MIKE BENNIE’S BEST NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
A warm, piquant drink from a gin-like range, which works a treat with soda water in long glasses. It uses cassia bark, ginger and native wattleseed as seasoning.
With strong orange and citrus characters, this thirst-quenching drink works a treat with drier tonic waters, served with a wedge of lemon or, indeed, orange. drinking behaviour in Australia.
In 2018, La Trobe University revealed that 30 per cent of Australians “recently reduced the quantity of their alcohol consumption and a further 29 per cent reduced the frequency of their drinking, while
6 per cent kicked the habit for good”.
Young adults aged between 24 and 29 are heralded as “generational leaders in reducing alcohol intake”. They’re more likely to attribute a reduction in drinking to matters of lifestyle or say they simply don’t feel that alcohol enhances their social experience. Older drinkers — a bracket I fall into — are driven by the thought of immediate or future issues with physical and mental health.
As much as something is a part of your life, genuinely an enjoyment
This cola is as adult and complex as soft drinks get, featuring a blend of wattleseed and kola nut with cassia bark, nutmeg, anise, coriander seed, lavender, citrus zests and vanilla bean.
A great switch for and not (in your mind) a dependency, at times it serves you well to be able to let go for a while.
In the past, going without drink meant a gaping hole in social experiences — bars, pubs and restaurants weren’t equipped for catering to the teetotaller.
The picture is different now, with a raft of zero-alcohol options on offer.
Sophisticated mocktails that stand up against their liquored equivalents are now a given in most bars of note.
I’ve been most impressed, surprised even, by the enthusiasm of bartenders to work within zero-alcohol confines; perhaps for some it’s a welcome challenge to their creativity.
Elsewhere within the drinks space, we’re seeing zero-alcohol wine. As a country with such a strong wine textural whites and orange wines, with overt cinnamon spice, the tang of orange juice and a lush texture. Try it as a party starter.
Lemon aspen, native to Far North Queensland, is the key ingredient in this zesty, crisp beer. It does a brilliant job of twisting classic pilsner beer characters. industry, we’re perhaps a little further down the track on our zero- and lowalcohol journey. Winemakers I know applaud the leaps in teetotal options, though they’re less convinced by the quality of zero wines.
Brewers large and small have also been getting in on the act, and it’s only set to grow.
I’m told I am ‘sober curious’, the tag given to a growing band of (mainly) Millennials who try abstaining from drink altogether — curious about sober life — or drink mindfully and by virtue moderately. While I think I’ll fall into mindful and moderate, I don’t feel the need for labels; for now I’m relishing the opportunity to take a booze break and to explore another vibrant and emerging segment of the drinks market.
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Astound
Restating (position) Pilot’s emergency escape (7,4)
Chief US river
Nerve specialist Moved
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Tiny blue flower (6-2-3)
Not sleeping Under attack from all sides
Scarcer
In flames
Stingy Digitally-encoded discs (1,2)
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