While Dry January is over, Hyatt has made zero-proof beverages a permanent staple for guests and locals thirsty for non-alcoholic options year-round. Available at over 20 U.S. hotels (with more to come) through a program dubbed Zero Proof, Zero Judgment, the rollout of new menus was created in response to growing demand from consumers looking to imbibe taste-driven cocktails without the alcohol, such as the “London Bloom” at Hyatt Centric Times Square New York with Ritual Zero Proof Gin Alternative, basil, cucumber, lime, and ginger. 

Meanwhile, last spring, Four Seasons Hotel Casa Medina Bogota rolled out “mocktails” as part of a new beverage selection at its signature restaurant Castanyoles, turning guests onto the wonders of Colombian produce by dazzling palates with alcohol-free offerings with home-grown fruits such as lulo and cape gooseberry.

Inspired by the long slog of the pandemic, many people are now looking to live more healthfully, and brands are stepping up to give drinkers less with new offerings that celebrate the zero-proof lifestyle. Indeed, from “Dry January” to treatises like Holly Whitaker’s New York Times bestseller Quit Like a Woman, the “sober-curious movement” has a buzz all its own. Sales of formerly ridicule-worthy low- or no-alcohol wines, beers and spirits ran $3.1 billion, or 3.5% of the total alcohol market, over the 12 months ended September 2021, while a global survey from Nielsen CGA revealed 58% of people drinking more non-alcoholic and low-alcohol-by-volume cocktails than a year ago. 

Hotel bars and restaurants are well-positioned to capitalize on and even fuel the trend, with creative bar teams, captive clientele, and an inclination toward wellness that is sweeping the industry as more travelers desire amenities and programming that have a positive effect on their well-being. But if you think hotels that are “sober-curious” or “committed” are on the vanguard of a new temperance movement, think again. As Sean Goldsmith, co-founder of Atlanta-based, non-alcoholic beverage importer The Zero Proof, noted to Yahoo, the majority of customers for such concoctions “are alcohol drinkers. It’s very much a trend of moderation.”

Of course, there’s still plenty of room for creative spirits in the travel sphere. Last September, for instance, Delta rolled out a new inflight drink menu with a curated selection of ingredients from diverse distilleries, such as Du Nord Foundation Vodka from Du Nord Social Spirits in Minneapolis, the first black-owned distillery in the US. And along the Jersey Shore, Asbury Lanes Diner, part of the Asbury Collection in Asbury Park, is creating a scene with Boozy Milkshakes in flavors such as ‘Bananas For You’ and ‘Death by Chocolate.’

Cheers!