For many years, the Holy City has been known as a place for day drinking and late, booze-fueled nights. Increasingly, though, popular restaurants and bars are offering their takes on complex, satisfying nonalcoholic cocktails and beverages, addressing an ever-growing trend in the food and beverage world.
Enter Sipland, a new resource for the flourishing world of beverages with low or no alcohol. The brand describes itself as a “marketplace” and “cultural community.”
“We really want to elevate the no/low alcohol space to the level where it sits next to [alcoholic drinks] in equal fashion,” said Molly Fienning, one of Sipland’s co-founders. “The future of the bar for us is an alcoholic section, a nonalcoholic section and then a functional section all displayed beautifully with delicious, well-curated, well-mixed options for all three [areas] on the menu.”
Fienning joined forces with Lauren Hakmiller and Emily Saladino to found Sipland, an all-in-one site that provides consumers with a selection of some of the top no/low alcohol drinks on the market, hosts events and pop-ups and creates new city guides to highlight elevated offerings from bars and restaurants.
“Charleston has a big drinking culture,” said Fienning. “Being a Charleston-founded brand, we wanted to share our favorite sips in the city first and [then] do some pop-ups with amazing local partners.”
A growing trend
The burgeoning no/low alcohol trend is gaining widespread traction across the U.S., and is not necessarily limited to those who want to avoid alcohol at all costs. Fienning explained that research from NielsenIQ shows 82% of people who buy non alcoholic alternatives also drink alcohol. “It is a huge market that is growing rapidly and it’s outpacing the alcoholic beverage industry in growth,” Fienning said.
Anyone following the rise of interest in the sober and sober-adjacent lifestyle knows that people are increasingly opting for nonalcoholic alternatives over alcoholic drinks for a variety of reasons, usually related to health factors or just simply wanting to avoid the morning hangover.
“Over the past couple of years, I just decided to change my relationship to alcohol,” said Fienning, who described her interest in the nonalcoholic movement. “I just found it wasn’t serving me as well, even though I still appreciate a beautiful glass of wine and love a night out [getting a] margarita with my girlfriends. The next day I just felt a little foggier, or I didn’t sleep well… I still wanted that moment [of] an elevated delicious sip, just without alcohol so that it wouldn’t impact my next day.”
The new guide for Charleston — the first of its kind by the company — can be found on Sipland’s website, and highlights nonalcoholic offerings at several well-loved local businesses, such as Last Saint, Little Palm and Melfi’s.
And with a new pop-up through the end of the month, the company hopes to share its vision of a broader beverage landscape with the area. Sipland’s “After School Special” at The Charleston Place serves as a launch celebration for the Charleston city guide and an ode to fall, with two distinct espresso martini variations.
“We really wanted to do a playful take on kind of back-to-school energy [with] something caffeinated, and we decided to do a nonalcoholic and low alcohol espresso martini bar featuring two beverage partners that we love,” Fienning said.
The nonalcoholic option will include bitters from El Guapo, a woman-owned company based in New Orleans that produces some of the only nonalcoholic bitters currently on the market. Body Vodka, a low proof spirit with 25% less alcohol than traditional vodka, stars in the low alcohol version of the drink. “Jilly Hendrix, [the founder of Body], calls it ‘later nights, easier mornings’ and I love that idea.”
The residency at The Charleston Place runs from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday through the rest of the month. A special collaboration between Sipland and Mon Frère Glace, scheduled for Sept. 27 during the Food and Wine Classic, will feature a nonalcoholic espresso martini soft serve.
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