Mindful Drinking by Club Soda
29 Apr 19 |
Jo Lambert Smith, Communications Manager, Club Soda
Note from the Editor: There is strong evidence that consumption of alcoholic drinks is a cause of cancers of the breast, mouth, pharynx and larynx, oesophagus (squamous cell carcinoma), liver, colorectum, and stomach.
Many people know about this risk but still find it difficult to cut down or cut out alcohol but there are some great organisations that can really help in #tippingthebalance. Some of you may have met Club Soda at the SCPN conference but if not here are some details…
Club Soda is a mindful drinking movement. We want to create a world where nobody has to feel out of place if they are not drinking alcohol, and help people change their drinking habits (whether the goal is to cut down, stop for a bit or quit). We also run the mindful drinking festivals and pub crawls, and have just launched the first UK wide online guide for mindful drinkers.
The growing trend for low and no alcohol drinks is cross generational – millennials and generation Z are drinking less, partly due to healthier lifestyle choices, while those of us who are older are cutting back to improve health.
So what is everyone drinking instead? Alcohol-free is now big business with lots of innovative and great tasting drinks on offer. Big Drop Brewing has been winning awards against full strength beers in blind tasting and Adnams (Ghost Ship) and Heineken have produced alcohol-free versions of their top selling products rather than creating a different brand.
Alcohol-free spirits is one of the fastest growing segments of the entire drinks industry. Ceder’s is one of my favourites, and available in all the big supermarkets. Also look out for Caleno, a non-alcoholic spirit, inspired by Colombia, which launched earlier this year.
Finally, there’s some amazing sodas around to get your taste buds working. Square Root Soda has great seasonal drinks and shandies that can be found in many craft beer venues across Scotland and Summer House Drinks – a wonderful Scottish brand – has flavours like lavender lemonade and St Clements.