01/10/2025
This went to the store email list January 2024. Decided to make it public for January 2025.
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Let's talk about Dry January. Like really talk about it.
Some customers are elated to come in here and find the commitment we have made to our n/a selections. Other customers have scoffed, "Bah! I am so over this dry January bu****it!"
I hear all of it. I validate all of it.
Is this a fad? A fashionable trend? Or is it a coming to grips with alcohol? It is all of that.
Much like in spiritual circles when folks make Lent a social media post about what they are giving up, you never know what someone's true intentions are, but is it really any of your business? I mean, I get questioning something just for its trendiness and I do think we need to question anything and everything in the drinks industry.
You are being marketed to with or without alcohol. For ages, marketing companies have studied and figured out how to get in your heads and hearts so you will buy their brands whether Coca Cola or Casamigos. If you have done an internet search on any n/a options, you know that all of a sudden your social media feed and ads are packed with brands weaving tales.
The spirit-free category is full of bu****it just like any other products. Here's a great example of using your good judgment and staying aware of marketing hype. I asked for samples of a spirit-free brand. I got a flashy box very well branded with a big message "take a moment to reset and renew." Inside the box was a long message that any of us can relate to using phrases like:
When was the last time you took a break? A real break--no phone, no to-do list, no noise. Just you and a deeeep breath.
Who wants to say no to that, right? It goes on to invite you to take that break "together" to calm stress and feel more present and uses the word "ritual." All well and good. Then this cutesy little note stuck inside the box pushed my bu****it meter to red alert. Using phrases like small, female founded business of course will appeal to me. Smart. Then this is what made me c**k my head and smirk. I was instructed to put the brand in the fridge and "let the adaptogens do all the hard work."
Nah. None of this s**t does the hard work, y'all. Let's keep it 100% fu***ng real. NOT ONE OF THESE BRANDS IS GONNA SOLVE YOUR FU***NG PROBLEMS.
The brands are all using the words they know are gonna hit us. We are all stressed to the max. We are stretched so thin it feels like our head will explode. This brand claims we will notice a difference in our mood, sleep and relationships. Really? That is absurd to claim all that. Why? Because our underlying psychological struggles need professional help, need spiritual help, need a combination of what we eat, drink and do with some therapy and healing of the head and heart way beyond simply popping a can of aluminum feel-good.
Will some of these products give you a temporary natural elation. They can. Will some improve a momentary mental clarity. They can. Will some make you feel that extra sexy you get when you are tipsy? They could. Do these herbs and botanical and adaptogens and nootropics trendy words "do all the hard work"? F**K NO. Go get some therapy.
I did. I spent a year and a half in weekly sessions with Joel Blackstock of Taproot Therapy thanks to the loving encouragement of our dear former manager Ashley who one day in a staff meeting said, "LeNell, I have never seen someone work so hard on themselves and I know how hard you try to be the best you can be. I see you struggling and I think therapy could help." (That was a pretty radical staff meeting they did where we all praised each other and also brought to light what we knew each other was struggling with.)
Besides my yoga and meditation practice, life visioning sessions with coaches, deep dives with spiritual teachers, and so many other self help "get your s**t" together notions, I still found myself overdrinking from time to time. I realized often that overdrinking was connected to feeling the heart high of feeling a human emotion of being with other people and just feeling good being in good company and not wanting that feeling to end in the night so another glass would get poured and another glass would get drank because it was easier for us all to say "let's pop another bottle" instead of the vulnerability of "Damn, I have been feeling so isolated and lonely and it just feels so good to feel your excitement to hang out and laugh and relax and I don't want this feeling to go away so can we just sit here and enjoy the moment?" Oh, how I embrace that vulnerability more than ever now.
Alcohol sales are down nationwide. It is freaking out the alcohol industry behind the scenes, Some folks claim wine sales were down 15% last year. An importer friend said it was the worst year of sales he had seen in 30 years. My overall sales were down much more than 15% last year. Alcohol has always been recession proof, but folks are seriously self-reflecting on their consumption. People drank themselves stupid during the pandemic and are now coming to terms with health affects. Joel said therapists are seeing more people than ever.
And y'all stop this bu****it of "all in moderation" because for so many of us that "gray drinking" of you ain't an alcoholic but you do overconsume from time to time and feel terrible about it is a real thing. And many of us have set intentions a million times to "moderate" only to find ourselves hung over again.
I have had on my business card the tag line "Better Drinkin' Better Livin'" for years and I wholeheartedly feel passionate about that very thing whether its drinking organic wines, well-made craft spirits, or my fave near beer. I have shared here before that I am all about the ritual of beverage and how we as humans need ceremony and ritual whether at home alone winding down or with friends and family. If you come in and completely make fun of the idea of non-alcoholic wines, beers, c**ktails I will engage you in deeper conversation because we simply must change this narrative that mocks options for spirit-free. I don't even use the word "mocktail" for that reason.
Here's to BETTER DRINKIN BETTER LIVIN whatever that is for you. I celebrate it all and welcome the uncomfortable conversations that can come with it. Many of you have come in and shared your vulnerable stories and I am honored you trust us with your hearts.
Go get some therapy, y'all. I'm here for the long haul.
