I’m sitting at the bar of the popular Vancouver restaurant Zarak, trying to choose between one of seven sophisticated alcohol-free “mocktails” on the beverage menu. There are concoctions made with zero-proof tequila, bourbon, Chardonnay and more. All of them sound positively seductive, but in the end I go for something called Still Not an Espresso Martini. “That one will keep you awake for sure,” jokes the bartender as he pours my drink, which features non-alcoholic tequila made by the California-based distiller Free Spirits, along with cold brew, condensed milk and salted caramel.
It’s the perfect cap to a gorgeously sunny day in the city – and, best of all, no matter how many of them I have, I know I won’t wake up with a hangover.
More and more Canadians – in fact, people all over the world – are choosing zero-proof drinks in lieu of alcohol, so much so that the nonalcoholic beverage sector has become, at the time of this writing, a $13-billion global industry. In Canada alone, the market for booze-free libations has grown 120 percent in the past three years. There are multiple reasons why so many consumers – Millennials and Gen Zers especially – are choosing to curb or entirely eliminate alcohol from their life, including cost, lifestyle, diet, and the desire for improved physical and mental health.
Fortunately, the selection of zero-proof spirits, wines, beers and ready-to- drink cocktails is growing like never before. And most of these products don’t just taste great; their packaging is as elegant as their alcoholic counterparts.
Consequently, beverage directors at countless casual and fine-dining restaurants are striving to concoct the most delicious and inventive zero-proof drinks possible. Winnie Sun, beverage director at Zarak, is constantly experimenting to come up with unprecedented flavour combinations that even regular drinkers will love. In short, we’ve come a long way from the foul-tasting dealcoholized wines and too-sweet fruit drinks that, for decades, had been the only options for teetotalers who want something more interesting than a soft drink.
On Commercial Drive in Vancouver, Mocktails is the city’s first retail shop dedicated exclusively to zero-proof beverages. (Almost directly across the street is The Drive Canteen, a stringently curated convenience store and snack bar that’s been stocking booze-free products for several years.) Mocktails’ owner, Angela Hansen, opened the shop in March 2024, roughly a year after giving up alcohol for all of the reasons listed above. Wines, spirits, and canned or bottled mocktails are her top sellers. She pours me a can of Classic Gin & Tonic by HP Juniper, a Quebec-based brand. I sip it slowly, savouring its floral bouquet and notes of cucumber.
But it’s the Edenvale Premium Reserve Sparkling Shiraz that really gets me excited. This Australian dealcoholized wine pops like champagne when its cork is removed, and it tastes like a truly sophisticated sparkling wine. I have a glass and immediately want another. Better still, it has just 32 calories and 4.7 grams of sugar per serving, so there’s no guilt as well as no hangover. “Once you remove the alcohol, the calorie count goes way down,” Hansen explains.
This story has been edited and condensed for clarity. Read the original version in the Fall/Winter 2024 edition of driver magazine.
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