Dry January: a month without alcohol, but with taste

Pubblicato il 7 January 2022
Autore: Redazione MT Magazine

There are two moments of the year dedicated to good intentions: the end of summer and New Year's Eve. Whether or not you manage to maintain them is another story.

However, a "good purpose" comes from Great Britain which may not be too difficult to put into practice and which at the same time would be able to bring more than one benefit to our body. It's about the Dry January, a month of purification from January 1st to 31st, which includes abstinence from alcohol consumption.

The challenge, born in Great Britain several years ago, does not aim to demonize alcoholic drinks, but on the contrary pushes us to reflect on conscious consumption, promoting a month of abstinence to recover from the excesses of the holidays and rethink your relationship with alcohol.

But what do we drink then?

According to experts, the 70% of those who joined the challenge improved the quality of sleep, the 66% felt more energetic and the 86% saved money.

Of course, giving up a glass of wine or a cocktail every now and then may not be easy, but after all it's only about a month and the benefits seem to be much greater than the sacrifices.

But there are some alternatives to alcoholic beverages? Of course yes, and they are there all year round, not just during Dry January.

Imagine going out drinking one evening and not feeling like an alcoholic drink. It can happen to anyone, right? Once upon a time, the alternatives were so few and banal that even those who didn't want to drink alcohol ended up doing so, but today things have definitely changed.

Just browse the catalogs of the most important international alcoholic beverage distributors, such as Onesti Group, to realize that alcohol-free proposals are becoming increasingly sought after and inviting. This is because, the company underlines, those who do not drink alcohol have the right to a quality product, used in the right way by professionals and also served in a nice glass.

Any examples? The line Memento, non-alcoholic spirits which are the combination of an exclusive selection of aromatic waters with Mediterranean scents, made with ingredients of organic origin, sugar free, vegan and gluten free. The peculiarity of this product lies in the fact that each ingredient is distilled individually, thus maintaining its own identity to then join with the others and form a sophisticated bouquet.

Then we have the line JNPR, with two non-alcoholic spirits and one bitter. The first two are a sort of "non-alcoholic gin", even if the wording is improper, composed of juniper berries and other ingredients such as cardamom and apple in the first and pepper and ginger in the second, all strictly organic. Bitter on the other hand, invented by Flavio Angiolillo, is composed of sweet orange, bitter orange, lemon, gentian, rhubarb, licorice and cinnamon, and is excellent to drink with ice, with a soda or in a cocktail.

But the proposals continue with the Ferdinand's Riesling Verjus Cordial, one riesling grape syrup, French flowers and herbs whose use is attested as far back as 71 AD, at the height of the extension of the Roman Empire. And how can we not talk about the Droplets, completely non-alcoholic flavourings invented by mixing guru Javier de las Muelas together with Giulia Rossano and Lucio D'Orsi. Natural and 100% alcohol-free, Droplets by Javier de las Muelas open up infinite possibilities for creating cocktails with a unique and original flavour.

A product that is in step with the times and sensitive to the issue of sustainability is the line Selvatiq – which we also talked about here – sustainable drink 100% made in Italy based on wild plants collected by a "nomadic" company, capable of leaving no impact on the environment.