SipSteady’s Dry Vibes Weekend marks the start of a sober sensation in KC

Dry Vibes Weekend. // photo by Samantha Levi

A sober Virgil in a bright white pants and blazer over a leather half tank, Sarah Pretorius guides me through a darkened room populated by neon half-lit figures flitting around a first-floor room of The Fontaine Hotel and into the world of the zero-proof lifestyle. Sarah is a co-founder of SipSteady, and one of two hosts for tonight’s event.

This Friday night party is the kick-off for the first Dry Vibes Weekend, a weekend of “non-alcoholic alchemy” celebrating the sober and sober curious communities in Kansas City and across the country.

We settle into position stage left from the bar, surveying the networking crowd circulating to “electro-cumbia” provided by DJ Prismada, to discuss the people, places, things, and the message of this gathering. First I meet Kayla Mason, the other half of SipSteady, and together in the refracted light they introduce the inspiration for offering this event to the partygoers and vendors of Kansas City. The pair have separate inspirations that led them to create their woman-owned small business, but they share a united mission- the primary purpose of SipSteady is to help innovative non-alcoholic brands and sober-friendly businesses get the recognition they deserve, providing well-crafted and interesting non-alcoholic drinks to cocktail menus across the nation.

After going alcohol-free, Sarah was dismayed to find that non-alcoholic drinks of any creativity or substance were largely missing on menus of otherwise thoughtful and innovative establishments. Like many mindful drinkers, light drinkers, or non-alcohol drinkers of any persuasion, she was unimpressed by her beverage options at otherwise top-notch culinary establishments.

Though Kayla is a “mindful drinker,” meaning that while she does drink, for wellness reasons she occasionally takes extended periods of time alcohol-free and when she is drinking she does so with a mindful, health-conscious approach. She began seeing more innovation in the non-alcoholic options and the excitement in this space prompted her to want to promote more awareness of the importance of inclusive spaces.

Dry Vibes Weekend. // photo by Samantha Levi

There are many reasons people may not want want to order an alcoholic beverage. Whether it is for health, lifestyle, religious, or social reasons, participating in something like Dry January, or even drawing the designated driver straw for the night, many feel that not offering a decent drink without an addictive intoxicant is really a bald spot in many otherwise luscious menus.

The clinking of glasses to our right, and a reminder for our hosts that the speaking event this evening is about to take place, signals the second portion of the night, where we will meet our third host–Drew Davis, KC native and founder of Gem Life + Bar, a booze-free bottle shop and pop up bar in New Jersey that offers “an unforgettable wellness experience by crafting and sourcing amazing non-alcoholic beverages.”

“We first connected with Drew in late September and when she shared about her KC roots, we immediately threw out the idea of co-hosting something here. Our planning started in October 2022,” says Sarah.

Planning included inviting the night’s other guest panelists: Melissa Saubers, founder of Sans Bar KC, Emmy-award winning TV personality Michael Mackey (celebrating eight years sober this month), and Jimmy Semrick, co-founder of Brella Drops, a Chicago-based zero-proof cocktail drops company.

As the panel gets situated, I survey the bar. There is a main bar area and two drink stations sprinkled within the small space ensuring no one will be empty-handed as the night coasts into the main event. Hayley Santel, who will become my bartender for the night, answers my request for “something interesting” (a request which usually nets me something akin to a soda water and cranberry juice) with an Orange & Burnt Sage Ritual Gin & Tonic.

As she flicks a lighter to fire up a sprig of fragrant sage, a woman down the bar flips over the menu in confusion, a sentiment echoed by an event partygoer on YelpKC: “’Um, I thought this was a dry event?’ I confusingly asked the bartender when I saw martinis and cocktails made with whiskey, gin and the like. We both laughed but they confirmed all the offerings were in fact 0% ABV. The taste was so similar on some, and with a couple having CBD the feeling that followed was just as nice and relaxing.”

