The Mindful Drinking Festival, a Club Soda event, took place on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th July at The Open Market in Brighton. Leanne and Lisa travelled down from Yorkshire and spent the full day there on Saturday...
First Impressions
As soon as we arrived we could tell that this was going to be an event with character – The Open Market is a vibrant and eclectic space which is home to an array of quirky craft shops and healthy street food stalls.
The Mindful Drinking Festival took over the central market space for the weekend and there was a real buzz with lots of locals keen to try the samples of alcohol free and premium softs drinks on offer. Many brands were selling their drinks to take home and were doing special take-home offers including tote bags and other merchandise to make your purchase even more appealing!
We were really grateful to Laura from Club Soda for finding space for us to leave our bags and squeezing us into a couple of sold-out tastings!
Putting Faces To Names!
Before heading off to the tasting workshops we had a walk around to see who was there and to say hello to some of our Brand/Distribution partners. Wise Bartender had a great selection of products, some of which we'd not tried before and it was great to see they had samples of English Garden, the popular Pimms AF alternative from ANON Drinks as well as Myth Coconut, Myth Dark Spiced and Horny Goat from Goat Drinks
The Bemuse stand was very busy...the news of the award-winning AF Mead has spread fast! Tom at Strykk was busy serving up samples of the new Not Aperitvo and Gemma at JOMO Club already had lots of interest in their subscription boxes! It was great to meet Maria and Craig from Mindful Brands, one of our newest partners, and taste their products; Marie Laveau, Maria & Craig's and Celtic Soul....we loved them all!
And of course the ever popular Lyre's stand was fully stocked with their alcohol free spirits and RTD cans!
Tasting Workshops / Discussions
Club Soda had organised a great programme of discussions and tasting events. In true NonTox style we were really keen to get involved in the tastings and were lucky enough to grab a slot at both the AF Wine Tasting and the Introduction to AF Drinks tasting!
Alcohol Free Wines
Josh Kelly from Club Soda led the wine tasting event – wine is a very popular topic in the NonTox Facebook Group as members constantly ask for recommendations, having often been disappointed when first trying out AF wines. Josh was incredibly knowledgeable about the sector and walked us through a handful of wines, explaining how flavour that is normally carried in wines by alcohol can be carried and lifted instead by using bubbles, sugar, acidity, teas etc.
Before getting stuck into the wines, we cleansed our palates with a can of Sea and T from Sea Arch! We sampled three wines by North South Wines Ltd; Belle and Co Sparkling White, La Gioiosa 0.0%, and Very Cautious Wines Riesling. The Belle and Co is a wine we’re familiar with and is a great choice for an inexpensive fizz although some of our tasting group found it a little sweet for their palate – Lisa found when she first stopped drinking alcohol that she preferred slightly sweeter wines and that as her palate changeds he preferred dry - the dryer the better!
The La Gioiosa is a more sophisticated fizz whilst the Riesling was a big win for us – although you could taste the fruit, it had a lovely astringency and dryness – will be one that we buy again.
This was the first tasting for many at the festival of Thomson & Scott's Noughty Rouge – Josh explained that it had caused quite a stir with many wine tasters from the alcohol-ful world. Many of the characteristics of a good red wine are there; some body, colour, tannins, dryness – in Lisa's opinion although it would not be mistaken for an alcohol-ful wine it is right up there with the best of the alcohol free reds! Our tasting group gave it a unanimous thumbs up!
Josh then introduced us to a couple of other drinks that aren’t wines but can provide a wine-like experience – when you want bubbles to celebrate but fancy something completely different....
Alcohol Free Wine Alternatives
REAL Sparkling Tea is a premium, complex Kombucha which is a favourite of Laura Willoughby of Club Soda and Saicho Sparkling Tea probably provided the most unusual taste of the day – it really split opinion – we sampled the Hojicha which tasted quite bitter with tobacco notes but a few people raved about it. Later on in the day we tried Saicho’s Jasmine Sparking Tea which was divine!
And last but not least we tasted Good Living Brew Co’s Binary Botanicals which is described as the “wine-lovers beer”. It has a definite hoppy taste but very fresh, as it uses the leaves as well at the hops. We have tried this before and love it with cheese!
Grown Up Soft Drinks
Later in the day we were taken on a whistle stop tour of alcohol free and premium / grown up soft drinks with Amy from Dry But Wet an Australian AF Drinks Expert!
We got to try a range of different drinks including:
Rebelicious CBD Cream Soda (great if you have a sweet tooth!)
Lucky Saint (love this lager!)
Crafty Nectar (a favourite of ours!)
and one of the drinks that has really made some waves in the AF industry this year....
Bemuse – Tarragon, Basil and Hops
We sadly missed JOMO Club’s Cocktail making demonstration but we saw Gemma's video and it looked like brilliant fun with all participants getting to create each cocktail – will definitely book on to that one if offered again!
Summing Up
What we loved about this festival was that it was a fabulous opportunity for members of the public and bars / restaurants thinking of expanding their AF offering to sample a fantastic range of drinks. Many founders / creators were present at the festival so it was great to hear all about the “stories” behind the drinks. We met some amazing people and tasted some great drinks! This event is a must visit for any alcohol free drinks enthusiasts who want to immerse themselves in the alcohol-free world! There are very few events which are open to the public, a lot are trade only - well worth the trip! Maybe we should organise a trip for the NonTox Community next year?!?
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Alcohol Free Drinks Brands
Below is a list of other alcohol free drinks brands that we saw at the Mindful Drinking Festival...some of these are NonToxicated Partners who offer the NonToxicated Community an exclusive discount code, so check out the NonToxicated App or the Discount Code Page before you buy!
NonToxicated Partners
Trying New Drinks!
Straight and Narrow - 0% non alcoholic spirits from Gon and Tonic to Lemoncello and Spritzo!
Haelu Drinks - Packed with adaptogens, botanical, vitamin & minerals...we loved them!
Only With Love Brewery - Cool Kombuchas and Beers inc Zippy, The Big Issue and Juicy AF!
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Big Softies!
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