Over the past several years more people are choosing to either drink less or cut alcohol from their routines, and in that time a plethora of non-alcoholic options have come to the market.
Luckily for Victoria, there are two ‘non-alc’ beverage shops in town for people to explore and discover new options.
Softer Drink and Fizz Non-Alc-Bottle Shop are both relatively new businesses that have opened brick-and-mortar locations in the downtown Victoria area.
Both are run by knowledgeable staff and owners who want nothing more than to help people expand their horizons and try something new that they might like as an alcohol alternative, and both have different approaches to this endeavour.
Softer Drink
Softer Drink, located at 760 Broughton Street, is run by partners in life and in business Andrea Demers and Jonathan Morissette.
Demers says the two of them had been working in cafes and restaurants for a long while and were both immersed in and intrigued by drink culture and leisurely life.
“We were enthusiastic about ingredients and processes, just kind of drinks from all over—different flavours,” she told Victoria Buzz.
“The pandemic hit and we had both imagined opening a shop one day, but didn’t necessarily think that it would be alcohol-free, but we sort of thought it would be a different way to explore service and leisure.”
She added that they believed that opening a space that was alcohol-free might be intriguing to a lot of people and they thought they would be able to do something creative with that concept.
Ultimately, the duo behind Softer know that many people choose to abstain from alcohol for health reasons, but they wanted to approach the idea of non-alc beverages from a maximalist lens.
“You can still drink alcohol and enjoy other drinks as well, you can choose to drink less alcohol but still be excited about dining out and coming up with cool pairings,” explained Demers.
“It’s less about health and more about having fun and drinking fun stuff.”
The business officially started in 2021 as an online wholesaler, and they still do a lot of wholesale work with products like Zamalek, for which they are the official BC distributor.
Aside from their wholesale work, out of their Broughton Street shop, they offer non-alc beverages of all sorts.
One thing that sets Softer apart from other non-alc shops in town is their heavy focus on unique teas.
One of their featured products is the pu’er tea Softer sells, which comes from KUURA Corp., an Australian company that specializes in Chinese teas.
“[Pu’er tea] is a style of tea from the southwest of China,” said Demers.
“Anyone who’s into bitter flavours like amaro and vermouth or things like that might be attracted to tea like this because it has an intensity and bitterness that’s really unique in the world of tea.”
She explained that pu’er tea can be brewed in an informal or formal manner, where one uses a small vessel and you get many infusions out of it.
“You can do it at home if you have time to kind of sit with the tea and steep it again and again and again, and on each infusion, depending on the style of tea, you’ll notice changes to the flavour, the body and the texture,” said Demers.
The pu’er tea Softer sells comes in a unique package where the loose tea leaves are compressed into discs for ease of travel and shipping.
Additionally, they categorize the drinks they sell as non-alc wine and wine alternatives, ready-to-drink beverages such as aperitivos and sodas, mixology non-alc libations, drink ingredients like vinegars and cordials and lastly, non-alc beers and ciders.
(More below)
Softer Drink’s space features a bar and some seating where customers are welcome to come in and have a seat, learn about new types of beverage options, sample some products and even sit for pu’er tea tastings.
Fizz Non-Alc Bottle Shop
Fizz Non-Alc Bottle Shop is located at 569 Johnson Street and was launched by co-founders Jeff Wright and Jamie Gerus, who also happen to be brother and sister in-laws to one another.
Wright and Gerus have both made the decision to remove alcohol from their lives and really bonded with each other at family gatherings, while finding and sharing alternative beverages to indulge in.
Wright’s background is in working bars and mixology, whereas Gerus comes from a background of interior design, creating a space where people can come together effectively.
Gerus says that the two began talking about what could be possible if they were able to reframe gathering and people’s relationships to alcohol.
“So we came up with this idea of, what if gathering could be similar, just with alcohol removed,” she told Victoria Buzz.
“I got really excited because there’s all these incredible products in the world but we just don’t have access to them here, so we wanted to bring the best of the best into one place where people who drink, people who don’t drink, everyone is welcome at the table.”
She added that most of Fizz’s clientele are not non-drinkers, but want to find more interesting beverage options to pair with food, or to help them align their moods with what they are doing. That is where Fizz’s focus on ‘functional’ alcohol alternatives comes in.
“We’re super passionate about the functional category, which is the newest category in the non-alc world, as well as the fastest growing,” said Gerus.
“It’s more than a mocktail—a properly made non-alc cocktail is made with complexity, it actually has a bite, it builds on your palette. And with the functional ingredients Jamie was speaking to, it has an effect, whether that’s mood enhancing or helping with digestion, whatever that may be, but it does something for you,” Wright added.
By using natural ingredients, several of the products that Fizz sells can emulate some feelings one would get while imbibing alcohol, such as mood lifers and camomile infused non-alc spirits that can help someone with sleep or anxiety.
In addition to the myriad of functional spirits and canned drinks that Fizz sells, they also sell de-alcoholized wines, wine alternatives, sodas, apretivos, and have a wide selection of non-alc beer and cider in their walk-in cooler.
(More below)
Fizz also has a handful of Spanish snacks, such as Perello olives and sardines and crackers.
Those who want to come in and try something can choose from several open products meant for tasting, or, Fizz’s staff can make a shaken non-alcoholic cocktail
Wright has developed a handful of recipes, such as the licorice sour, the mood-elevating margarita and the amaro whip—all of which are available via Fizz’s website.
Evolution of non-alc movement
Both the owners of Softer and Fizz believe that drinking culture is on the precipice of change and are at the forefront of that movement.
Victoria is lucky to have these two shops in town, allowing residents and visitors alike to explore new flavours and think outside the box of how to enjoy a social occasion, or take the edge off a long day.
Check out both Softer and Fizz next time you are feeling like discovering your new favourite beverage!