Dry Vibes Weekend. // photo by Samantha Levi

The drinks were indeed both “interesting” and even inventive, including an aloe margarita and smoked cherry chocolate old fashioned. Also present at the drinks stations are offerings from Psychedelic Water, Little Saints CBD Negroni’s, a Flyers CBD botanical spritz, Brella’s Jazz Club and Garden Party, and Ghia–an OG NA offering I recognized by its attractive packaging which become popular a couple of years ago before this new wave of recent NA players joined the arena.

“About 42% of millennials drink on a regular basis, and only 21% of Gen Z drinks on a regular basis. And that is the statistic and then anecdotally, you probably know some Gen Z too, they think drinking is like gross. You know, I’ve heard a Gen Z describe drinking as Boomer technology,” Little Saints founder Megan Klein told Marketplace in an October article that also mentions the trend of mocktail-vending food trucks. “And so as generations drink less and less, kind of at a rapid rate, we’re seeing a shift in culture, because they’re much more health conscious”

Now it’s time for the panel topic: “The Future of the Dry Economy,” a dialogue focused on the need for non-alcoholic options to be seen in the marketplace and the rise of enlightened and inventive zero-proof options in serious (and not-so-serious) culinary and dive bar kitchens: the growing menu and market representation. Sarah will later tell me SipSteady has met with local KC premier cocktail venues in the city, including the Monarch bar, Verdigris, and Mercury Room.

“We are excited to partner with iconic KC brands and by supporting their expansion into the NA space and creating greater inclusivity at festivals, games, and other community-inspired events,” she added.

The rising economics of wellness and swelling alcohol-free market in this portion of the night is also mixed with what feels like two parts background and direction of the sober curious movement, one part elevated recovery meeting, and a few dashes of humor and cold statistics. Business Insider reported in November 2021 that non-alcoholic beverage sales had increased 33% over the last 52 weeks, according to data from Nielsen.

Part of this is attributed to the rapid increase in the availability of options, and also in part to, as this article continues, “Nielsen senior vice president Kim Cox said survey data suggests most non-alcoholic beverage consumers aren’t completely sober, but rather want to have a healthier lifestyle or are losing interest in alcohol.”

Outside the main action, partygoers milled around the Fontaine lobby, floating conversations on a range of topics, including the life-changing magic of coffee enemas, pandemic roller skating, and the unexpected joy and confusion of playing the drums sober.

Although on the surface this looked like a semi-homogenous demographic, on closer listen many paths brought these attendants to this field: Dry January adherents to sober-lifers, sober-curious to the health conscious, life-event drop-ins, #wineoclock drop-outs, converts, convents, yogis, lifestyle leap-froggers, status searchers, lesson learners, and those just wanting to hone their respective crafts without crutches and obstacles. Almost to a (wo)-man, they were jazzed about the prospect of hangover-free mornings.

Dry Vibes Weekend. // photo by Samantha Levi

“We were humbled by the turnout and the stories we heard from guests about what brought them there,” SipSteady noted.

This brings us to the hangover-free Sunday morning festivities. We were gathered here in the stained-glass golden glow of The Juliet for daisy-studded bites from Billie’s Grocery below, a sampling of sparkling kombuchas and chilled teas, an NA Industry Tasting, and the Keynotes speaker Drew Davis’ moving address, “Living my Dream After A Near Death Experience.” In the airy natural light there are oracle readings from Haven Wellness, massages, jewelry glinting from the light from the high windows, and several vendors including Lux mobile IV therapy, offering information and session booking.

“It’s even more blatant that people are seeking out these kinds of events, and this vibrant community continues to de-stigmatize what it means to live alcohol-free and celebrate people’s lifestyle choices,” Sarah adds.

I find attendee Annelissa Taylor in line for a tasting for Drømme nootropic elixirs: “I’m here because starting in the New Year, I wanted to drink a little less and this seemed like a fantastic event to do that,” she says. “I am hoping to find out more about non-alcoholic alternatives because, as you can tell by my jacket, I like music a lot but unfortunately there aren’t a lot of non-alcoholic options in that scene right now.”

