Here we are in full Dry January, and if we talk about it this year it is also thanks to the French president Emmanuel Macron, who has just said he is against the idea of institutionalizing the initiative: an invitation not to drink alcohol for an entire month, January in fact. For him, a well-known lover of good drinking, it is not necessary to officially promote abstinence from alcohol, but his stance has sparked a controversy of international dimensions which has involved enthusiasts and expert commentators.
What is Dry January
What is certain is that the position of the French president goes against the trend: now almost all over the world there is a race to prove the benefits of Dry Januaryan initiative born in England in 2013 thanks to the athlete Emily Robinson and the association Alcohol Change UK, British body that raises awareness of the effects of alcohol. One way to promote the conscious use of alcohol, to remind everyone of the risks of use and abuse, and to invite even moderate drinkers to experience what it is like to do without it for a symbolic period, giving their liver a break. In fact, many studies have demonstrated the advantages of alcohol abstinence are many, even in the short term as well as in the long term, and which reflect on everyone’s physical and mental well-being.
The new trend of non-alcoholic drinks
So, password: lighten. How many years have we heard it? Many. Yet she never goes out of fashion, on the contrary (rightly) she renews herself by adapting to the evolution of the times. For this reason, even the world of mixing has now been involved in the process and it is difficult to imagine a cocktail bar that is not able to offer low-alcohol drinks and mocktails (a neologism that derives from the portmanteau of two words mock = fake + cocktail).
What are the new alcohol-free drinks like?
The good news is that the era of syrupy long drinks based on fruit juices and smoothies has been replaced, or enriched, by that of fermented products such as kombucha (sparkling teas that could replace bubbles) and switchel (an invigorating mix based of apple cider vinegar, ginger, honey and lemon), from fruit and vegetable extracts, from sodas offered in every imaginable flavor and above all from non-alcoholic spirits.
The new alcohol-free products
In Italy and around the world this trend is naturally reflected on the market and on the choice of large groups (and small producers) to have one or more alcohol-free products in their catalogue. From 2015, the year of debut of Seedlip (the line of non-alcoholic spirits, distributed by Diageo, which is by far the best known and served in cocktail bars), to today the panorama has rapidly enriched itself, so much so that forecasts speak of a growth of 400% for the next few years.
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