I think that’s awesome. And what I would say is if it is triggering to you proceed carefully right it’s not the beverage the taste the container that is the issue. For most of it. It’s the actual alcohol that is what is addictive. And for some people you know women that I work with, they say that coming home when they would normally have a beer or glass of wine opening and a beer does the trick it like trick rain it signifies what that signifies it signifies transition from work to home from you know Friday night around the fire pit. It looks good it tastes good. If that is not the case for you. If it bothers you don’t do it there is Lacroix and ginger beer and all these amazing athletes that are not Yeah, I mean there’s a multitude of categories that range from like you said, like you know, you’ve got your like sexier seltzer waters and tonics and you’ve got kombucha which again can sort of blur into the you know, low ABV lines but she felt like better for you sodas like Ali pop and poppy which are prebiotic sodas so you don’t know if you want to soda but you don’t want to study you know one of those and I love ginger beer like I’m obsessed with Q mixers. I really love fever tree. I mean, there’s a lot out there that’s completely unrelated to anything that might be potentially triggering for someone but for someone who is you know, I call myself sober serious with a sober curious mindset is I love trying different things. I definitely don’t drink at all. And I don’t I’m not reevaluating my relationship with alcohol because it’s been a long time since I’ve been sober. But I love just trying new things out and seeing how I feel. And so I’ve kind of adopted that mindset with like CBD beverages for instance, to see how I feel with those and I’m not an expert, nor do I work for the FDA, but um CBD beverages that do not have any THC are not intended to alter the mind in any sense like that. It’s just more of a calming effect. And I read in an article somewhere that you’ll know that CBD is working when if you don’t have a panic attack, you’re not having anxiety like it’s you’re not supposed to feel anything different. You’re just it’s like the absence of anxiety rather than like a euphoria that you might get from THC in a pot. Anyway, there are spirits their wines beers.

Casey McGuire Davidson  25:33

Well, let’s talk about it. So let’s just so I have to say for me, I was a red wine girl, right? That was my jam. I liked you know, Northwest Surahs like the big reds. So when I went to nonalcoholic drinks, I went to beer first because I drink beer too, right? But it wasn’t that similar to me. I also thought there was like zero good nonalcoholic red wine out there, which I want to dig into with you.

26:02

So I went to first. Yeah, when you quit there wasn’t really much out there. And then

Casey McGuire Davidson  26:06

I found groupie nonalcoholic Prosecco like at one of my likes, awesome Seattle. she recovers gatherings. We were having a brunch. And someone brought the Gruvi nonalcoholic Prosecco and we made mimosas and literally, I was sitting around, and I had to check the bottle three times. Because it tasted so much like Prosecco. I was like, are we sure this is not alcoholic? Because I was like, damn, this is good.

26:32

Yeah, yeah. So

Casey McGuire Davidson  26:34

what else is out there? So on zero proof nation, we’re going to add the link but you have a place at zero proof nation.com forward slash na dash Babs and you have beers and wines and spirits and mixers and shrubs and all the stuff I like.

26:56

And it’s never going to be a complete list because there’s something new every day and I am not a I am human. And I have to do this by my own research.

Casey McGuire Davidson  27:07

So let’s start with red lines. Right?

Okay. I’m hesitant about it because it was such my jam. Although I know that if there’s no alcohol in it. That’s the issue, not the taste. Yeah, I did try one from Gruvi their red blend if I poured it in a wineglass and I got a little paranoid about like that my son would think that I was drinking wine again. And he knows I don’t drink so I was like, this is Eddie. Why, but I like had like I wanted to put it out there because it was easy, but like red wine. What do you get? What do you love?

27:41

Well, first of all, I was not a red wine person. I didn’t like room temperature wine. I was a white wine and rosacea, like chills? Yeah. And so I didn’t. I’m certainly not a red wine expert, nor an NA red wine expert. But I can tell you there are a few brands out there that have done some really great wines and read especially so Gruvis red blends, I was kind of knocked off my socks. I was like, how is this? Na actually is really, really good. Um, there’s a brand called bonafide 0.0. And they have amazing wines. I’m Sophie, I just have tried. And they have actually made pay myself from scratch. And I had a glass of red wine from Sophie with it, and it was just the perfect. How, how do you spell Sovi? S, o, v, i, okay.

28:38

Ok, um, it’s @drinksovi, I believe on Instagram. I know that there’s SIP clean, but they have a they have a Rosé and they have a white wine is starting to become like, NA wine is starting to become a real category. But for a long time, there wasn’t much and there certainly wasn’t much. That was very good.