Sans Bar KC founder Melissa Saubers explains further: “In 2019, I found that people really wanted alcohol-free drinks where there was alcohol present. Sans Bar was hired to do the booze-free bar at events that had alcohol, and we would be side by side. So somebody walked up to me one time and handed me a full glass of wine and said ‘I no longer want this, can I have one of these? I still want to be drinking something, but I don’t want to be drinking alcohol, but I do want something that is elevated and fun and delicious.’

The main thing to know is that there is a need for alcohol-free options everywhere, whether for a night or for life. Before the demand was really built there was a lot of curiosity about what we were doing. I found out about the idea because it was originally from Sans Bar Austin and I was like, ‘Holy cow, Kansas City needs this”

Also in attendance was Kansas City’s own Boulevard Brewing Company, whose NA IPA Flying Start was featured at the drink stations on Friday night. Adam Hall, Brand Manager of Culture & Strategy, Jordan Simmons, Manager of Events & Activations, and Ali Bush, Brand Director, talked with me about what brought Boulevard Brewing Company to sponsor the Dry Vibes Weekend.

“So a couple of years ago, we partnered with Athletic Brewing Company, and they are great, they are leading the charge in the industry of non-alcoholic beers, and we realized that people are seeking healthier options, so we partnered with them, learned a lot from them, and we released Flying Star, which is a non-alcoholic IPA,” Adam explains. “We were never really known for our IPAs until a couple of years ago when we launched Space Camper, which kind of took over by storm and now it’s our #3 best-selling beer.

So we took that recipe from Space Camper because it resonated so well and then tweaked it, modified it, and created a beer with .5% alcohol in it. And originally we branded it as Flying Start because we were just getting into the non-alc game and we thought this would be a great year to focus on a January theme, you know get a Flying Start to your year but then after a couple of months it exceeded our expectations.

We now have something on tap where they can drink with their friends who may choose alcoholic or non-alcoholic beers. So when we were approached by Sip Steady we thought this would be a great opportunity that we are just dipping our toes into.”

Adam confirms that Boulevard plans to continue developing in the AF space. “We are always exploring, finding the right flavors and processes because the one thing we were so leery about for a long time was putting out a non-alcoholic beer that didn’t taste good. Until Athletic came along a lot of your non-alcoholic beer would taste like a ‘barley tea.’

This event has been great to see, [with] all of the flavor combinations being created here, with all of the tinctures and the bitters and the alcohol-free spirits and the cocktail inspirations, so this has been a cool learning experience as we develop our own techniques to make a beer that is free of alcohol but full of flavor.”

[Can confirm. I didn’t know that Boulevard made an AF beer. But this beer tastes like beer. A solid IPA, NA or no NA.]

Dry Vibes Weekend. // photo by Samantha Levi

Speaking of the industry and product development, next was the Industry Tasting, an event where industry leaders shared what they have learned from working in this space and a tasting of over 25 NA drinks and demos, many of which could be purchased at the pop-up market on-premise. After many good samples, I picked up Curious Elixirs Curious No. 5 (featuring the “Queen of Herbs,” the ayurvedic aphrodisiac shatavari), a travel Ghia I had never seen offered anywhere else, and a full-sized bottle of Figlia 001 FIORE, an apertivo of rose, bitter orange, and clove (though oddly clove is not listed in the ingredients but Cin-Cin anyway it’s delicious). Some of these products are also carried at Billie’s Grocery and Big Mood Natural Wines.

All-weekend ticket holders also went home with a goody bag filled with full-sized products featured in the tastings. Although this was the first Dry Vibes Weekend, there are no plans for it to be the last as the organizers look forward to hosting more events here in Kansas City and taking Dry Vibes on tour around the county.

Follow the vibes and find sponsor and vendor info on Insta at @sipsteady_, as well as their website.