Em:
Em Seitz (she/her) is a freelancer writer and strategist living in Brooklyn, NY. She believes writing is almost never that serious, but it can be a way to brighten someone's day.
Sign up for her newsletter, Getting Wordy, for thoughts on branding and advertising here.
Plant magic. Soothing botanicals. Notes of vanilla. The world of non-alcoholic (NA) drinks is a copywriting nerd’s dream. As new brands enter the market, the vocabulary around sober drinking expands—or, at least you hope it would.
Inevitably, similar competitors begin to emerge, one upping each other on the finer details. There are too many out there to name, but I still dug into a handful. I wanted to learn more about how they were positioning themselves against sobriety, and what kinds of flourishes they would use to spice it up.
SIDEBAR: I knew the category was growing, but it wasn’t until researching for this piece that I realized just how much. Drizly’s BevAlc Insights Report says the number of NA brands has grown 70% year over year. And according to Forbes, the market is worth $11 billion, up $8 billion from 2018.
The message:
Whether sober, sober curious, or here to try something new, there’s an NA brand for you. Folks like Kin, Ghia, DeSoi reposition sobriety as a more “modern” lifestyle focused on wellness you can savor.
- Kin: non-alcoholic, functional beverage, designed using ingredients that nourish mind and body.
- Ghia: A spirits-free apéritif adapted for modern times.
- DeSoi: We put the fun in functional. Inspired by the French ethos of pleasure and restraint, De Soi is a range of non-alcoholic apéritifs made with natural adaptogens.
Figlia, Athletic, and Seedlip, while very different in their expression, all lead with a pride/desire to change relationships to alcohol and support those on their journey.
- Figlia: Figlia was born out of the desire to have honest conversation around alcohol consumption. We've saved you a seat.
- Athletic Brewing Co.: Using an innovative, proprietary method of brewing beer without alcohol, we’ve created a lineup of non-alcoholic craft beers that don’t compromise on taste.
- Seedlip: The original non-alcoholic spirit on a mission to change the way the world drinks with the highest quality non-alcoholic options.
And somewhere in the middle, Proxies, Ish, and Curious are just happy to make the best non-alcoholic beverages out there for whoever wants them.
- Proxies: A new form of wine alternative—not dealcoholized wine, but layered blends of fruit, teas, spices, and bitters, designed to pair with food and be enjoyed in your finest stemware.
- ISH: ISH offers one of the world’s broadest and most award-winning ranges of non-alcoholic wine, spirits and cocktails that all deliver on the experience we know and love, but with one major difference – no alcohol.
- Curious Elixirs: Curious Elixirs are booze-free craft cocktails, infused with adaptogens to help you unwind. Our beverages are handmade with the best ingredients and no refined sugar.
The voice:
It’s not surprising given their similar position—and founders—Kin, Ghia, and De Soi all have a reverence for feeling good and a love for descriptive sensorial flavors. Proxies joins the club, though more from the lens of a sommelier vs a vibe.
- Kin: Invigorating energizer. Untap good, clean energy.
- Ghia: Ghia is a non-alcoholic apéritif made with the purest ingredients. Vibrant, fresh and satisfyingly bitter, it tastes like summer on the rocks.
- DeSoi: Champignon Dreams is made with a dreamy duo of reishi mushroom and passion flower to ease you into the evening.
- Proxies: From a crisp white and rich red, to two sparklings—one fresh and zesty, the other tart and aromatic. Cheers to new beginnings and shared bottles with all the complexity, none of the alcohol.
In most places, Curious and ISH all aim to be the approachable, simple option. So does Athletic, despite its more outward aim to support sobriety, they keep the conversation more about the beer and less about the ABV content. However, Curious and ISH seem to get specific with the product descriptions.
- Athletic: Run Wild is the ultimate sessionable IPA for craft beer lovers. Brewed with a blend of five Northwest hops, it has an approachable bitterness to balance the specialty malt body. Always refreshing and only 65 calories.
- Curious: Beautifully bitter booze-free pomegranate cocktail inspired by the Negroni Sbagliato, infused with rhodiola to lift you up.
- ISH: A dry non-alcoholic white wine inspired by a classic French Chardonnay with notes of citrus, green apples and pears combined with a nice minerality and slight oak finish.
Figlia and Seedlip sit on a more sophisticated, knowledgeable, and principled side of things.
- Figlia: Fiore bottles the lushness of Italian gardens and the energy of sidewalk dinners in New York City. It is an ode to the spritz, a token of leisure and a reminder to take your time. It is for sipping with intention. Not for hangovers. We recommend Fiore poured over ice, adorned with an orange peel.
- Seedlip: A warm, aromatic blend of Allspice & Cardamom with fresh citrus top notes to balance the long bitter finish.
Sidebar - Sales funnels: No matter if the brand was looking for something sexy or something smart, almost all of these brands lose their heart and meaning when it comes to that dreaded pop up.
A flavorful frontier.
Fun and flirty used to be reserved for the tipsy, but now anyone can imbibe with a little non-alcoholic fun. I’m partial to those who acknowledge and romanticize the power of sobriety without getting too sommelier with it. I also enjoy those who create something new vs constantly pitting themselves against the past or drinking.
However, for the sake of this review, we wondered if any non-alcoholic beverage brands are/will going to play with:
- anarchy or heroism over drinking culture (kind of like Liquid Death, but less about the planet).
- leading with a single ingredient’s power.
- other pockets of wellness culture.
- comedy beyond a pun.
- analytics/numbers (academics and Wall Street need beverages, too, no?).
- connecting over drinks.
Which approaches are your favorite? What else have you seen out there? What do you hope to see?
About Em:
Em Seitz (she/her) is a freelancer writer and strategist living in Brooklyn, NY. She believes writing is almost never that serious, but it can be a way to brighten someone's day.
Sign up for her newsletter, Getting Wordy, for thoughts on branding and advertising here.