Casey McGuire Davidson  28:58

And I emailed you like last week, because I know you’re the expert on this. And I’d found better roads, which I’d never heard of. And they have sort of like the wine club. And by the way if this is triggering to anyone, like Turn this shit off, like Yeah, you don’t want to send us it’s you don’t you don’t need to listen to this if this is like tripping your brain in any way.

29:21

Yeah, like you. Thank you for saying that. I don’t want to mess with anyone. I just want to provide alternatives and options for people who are looking to get healthier and still want to socialize and will not or may not be triggered by nonalcoholic beverage options and it’s possible I’m we’re both super serious, but we drink NA so well in for myself.

Casey McGuire Davidson  29:47

Like I had a barbecue for my birthday. And I actually like I’m a true fangirl of athletic Brewing Company beers like that’s good. So most of my friends still do. My friends from like, long, long ago, and I had a whole cooler of NA, NA beer and he drinks for the barbecue. And I lined them up with little cups. And I poured out all the different like this stout and the upside, you know the guy yeah, like, you know, run wild all the ones. And everybody tried it. They were like, Oh, this is my favorite. This is my favorite. So, you know, at Christmas and New Year’s, I have the Gruvi Prosecco or the bubbly Rosé we put it in the champagne glasses. In my mind, it’s the alcohol that I don’t want to consume. Because absolutely starts me down the path of wanting to drink every night and getting drunk and blacking out hangovers and all the crap. But like, you can have a gorgeous drink and a beautiful bottle that is nonalcoholic that you’re going to be like, I don’t need, you know, in my mind, it’s the same as going to dinner. And like, ordering a salad instead of a burger, because you don’t eat meat or ordering a veggie burger instead of burger because you don’t eat meat. Right? It’s called a substitution. Yeah, the biggest deal in the world. So the reason I mentioned better roads because they actually had a sort of red wine flight or three or four bottles that you could have sent to you and I was just like, oh, I want to try that. But then I was like, Is this for real? You know?

31:24

What were what were some of the brands that they had?

Casey McGuire Davidson  31:27

I will look at them right now and I’ll tell you if I’ve had them and or what I think of and by the way I can’t be in my mind I can’t be an ambassador of any brand officially only because I have I support them all and I actually I love athletics a pieces I did apply to be an ambassador because you know, with athletic it’s also about athleticism and they wanted to know like what your sport of choice was and I you know, as a sort of roller derby girl I talked a lot about roller derby and my experience with that, and I got accepted. But then I was like, Oh, I can’t promote the other ones, right? But then in the fine print it was like well you can’t promote the other ones and I completely understand it and respect where they’re coming from. So but at the same time I have to respect where I’m coming from which is Yeah, someone who wants to elevate all of the brands get maybe not every single brand out there but so many of them and I can’t do that if I’m just speaking on behalf of one completely they have a better wrote reds package that cetera reds. Okay, are you Arielle AR ie L to try to that total wine? Re Vin.

Alright, as actually given a bad rap, it’s better than it’s better than I would have imagined Fra free Yeah. It’s much, much better than I thought it would be. Maybe not the best but it’s pretty darn good.

Casey McGuire Davidson  33:02

All right, I’m not hearing love from you. So let’s go to your face.

33:06

So I see you Yeah, so my faves in general.

Casey McGuire Davidson  33:12

Well, we want red or any Yeah, that are your faves. Okay.

33:15

Although if you do want red, I would try Sobey Okay, before bonafide ever know how to pronounce it reunified. 0.0 b those are

Casey McGuire Davidson  33:25

ONAF I D so we’ll put those in the links to the show notes.

33:31

Sure. Yeah, if you’re into wine, especially red wine, you can try those and the Gruvi red blend for sure. So some of my god like why even start? You mentioned the Gruvi Prosecco which is really good. That if you wanted like a champagne feel for a wedding or a New Year’s toast or just like because you want to on a weekend or weeknight Nadi alcohol free knotty AF is so good. It is kind of unreal how good it is. Um, I have been I’m I love ginger beer. So, so much. I actually found that the Q mixers ginger Rael tastes better than the ginger beer. It’s actually got more of a bite and it’s less caloric than the ginger beer. And I love just making like a ginger beer lime like a basic meal without any kind of spirit. Yeah, and I also love spirits so I’m “Big Liars” fan, like huge liars fan l yrs. But I’ve got I mean, just a massive amount of spirits I’ve been trying you know if you wanted to make a margarita you could use you could use ritual tequila or free spirits tequila, so Bria a Canadian brand just came out with a tequila that that I’m going to try soon. I really love like shrubs and syrup. So just add to my SodaStream water and just like make an instant and Instant drink that is delicious and fresh and isn’t complicated. So like I’m, I can get creative in the kitchen, but sometimes I just want something simple. And if you want to go really simple, there are tons of ready to drink options just like canned cocktails or beers or canned wines

Casey McGuire Davidson  35:20

in our own things truly alcohol free. I mean, I know there’s the point five, which is the same, like in bread and banana.

