Why this non-alcoholic drinks founder is quitting Dry January

As the founder and CEO of a non-alcoholic drinks business, I won’t participate in Dry January next year. And here is why.

I am done with punishing myself for overindulging in December. I want to drink and be merry with friends and family during the festive season. Does that make me a bad person? No. Does Dry January and having to go cold turkey off booze in a way to “reset my life” work in the short term? Maybe. Long term? Probably not.

So what am I doing instead? I am making the choice throughout the year to not feel pressured into drinking at events that I don’t have to and enjoying the options that are now available. I am making life changes, not date changes.

I had to laugh when I began writing this piece and I read an extremely on-point article from Australia’s satire newspaper The Betoota Advocate. The headline reads, “Report: Is Every F*cking Month A No Drinking Challenge These Days”, and the gist of the article was exactly the way I was feeling.

Now, before I hear you say, “but Dave, Naked Life Spirits is a major sponsor of Febfast! The kettle and the pot are looking a bit black there…”, let me explain. I am all for raising money for the greater good. If you are abstaining (or training with the launch of Febfit) throughout the month of February to support and raise money for Youth Support + Advocacy Service (YSAS), that’s fantastic. You’re doing Dry July to raise money for cancer research? Let me know and we will send you some Naked Life to enjoy while you raise money.

What I’m not willing to tolerate anymore is the guilt and shame we put ourselves through when we’ve overindulged and that going cold turkey is somehow a cure to our ‘misbehaving’ or relationship with alcohol. Insert the Monty Python self-flagellating monks scene.

What am I saying? In an age where we’ve coined flexitarianism, embrace your level of dry-ish. Try part-sober. A touch of alcohol-free’ish. No longer is non-drinking the alternative to drinking.

Gone are the days when San Pellegrino sparkling water or fancy glass of ice and coke were the only non-alc options on a waiter’s tray. The war on lemon, lime and bitters has been won, and the range of great-tasting non-alcoholic beers, wines and cocktails is simply mind-blowing. Now with the likes of Sobar, Heaps Normal, and SansDrinks just to name a few, the company we are keeping in the non-alcoholic category is incredible, and the industry is booming.

But that doesn’t mean we’re here to be the fun police, nor am I jumping aboard the HMS sobriety. In fact, I probably ‘drink’ more often and enjoy myself even more these days but ‘drinking’, whether non-alcoholic or an alcoholic beverage, is now a universal term.

I’m finding myself swapping in non-alc beers in between regular beers at the pub, or at home, starting with some non-alc negronis before sitting down to share a glass of red with dinner. A night off, school night sobriety or a chilled weekend dry’ish at my friend’s barbecue. Most importantly, all done without sacrificing taste or face. And of course, the occasional ‘bigger’ night when it feels right.

Things won’t always go to plan and that martini Monday won’t be your brightest hour. However, don’t tell yourself getting on a non-charity-motivated month of sobriety will mean it will disappear! It’s wonderful to be part of an age where the zeitgeist of Australian drinking culture is changing, something it has needed to do for a long time. But I’m telling you (as a man who owns a non-alcohol drink business) to enjoy your drinking but find your dry-ish.

I wish all the best to those that find their best relationship with alcohol is sobriety. Everyone needs to know their best self and drink responsibly.