This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
With or without alcohol? This question, we would never have asked it five years ago. However, it has become natural for many Quebecers, whose flexitarianism wins the glasses as much as the plates. Like sober January (Dry January) will give way in February to the 28 Days Without Alcohol Challenge, we went to meet three players in the “alcohol-free” and “with alcohol” sectors to find out more about a trend that is increasingly associated with a way of life.
Gone are the days when Saturday night fever was necessarily accompanied by many drinks of alcohol and condemned sober people to stay behind, a glass of juice or a Shirley Temple. Born eight years ago in Great Britain, the wave of non-alcohol has swept over Quebec since 2020 and is constantly gaining followers.
In addition to the traditional non-drinkers – ex-alcoholics, pregnant women, designated drivers – a growing number of people are deciding to reduce their consumption, either by taking breaks from alcohol for a month or a week, or by alternating alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic on the same evening. Some have even taken the step to complete sobriety by choice. This is the case, for example, of Marilou Lapointe, who stopped consuming alcohol four years ago. As she regularly repeats: “Life doesn’t stop when you stop drinking! We also have the right to have fun and access to good products. ” Suiting the action to the word, she therefore founded Apéro à Zero, an online store and in format pop up entirely devoted to non-alcoholic products.
For his part, the mixologist Max Coubès, well known in the world of Montreal bars and the media, had an awareness during the pandemic confinement. “I used to go out two or three times a week. And there, I realized that, even if everything was closed, I continued to consume alcohol alone at home in front of my children. It was unhealthy, so I decided to quit drinking to keep myself under control. And that hasn’t harmed me at all with my distiller clients, on the contrary! »
An inclusive experience
We no longer choose non-alcoholic by default. “70 to 80% of non-alcoholic beverage consumers also drink alcohol,” confirms Max Coubès, who witnessed the emergence and then the explosion of this trend in Quebec.
This is also the case for Nicolas Duvernois, pioneer of spirits in Quebec, whose Pur Vodka was launched in 2010. “If someone had told me that one day I would acquire an alcohol-free microbrewery [Le BockAle] and that I would launch into non-alcoholic ready-to-drink, I would not have believed it! he joked. However, the dragon entrepreneur now has about fifteen non-alcoholic beers in its catalog and is preparing to launch non-alcoholic versions of three Romeo’s Gins. Why did he make this turn? “Because I want to offer people an experience, such a pleasant moment with or without alcohol. This way of seeing things is more inclusive and corresponds to all lifestyles. »
An approach familiar to Marilou Lapointe, whose clients range from people who cannot drink to companies that offer gift boxes of soft drinks to their employees. Its cocktail kits, its microbrewery discovery boxes and, of course, the non-alcoholic ready-to-drink it offers are also very popular. “People are curious, and they’re as festive with these products as they are with those that contain alcohol,” she says.
The limits of alcohol-free
Gin, vodka, rum, tequila, amaretto, bourbon, ready-to-drink cocktails, beers, wines… There seem to be no limits to alcohol-free. Apéro à Zero has 150 products in its online store, and there are more on the market. We can therefore wonder if non-alcohol is not in the process of dethroning alcohol.
“No, I don’t think so,” replies Max Coubès. Non-alcoholic spirits, even when done well, never taste the same as their alcoholic version. They are also not intended to be consumed as such, but must be mixed with other ingredients. What does Marilou Lapointe think? “Many of these products are still very sweet, but their quality is constantly improving,” she concludes.
As for professionals in restaurants and bars, they do not adhere to the alcohol-free fever. “But this is the first time, indicates Max Coubès, that a trend has been driven by consumers and not by professionals. They must therefore be convinced to offer interesting cocktails that will include, in whole or in part, non-alcoholic spirits. »