35:28

The summer is 0.0 and I think Gruvi is a true zero point.

Casey McGuire Davidson  35:33

It is and there are a few out there I mean zero so they’re out there so I would end if you are into 0.0 beer, I think hairless dog is the only 0.0 Beer although Heineken has one to your right hand 00 But again, point 5% ABV. I’ll admit something to you like in the first six months of trying in a beer. I actually poured quite a few down the sink because I saw the point five abv and got really scared. Yeah, I didn’t I wasn’t educated enough to know. Or rather, I hadn’t educated myself enough to know that that percentage of alcohol is the same as in many foods. And you would have to have like a case maybe of an A beer to even get any kind of quote unquote tipsy feeling. But if you’re drinking any beer to get 60 that might indicate an issue. And that’s a different that’s a different podcast a different story for a different day. Um, honestly, I love I love so much. In terms of our friends’ athletic service. TSA athletic has my favorite. I love all their pilot brews and just ordered the layered superfood blend. It’s kind of like almost like a coke. It’s coconut and pineapple and mango. It’s like sort of a sour but it’s got more like happiness and weight to it. It’s delicious. That’s what I’m looking over there like oh, what’s that? What’s that? What’s

Casey McGuire Davidson  37:05

that? I’ve heard of people have told me about Lagunitas hockey hoppy refresher like I had like,

37:12

Okay, now that is totally 0.0 That is just that’s hot water. And another hot water brand is hops, h2o, PS water, which I also recommend, but Lagunitas hoppy refreshers, essentially just like hopped seltzer water with some citric acid or lime or something. But it is its kind of like one of the best things ever. It’s so good. Lagunitas did just come out with an IP NA like or an IPA. They call it IP NA. Um, I think IPAs aren’t my favorite. I do love hops. So it’s ironic, I don’t understand why I like coughs, but I don’t really like IPAs. But if you are interested in something kind of completely out there, which is hot tea. brewing tea like craft beer, I highly recommend pop tea. It just pretty simple name to remember. And that’s completely alcohol free. I mean, yeah, not a trace. Um, sometimes it’s just the occasion. Like if sometimes the occasion calls for something fancier and there’s something fancier if I’m, and I, I don’t have like, an NA beer and a wine every night. But I have so many different beverage options here that in my apartment, that one here

Casey McGuire Davidson  38:34

like when or when women are stopping drinking, one of the things that I always recommend, and it doesn’t matter if it’s Na, or it’s ginger beer, or it’s Lacroix or it’s whatever, grapefruit sparkling grapefruit for us when we’re used to drinking, like, I don’t know about you. But for me, like more is more. I don’t want to feel deprived. And you know, I want to open my fridge and see like, oh my God, I’ve got 15 different options of things I can write, like, I feel curious and excited. And like, this is a new cool thing. So I really encourage people to try a bunch of different NA drinks because you don’t want to give up your beverage of choice and sit down or go to a party and be like, alright, so I got water. You know? Yeah, not a 16-year-old who’s grounded in last year. Pretty, right? You’re just experimenting and trying a whole new universe of cool things that are out there that don’t include alcohol.

39:36

Absolutely. And I mean, at the end of the day, what I love most about the NA beverage movement is that it’s giving us flavor. It’s giving us depth. It’s giving us the ritual and it’s taking away the negative consequences. And there are so many reasons why I’m glad I don’t drink alcohol anymore, but the biggest one is not having hangovers. I used to me used to waste days feeling wretched physically and psychologically. I mean, apologizing to people for things I did. And then learning about things I did that I didn’t remember and having to apologize for those. And just, like spending all day, like, hugging the porcelain,

