Deep Dive into Dry January

Each year millions of us participate in charity campaigns, or make personal resolutions to nip booze in the bud for one whole month. New research by Alcohol Change UK, the charity behind Dry January®, shows that almost 9 million people in the UK have pledged to have a month off drinking in this January 2023.

Refraining from alcoholic beverages has been proven to help many of us to reassess our relationships with alcohol, and there are obvious health benefits to cutting back the booze for a bit. So it’s no wonder that more of us are coming together to form a community of support and exploration.

Many folks are siting an ‘overindulgence’ at Christmas as their primary reason behind hopping on (or is it off?) the bandwagon, but it begs the question; when you’re giving up alcoholic drinks, what else is there?

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Return of the Mocktail

Although we are all still wanting to socialise in January, our culture is increasingly becoming a landscape where people want to drink less. The days of being asked to make a selection from the unholy trinity of ‘lemonade, cola or tap water, mate?’ are thankfully a thing of the past. Thus, the non-alcoholic cocktail (the bevvie formerly known as the ‘mocktail’) has regained it’s crown as the go-to drink.

No more artificial tasting, fancy-pants, overly sweetened, corrupted copies of classic cocktails – no. Square Root’s Negroni, served in a cut crystal glass with loads of ice, is the grown-up cocktail of choice for a night out during Dry January.

Drinks That Pop

Non alcoholic cocktails are now officially in their heyday, preserving their fun and happy-go-lucky nature by showcasing innovative and cosmopolitan variations that are so delicious that the sipper forgets they are sipping an alcohol free apéritif.

Companies like Seedlip are paving the way for premium distilled spirits that contain no alcohol, and have been swiftly followed by more mainstream brands partaking in this virgin version of classic gin and vodka style liquor. These are frisky, lively drinks, perfectly suited for drinking in a buzzing pub, which serves to highlight, without a doubt, that the drinking AF doesn’t have to be a compromise.

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Craft beer has come on leaps and bounds over recent years, and there are a great many quaffable non-alcoholic versions springing up at good pubs up and down the country.

We love BeaverTown Lazer Crush, which is predictably delicious and Lucky Saint (it’s name a wry nod to the virtuousness of drinking alcohol free) is Trust Pilots #1 rated non-alcoholic beer. It’s a very popular beer here at the Bull, and many folks can be seen drinking this on a night at the pub throughout the year – not just for Dry January.

Happily, alcohol free drinks no longer play second fiddle to hard liquor, and our AF offering is now in line with the quality of both the food & the atmosphere in our beautiful pub. Sophisticated, grown up, and stylish.

So, there we have it. Dry January can be a great way to dip your toe into the vast pool of alcohol-free drinks that are now widely available. Fashionable, interesting, and high quality options that are so alluring that – who knows – you may even be tempted to dive into longer period of sobriety?

Deep Dive into Dry January

Return of the Mocktail

Drinks That Pop

Crafty Lookalikes

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