Even if you decided not to participate in Dryuary it doesn’t hurt to switch things up a bit and play around with some non-alcoholic drinks. Besides, it’s National Mocktail Week so there’s really no better time to get creative and see what’s out there that you might be missing. Between healthy kombuchas and savory sodas, there are plenty of options to choose from.
CommuniTea
Besides being good for you, Seattle’s CommuniTea is good for the environment, making efforts to leave the smallest carbon footprint they can. They compost all their tea, only distribute locally, all their containers are reusable and they use organic, biodynamic tea grown on a sustainable tea estate. Although they only offer one flavor at this point they do sell kits so you can make your own kombucha, with a little help of course.
Wonder Drink
Kombucha has become synonymous with most other health drinks. Its benefits include the ability to kill bacteria and having lots of antioxidants. Wonder Drink, which was founded by the same man who co-founded Stash Tea and Tazo Tea in Portland, first tasted kombucha in Russia and returned to the states to start the company in 1999, long before the drink hit the mainstream. The company also makes the first and only prebiotic — a special form of fiber that acts like a fertilizer for good bacteria — kombucha to boot.
Small Barrel Shrub
The founders of Portland-based Small Barrel Shrub sought a drink that wasn’t filled with sugars and chemicals, had complexity the beer, wine and spirits, but was non-alcoholic. The drink itself is a mixture of fruit-infused balsamic drinking vinegars with coconut water, free of any added sugars. Try their Cascadia Raspberry or Cara Cara Orange and Vanilla for an extra tasty punch, all based on the 17th century technique of drinking vinegars.
52° North
This healthy drink made in British Columbia is probably something you never considered drinking before. 52° North takes birch tree sap and converts it into a drink filled with natural antioxidants and electrolytes. If you’re not totally convinced, NHL players and other professional athletes use it for hydration according to their site. One might think of it as a sort of coconut water that’s native to North America and is sustainable. Besides their original, no-frills natural birch sap flavor they also have ones with raspberry, cranberry and black currant.
Phillips Soda Works
Choose between a lineup of tonics and sodas that are not only all-natural and made in British Columbia, but tasty. Using the idea that the commitment and practice of craft brewing could be extended to sodas, founder of Phillips Brewing and Malting Co. started the soda business in 2012. Their four sodas are classic offerings: Ginger Ale, Orange Cream, Cola and a Rootbeer perfect for kicking back with. Their two tonics, on the other hand, are an empty canvas that could be endlessly played with. Get refreshed with their Cucumber Mint or stick with their Artisanal Dry.