God and God are right there with you, awful feelings of everything. And I don’t have to, like, I don’t have to do that anymore. I get to live differently. And I want to just show people that, you know, whatever it is that you find is your beverage of choice whether that is water, which is totally fine. seltzer water, or an assortment of NA beverages, like you can have a beautiful life without alcohol. And you don’t have to sacrifice having fun, you can do so many different things. Karaoke is given this this rap where you have to be pretty sloshed to get me to saying like, you’re not right. And so like, I’ve always been the sober karaoke girl, because I’ve been sober so long. And I love karaoke. And I’ve done it drunk a couple of times, but I’ve done it sober way more. And I did this thing earlier in the pandemic called sober okie, actually, virtual karaoke that was sort of sponsored by a different any beverage brand each time and people will get to learn a little bit from the founder, try some with a with a great promo code and, and then seeing without, you know, I mean, I didn’t tell people that they couldn’t drink alcohol on camera, but I, I asked that they that they not have it like in eyesight for people who are trying to you know, not have it, but I’m not going to like reach into the camera and tell people what you can or can’t do. But I just wanted to basically like shatter the association of karaoke and alcohol and they don’t have to go together. Yeah. And it’s just it’s interesting, too. With that sober curious mindset, like, let me go to a concert Well, again, COVID safe, like make sure you’re safe and everything but like, let me go to a concert and have something without alcohol in it and good luck finding, you know, a drink at a venue that doesn’t have alcohol and is good because that’s the next frontier. It’s getting venues on board. There are a lot of bars that have some really great zero proof options. But venues like concert venues Yeah, that’s yeah, that’s kind of the next frontier and we’re not there yet. I a long shot. And I definitely want to like advocate for that because like I love going to music shows so much. And normally, I don’t like to drink a lot of anything because I don’t want to leave my spot and go to the bathroom. But I feel like people should be able to have something besides water if they want to. And without alcohol

Casey McGuire Davidson  42:55

or like lemonade or Diet Coke, which are all good. Art, right?

42:59

And yeah, those are fine. But like, come on.

43:04

One of my so I remember going to I Love Live music too. And I went to this I live in Seattle, this like dive bar with live music. That’s amazing in Seattle and Ballard, the tractor Tavern and had gone there when I was drinking when I was 25 and 28 and 32. And my husband and I went back and they on their big you know chalkboard had NA beverages and a hell reelection right next way and I was just like, Dude, this is the coolest I love it.

43:41

When you see that in real life, like in the wild. Do you ever take photos of like, yeah,

43:46

or when you go to a restaurant and they have their like in a mixers aisle and it is changing and so I hope if someone’s listening to this the strings are cool, they are interesting you can talk to your friends who still drink alcohol about these and be like God you got to try this new well-being brewing like this is cool try the Lagunitas hoppy you know whatever it is yeah,

44:13

yeah, yeah, cuz I mean at the end of the day, like it’s not about deprivation, it’s not about like taking something away from someone even though it might feel like that in the beginning it’s really giving you more I think now is honestly the perfect time to try out the world of NA and figure out you know, like figure out a life that doesn’t it doesn’t revolve around alcohol

44:37

doesn’t drag you down. mentally emotionally, like it’s fun. The one thing I wanted to mention, and I am not a big calorie girl, but I know it’s an it’s a concern or it’s something people care about a lot. Yeah, I see on your list partake brewing, that’s another one of my favorite beers that literally are 10 calories like that way water Thank you. Most of their beers are 10 or 15. They have a blonde that’s 15 They have an IPA. That’s 10 calories like anything. I’m out but I don’t think no.

Casey McGuire Davidson  45:11

I like to partake, like athletics. My favorite part takes a second. Okay. But my husband’s beer like will sit out in the yard and Saturday afternoon. He’s got his beer. I’ve got my NA beer. He says 190 calories minus 10. And like, little your extreme because most Yeah, like most have some more calories, athletics like 50 calories for the upside down and then 70 For run wild.

45:38

Yeah, definitely under 100 For sure.

45:41

So just to say like, it can also just be a great choice for whatever your goals are. You know, that’s, that’s a really great point.

Absolutely. And one thing to be mindful of though with you know, if you’re if you’re really getting into the nonalcoholic beverage scene is that there are some drinks that are higher in calories that are higher in sugar. And just because it’s taking away the alcohol doesn’t necessarily mean that drinking a bunch of them are going to be super healthy for you. So, I say everything in moderation, except for alcohol and drugs. You know, have a couple of NA beers but don’t like to try to have a six pack or, you know, don’t have a whole bottle of, of nonalcoholic wine. Because I think I mean, even though you could write I think the whole point of these NA beverages are to drink them differently than we drank alcohol, who like actually enjoyed the taste for the first time.

Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.

