Holiday Flexi-Drinking

Flexi-Drinking: Drinking with Intention

Bars offer variety in beverage selection to allow for more mindful alcohol consumption.

Cocktails, made with spirits, a mixer and generally topped with a garnish, have been the bedrock of American bar service revenue since the early 1800’s. They became very fashionable in the 1950’s, when the concept of ‘cocktail hour,’ during which people were encouraged to have drinks before dinner, gained popularity. Cocktail hour gave way to the very popular and profitable ‘happy hour’ of the 1980’s and 90’s, during which, for a limited time each afternoon or evening, bars and restaurants offered reduced-priced drinks to patrons after work.

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), happy hours increased the number of drinks consumed by each patron by more than two times, often leading to negative outcomes. Although happy hour was sometimes great for business, the excess drinking associated with these daily events may be what started the ’sober curious’ trend that began to gain momentum around 2010. The trend was given a name in 2018, when British author Ruby Warrington coined the term in her book Sober Curious. This book encouraged bar patrons to question their relationship with alcohol, not focusing on substance abuse issues but more focused towards increased health and wellness. The book gave drinkers permission to choose to drink less or to abstain altogether, replacing autopilot drinking with conscious choice.

Consumers demand higher quality in their lower ABV

In response to the sober curious trend, bars started offering a larger variety of non-alcoholic craft sodas and flavored sparkling water. Unfortunately, these were a hard sell because of the lack of perceived value. When bar patrons were asked to pay the same price for alcohol-free drink options as they would for traditional cocktails, they pushed back. Although many liked the idea of a spirit-free option, paying the same price for ‘just the mixers’ as they would a cocktail with alcohol did not meet with immediate support.

To fully embrace the sober curious movement and keep revenue up, bars challenged their staff to offer a more sophisticated drinking experience for non-alcohol drinkers, giving birth to what became the current “mocktail.”

Because they are expensive and time-consuming for bars to produce, mocktails are curated to match the complexity, presentation and drinking experience of a traditional cocktail, minus the alcohol, with the hopes of making their price more acceptable. Mocktails now rely more heavily on ingredients like infused shrubs, fresh squeezed juices, herbs and flavored syrups to produce an inclusive drinking experience. While this approach elevated the quality of mocktails and created a base clientele of spirit-free drinkers, it wasn’t until the next beverage trend took off that these two worlds successfully combined. That trend is flexible drinking or “flexi-drinking.”

Getting flexible with alcohol consumption

Flexi-drinking is being intentional or mindful of when, why and how you drink alcohol, with an emphasis on moderation and a healthy balance. Rather than fully abstaining (mocktails) or drinking spirits (cocktails), flexi-drinkers base their alcohol consumption on their goals, mood, health considerations and social settings. This trend aligns with the broader sober-curious movement, giving bar patrons the freedom to drink or not without feeling judged, pressured or isolated. What this does for the bar industry is increase its appeal to a broader audience, making inclusivity the focus instead of the alcohol. This can be done in many ways, all with an eye on the bottom line of increasing sales.

The taste, quality and packaging of available 0.0% spirits and cocktail mixers has greatly improved. Bars can now offer premium zero-proof cocktails, beers—and even “Champagne”—sourced from recognizable brands like BARE, Guinness and Taittinger. Because the price tag of these brands is more in line with the cost of their alcoholic counterparts, mocktails made with these products can cost as much as a traditional cocktail. However, because patrons recognize the upgrade in quality, they are more likely to pay a cocktail price.

Another way bars have kept their revenue up in the face of the sober-curious is by becoming more creative with their offerings and experiences. Lower-alcohol drink options, flexible pairings, course tastings and flights have all become profitable ways to support moderate drinking. Classic cocktails, like an Aperol Spritz or the vermouth-based Negroni Sbagliato, have gained popularity in part due to their low ABV and strong marketing campaigns.

Flexible drink pairing is a thoughtful way to offer both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on the same menu, listing them by drink type instead of by alcohol. Flexible menus rotate between cocktails, mocktails and alcohol-free beer and wine on a preset menu. For example, a traditional six-course wine pairing dinner, which would have originally offered wine only with every course, now mixes in alcohol-free wines and even infused waters and pairs them with some of the courses as way to slow down alcohol consumption.

Half pours or flights, which were originally marketed to give guests the opportunity to taste several different types of beer, wine or spirits, have also undergone a change to include mocktails, allowing guests try a variety of drinks, but all in smaller servings. These creative approaches are done with the goal of preventing over-consumption, providing inclusiveness and creating an enjoyable drinking experience for all guests.

Whether by happenstance or design, the sober curious movement and flexi-drinking have created a new type of beverage experience, one where bars are able to offer cocktails and mocktails on the same menu and to offer low-ABV and spirit-free options at tasting events. Bars can now promote inclusivity, allowing patrons the choice to indulge in a night of drinking without overindulging.

article written for Restaurant Informer by Jennifer Hill Booker