46:39

I’m gonna have to try some partake. Again. I’ve had their stout, which I really liked. And no, that’s not the 10 or 15 Calorie kind of beer. One of my other favorite brands is hiring calories. So I have to, you know, treat myself when I have it. But well, being brewing tends to be higher in calories,

Casey McGuire Davidson  46:55

but it’s good. I’ve heard of it. Well, I love them

46:59

coffee cream stout, because I’m obsessed with anything that has coffee in it. And it’s like it’s a good winter beer. So I’m gonna I’m gonna enjoy some this winter. But again, like, everything’s not maybe please figure out what works for you. And maybe, you know, split a beer while you eat clear alcohol has a ton of calories in it and is really bad for your metabolism.

47:26

So, yeah. So, I mean, it’s certainly it’s certainly better to have a high calorie nonalcoholic beverage than it is to have an alcoholic beverage and you get to make your own choices.

Casey McGuire Davidson  47:36

So I have to say that I am not great at creating mocktails like I was never drink girl. I love nonalcoholic Mohit O’s, I call them Kidoz whenever I go to like a restaurant, that’s usually what I order or a bar if they don’t have an NA beer I like but talk to me about spirits and mixers and shrubs and serums cuz I know nothing.

48:03

Okay, first of all, and no offense to the word out there, but I do not like the word mocktail. I don’t use it in my personal vocabulary. I use zero proof cocktail or spirit free cocktail, or just that. I like that mocktail is really good shorthand if you’re in a pinch, because some people just don’t understand what the other things mean. But it really, to me signifies kiddie table drinks and or mock at its at its core means like, mock something to make fun of something.

Casey McGuire Davidson  48:37

And most of these, I like zero proof cocktail. I like that. Right?

Right. I’m not hating on anyone who uses mocktail, but I think in order to propel ourselves forward into something new, we’ve got to start with new language and, and try new things. But to the point about spirits and mixers. Um, so some of you listening may or may not have heard of some of the bigger brands out there like liars, like ritual zero proof. There’s free spirits or free spirits. There are some others out there, that really interesting and different than anything I’ve ever tried like guineas sta which is a Swedish brand. And it’s really meant to be more of like a habit on its own kind of thing instead of mixing it into a drink. Hella cocktail company, which leads me to sort of my next point, which is that I love bitters and soda, bitters. Bitters are high in alcohol content, but they’re intended to only you’re only intended to have a splash or two and a drink. Which adds more depth of flavor. You’re not supposed to pour the whole thing in because it’s, it’s potent. It’s just like vanilla extract, which I didn’t use in cooking for years. Honestly. Now I buy regular vanilla extract because I’m only using it and cooking and not trying to like drink bottle, But I love liars so much. It’s completely nonalcoholic. They had a ly R ly rds. It’s like the It’s named after a liar bird which is apparently, they call it the world’s of greatest amendment but it’s a bird in Australia that no joke can like literally imitate any sound they hear, including like, jackhammers and cell phone rings and anything like that. So, this brand is Australian, and they make, you know, the world’s greatest quote unquote, mimics of alcoholic spirits. But I mean, they’ve got a range from like aperitifs and rums to absence. I mean, they have a coffee’s kind of like a Kullu alternative. I mean, I love liars. And I sometimes I’m really basic and just put in 0.0 and it’s got this coffee Kullu alternative, so do you just put it with milk and like that’s your you?

51:03

You could but I actually make coffee sodas. I just like I’m, I’m very basic when it comes to making drinks and I just sometimes put a spirit in with seltzer water, maybe put like a splash of lime if it’s if it’s called for or some sort of herb, but I don’t, I don’t get too complicated. And I love I love shrubs, and, and other types of syrup because they can just jazz up some seltzer water. What I’m drinking right now actually is I have a bitters and soda, which is completely this one was completely calorie free. So when I first had it, I was like, yikes, that’s so bitter. It’s the bitter housewife.

Casey McGuire Davidson  51:49

It literally called the bitter housewife.

51:51

Yeah. Yeah. So I added a bit of a syrup from a Washington DC brand called Pratt standard, which is, like a, it’s, they call it like a true tonic or some sort of tonic syrup. So it’s got that like, it does have some bitterness, but it’s mostly got some sweetness to it. Because I needed to cut the straight up like 100% bitter experience. Yeah, the thing I love about bitters so much is that it’s really good for digestion.

And so is ginger. So, I mean, I love I love anything with ginger. Honestly, like, I don’t even know, there’s just so many out there. And what I recommend people do is like if they had a favorite drink, when they were drinking, that they want to try the nonalcoholic version of and are fairly confident that they won’t feel triggered by it that to try the nonalcoholic version of that spirit. And, you know, I have multiple brands that I’m just you know, it’s not Yeah, everything listed that I have isn’t necessarily an endorsement. But there are some brands out there that I won’t include on any of my categories, because of some reasons. But most of them out there I’ve either tried or have heard things about or you know, are just like reputable, but that either trial.

Casey McGuire Davidson  53:10

So, what’s interesting is I’m looking at your website. And again, it’s zero proof nation.com. And then the NA BEVs page. And first spirits the bottles are beautiful, right? Yeah, right unit seed lip and ritual zero proof and liars. And I think that again, and I was talking to Bill from athletic Brewing Company, it’s like a drink that tastes good. And also looks good, right? You’re not at the kiddie table, it can be beautiful and sophisticated and interesting, and a ritual, just without the alcohol, which is so much healthier for you. And you can still have all the things that you’d love about having a happy hour without the negatives and it really does take away that feeling of deprivation. So, you know, if you aren’t triggered by this, go have fun. And you can just make sure just make sure because I’ve had clients say they went, and they bought all this NA stuff and then they realize that one of them was alcoholic. So they got rid of it in like three days. Yeah, I mean, like do check, right that matter due diligence,

54:17

but um, they’re like at Total Wine, for instance, if you’re not triggered by going to the wine store, there’s a full nonalcoholic aisle out there. But if you would rather order from home because it feels safer that way for you know, COVID reasons and for not being triggered reasons. There are so many brands out there that are doing cool things that are you know, like, just find something that works for you. And for me, I

54:46

actually don’t go into total wine. I don’t know why I’m sure I’m almost six years, but I just don’t. But I ordered everything at 10 years. Most sites have free shipping, so I just have it delivered

55:00

Yeah, many of them, many of them do. Um, athletic is great because it’s always free. Yeah, I think I mean, I’ve never paid for shipping, or to six packs.

55:11

Yeah, like who’s?

Casey McGuire Davidson  55:13

Yeah, I know what I always like, tell my Oh, he’s ordered. I always tell my husband, unlike Oh, I’ve saved I have my little. I’m done drinking app, and it tells you your days. But it also tells you all the bottles not consumed and all the money you’ve saved. And my every time I talk about it, my husband’s like, yeah, I’ve saved all that money. And I was like, I have saved that money on poisoning myself.

55:37

Yes, yeah. So now you get to treat yourself, right? No, I totally get it. Um, you know, it’s like, where we are with the hospitality industry now and, and just the wellness world. And I would say post pandemic, but we’re kind of still in it, which is allowing for these more honest conversations between people. It just reminded me like, of a wedding that I was invited to a few years ago, I asked if there would be some sort of nonalcoholic cocktail or beverage because they had it was in Kentucky and Louisville. So there was, you know, the bourbon mule and all of that. And, um, and I told the bartender specifically, I was like, I want the nonalcoholic version, I’m in recovery. And it says, I don’t say that all the time. But sometimes I just need to make sure that it’s clear to someone. And I

Casey McGuire Davidson  56:28

usually say I don’t drink alcohol. So you just be like, hey, I want this nonalcoholic. I don’t drink alcohol in my language.

56:36

Yeah, my language has changed since then. But for, but the point was that I told her to not put alcohol on it. And she didn’t hear me or whatever. It made them made me the regular mule. And at that point, I think is like nine or 10 years sober. So in the beginning of my sobriety, I would have people try drinks for me to make sure that they didn’t have alcohol, like I was very untrusting of bartenders, because I thought that they would never hear me say like, please don’t put any alcohol in it. Didn’t want to be triggered by anything. But at nine or 10 years, I was like, she heard me It’s fine. I took a big gulp of it. Yeah. And I felt the burn down my throat. It was 100%. The regular mule. I got really scared for a second. Yeah. Like, did I just fuck up my whole sobriety? Because I had like a pretty massive set. Like, do I really start my day count or whatever. And then I realized I was in a panic for about 20 minutes, because it was very triggering, actually, like, I wasn’t about to finish the whole thing. I gave it to someone else. But I was like, fuck, man, I just do it wasn’t my fault. Well,

Casey McGuire Davidson  57:42

can I tell her about being alcohol free, right, the phrase quit drinking is important part of your identity and right and I cheated somehow. But I didn’t mean to. And even though like, Whatever I’ll say about the 12-step program is whatever. But like, my old sponsor used to say it’s all about intention. And if you accidentally have some alcohol, there’s some situations where it might happen, but you didn’t mean to, you know, don’t worry about it and let it go. Just let it roll off let it let it slide off. And if I remembered that which was actually very helpful and realize that you know, it was totally fine I was fine I didn’t have to restart anything whatever. But it just goes to show you that how important it is to have clear cut options for people and for on the other end of the spectrum like to have the people working in hospitality more educated Yeah, about nonalcoholic because there might be people who abstained for medical reasons and it could be very, very dangerous for them to try or to have any alcohol for whatever reason. So I think we’re in an exciting time there’s more conversation around this there’s you know, from the personal level of people trying out sobriety seeing if it works for them or trying out nonalcoholic beverages and seeing if they even want to go, “have disease”, you know, switch off between alcohol and nonalcoholic or whatever, may work for them. And, and growing into a larger movement of hospitality catching on and having options for people that aren’t in tiny print on the back, like by the kitty section. Yeah. We still have a long way to go, but we like we’re much closer. Yeah, it’s really exciting to be completely alcohol free, because you know, you’re not gonna hear or

Casey McGuire Davidson  59:35

unity around it. They’re really just really cool people. Like, I’m always like, X drinkers are the coolest people I know. Because they’re super fun. And you know, they like to party and have fun and do other stuff. But they’ve also done a lot of really good self-awareness and stuff. You shouldn’t work like they’re, yeah, they, you know, they’ve gone deep and they’re honest and full verbal and cool and fun. Like they’re my favorite.

1:00:02

Yeah. Oh, yay. Well, um, I tend to agree that like there’s usually a reason like a, and not just like a flippant reason why someone would consider drinking less or not drinking at all. And I have found that being completely alcohol free makes me more the life of the party then. And I thought I was I mean, I thought I was a big deal. Like all that and megaships but yeah, I was a mess. It was such a mess. So I’m waiting around.

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:00:33

You’re, you’re nervous. You’re not sure what people would think you’re not sure you want to say it out loud. Because you’re not Oh, like what? Yeah, my mind.

1:00:41

I didn’t like it. But when I was drinking, I was, oh, I’m way more fun now.

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:00:46

Yeah, but as you’ve gone, like, I’m not embarrassed at all, like, I go out, you know, go out in New York with friends for my old when I worked in corporate and they’d be like, Oh, what do you want to drink? And I’m like, Oh, actually, I quit drinking alcohol. So I’m gonna have this and they’re like, really? Oh, yeah. Well, yeah, quit. Like, I’m just like, fully. Shame around it.

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:01:06

Yeah, I’m like, I have interesting conversations with people. And I only tell them what I feel like, like, oh, yeah, like I did quit. And I feel so much better. Or it’s really cool or whatever.

1:01:20

Yeah, you can, you can tell as much or as little as you want. Totally. And I agree, Casey, my, um, my confidence around it has grown. I don’t, I don’t have to save things like in recovery anymore. If I don’t want to, I can just be like, I don’t drink. But I like to say like, booze free, babe. It’s just fun. But yeah, I think it’s just, it’s, it’s much less embarrassing or stigmatizing to not be a drinker. And I think we’ve like, this is a really exciting time. I mean, I could talk about it all day, but sometimes I do get tired.

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:01:57

Well, the one thing I would say is like, what’s cool is so I’m in Seattle, Washington, we’ve got a really cool active, she recovers sort of Group here in Seattle. And someone posted on our Facebook group recently, like, hey, sandbar, and I know you know, Chris.

1:02:14

Yeah, for sure. In dry sodas from Seattle, as you know that. Yeah.

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:02:20

So like, a couple years ago, they had sort of a pop-up sandbar alcohol free cocktail night that I went to with a bunch of friends. And someone posted just three days ago that they’re coming on January 15. And I swear to God, like 30 of us are like, Oh, I can’t wait to go. Let’s hang out. That’ll be awesome. We’re like they’re gonna need to find a bigger venue for this. Yeah.

1:02:42

Yeah, I’m so I’m so excited for you. I love I partnered with press on the DC, sandbar dc, we did that we popped up three times between 2019 and one and 2020 2018 2019 and then January of 2020. And the first one, like we had a pretty good turnout, but people were kind of unsure of like, what is this? Like? What is this? And now people I mean, in the span of like, two, two and a half years, we’ve seen such a major shift in the way people are talking about socializing. And people are talking about drinking and mean you can look on any article these days. Like there’s just so much about the nonalcoholic beverage scene and about what it means for socialization and hospitality authentic connection. And now it’s like booze free bar. Maybe some people might think, okay, that’s a little weird, but many people are like, that’s amazing. And I will say that even though I love the booze free bar concept, and I absolutely go to them whenever I can. I think the real sort of future of hospitality is the hybrid mix of, you know, serving alcohol, but also serving a robust mix of nonalcoholic beverages so that no matter who you are, you can you can socialize and have a good time. And I think the places the venues that really adopt, like a true sort of equal stance on alcohol and non-alcohol aren’t necessarily going to attract people who just want to get sloshed. You’re going to attract more mindful drinkers whether or not they drink alcohol or not, they’re just going to be more mindful of their consumption. Yeah, and I think that’s probably where things are going to be heading but I absolutely 100% will go to any booze free bar that is offered to me.

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:04:32

Yeah, cuz it’s fun and you know, you know, you don’t have to worry about it, you know, like minded people and I want to support them. I always want to support them. But this has been awesome. So I want to get all the information from you for the show notes in case anyone wants more information on all of Laura’s recommendations, I of course will link to zero proof nation comm or you can go there and just check out thing, but I’m hoping that this episode has given you some new inspiration, some new ideas, some new curiosity around drinks that you can enjoy with friends and with parties and over the holidays, without feeling in any way deprived or less than like, this can be cool. Go enjoy it.

1:05:20

Yeah. 100% 100% And if anyone has any questions or wants to connect, and just make a new friend, or again, learn some recommendations, I’m happy to happy to connect with you. So send me a message. Are you on the socials? Or what’s the socials?

1:05:38

Well, I mean, you’re gonna put it all in the show notes anyway, right but um, you can you can find me in the in a few different places, Instagram is really the best place to start. So zero proof nation if you’re looking for those nonalcoholic beverages and then people in the industry that are doing cool things at zero profanation if you’re in the DC area, or ever traveling to DC, and that includes Maryland, and Virginia, at booze free in DC, you can find me there. And then there, you know, the whole Lincoln bio situation to all of the relevant things. And then my personal one where I get like really deep with mental health stuff and vulnerability that’s at, we are sober. That was the original. And yeah, just find me on the gram, I’ll be there.

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:06:24

But I love it. And I mentioned that my mom lives right outside DC and I, for many years. So when I go back there, I absolutely want to get together.

1:06:35

And if I ever come out to Seattle, I mean it is on the bucket list of places to go in the States. I would love to. I would love to bid. We have a great group here.

1:06:43

So we should definitely other so cool. Yay.

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:06:47

Thank you so much for coming on.

1:06:50

Yes, thank you for having me, Casey. And thank you everyone else.

Casey McGuire Davidson  1:06:55

Hi there. If you’re listening to this podcast, I’m betting you’ve been going back and forth for a while now on whether or not you should stop drinking. And I want you to raise your hand. If you’ve had any one of these thoughts. You might have been thinking, I’m not that bad. I actually don’t want to stop drinking completely. I just want to drink like a normal person. Or maybe you come home after work. And you think I know I shouldn’t drink tonight. But I literally can’t relax or have fun without it. It’s really common to say I’ve tried to take a break from drinking before. But it’s just too hard. I always give up anyway. So what’s the point in trying again? Or here’s one I hear all the time from women. Everyone I know drinks. If I stopped drinking, I will be bored. Or I’ll be boring, I’ll have no fun. I’ll never be invited anywhere. I’ll just sit home and be miserable. Or maybe you can insert whatever your reason is there. So is your hand up. If it is that is totally okay. And that’s because taking a break from drinking and changing your relationship with alcohol. This shit is hard. And that’s why I’m really pumped to invite you to my completely free 60-minute master class, The 5 Secrets To Successfully Take A Break From Drinking. Even if you’ve tried and you failed in the past. After you take this free class, you’ll realize why what you’ve been doing up until now hasn’t been working, and what to do. Instead, we’re going to cover all the juicy topics, including what questions you need to stop asking yourself, because they’re setting you up for self-sabotage, not for success. We’re going to talk about exactly what you need to do differently. So you can stop the exhausting cycle of stopping drinking and then saying screw it and starting again. And we’re going to talk about the real reasons. You haven’t been successful. And I’m betting they’re not what you think they are. And this isn’t surface level stuff. I am handing over the strategies and the mindset shifts. I go through every day with my private coaching clients. If you’re listening to this podcast, I really encourage you to take a moment and sign up for this completely free masterclass. It will help you on your journey to drink less and live more to feeling better. So if you want to save your spot, go to hellosomedaycoaching.com/class while the class is still available, and I really hope to see you there.

So thank you for coming on here. I couldn’t appreciate it more. 

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Hello Someday Podcast. If you’re interested in learning more about me or the work I do or accessing free resources and guides to help you build a life you love without alcohol, please visit hellosomedaycoaching.com. And I would be so grateful if you would take a few minutes to rate and review this podcast so that more women can find it and join the conversation about drinking less and living more.