Chicago’s first Non-Alcoholic Bottle Shop
What’s At the shop?
This is Chicago’s first full time non-alcoholic bottle shop, so you know we have to go big. When you stop in, you’ll find a large variety of NA beers, wines, canned cocktails, CBD cocktails, and more - often things you can’t find anywhere else in the city! This selection is constantly growing as the non-alcoholic sector continues to grow so you’ll always find something new every time you come visit.
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What even are NA Beers?
Non-alcoholic beers are simply beers that have either had the alcohol removed during the brewing process or have been brewed to contain less alcohol than 0.5%ABV. This trace amount of alcohol is what you would usually find in an average kombucha, some fruits, or even bread. This is not anywhere near enough to make a person feel drunk or even buzzed, even after several beers - you’d need to drink about 20 or so NA beers in under a minute to get any type of buzz at all. Often times people will use NA beers as a way to moderate or cut down on their drinking, or use them as a replacement all together.
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NA beers have come a long way in the last 4 or so years! We now have so many options it can be overwhelming. In my opinion, NA beers are by far the closest to tasting like their alcoholic counterparts. They are full bodied, and come in a ton of different flavors and styles. Because they are so close to tasting like actual beer, I would caution people in recovery to take it slow and know what you and aren’t ready for or open to as they can sometimes be triggering.
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Athletic (both staples and Pilot)
Big Drop
Bravus
Busty Lush
Ceria
Force Majeure
Fungtn
Go Brewing
Mash Gang
Nonny
Pulp Ciders
Sober Carpenter
Southern Grist NA
Two Roots
Unltd.
Untitled Art
VandeStreek
Visitor
WellBeing
Woodland Farms Brewery
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What even are NA Cocktails?
Basically just as their name says - They’re cocktails that are canned and ready to drink exactly as they are without any additional spirits needed! They range from being alcohol imitations to being their own unique drink not meant to taste like anything else you may have had before. While “mocktails” are often associated with drinks that are far too sweet, these canned cocktails offer a variety of flavors from sweet to savory to bitter and herbal.
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Canned cocktails are pretty on par with NA beers when it comes to replicating the taste of alcohol, however there is also a much larger selection of drinks that are their own unique flavor pallet. These vary in taste from being very sweet to being very bitter and everything in between.
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Blind Tiger
Clever Mocktails
Crisp & Crude
Curious Elixirs
Figlia
For Bitter For Worse
Ghia
ISH
Jas
JENG
Kin
Lyres
Mocktail Club
NOPE
Parch
Phony Negroni
Sans
Sir James
Spiritless
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What even are NA Wines?
There are generally two types of non-alcoholic wines: ones that have been De-Alcoholized and ones that are (usually) tea based.
Wines that have been de-alcoholized start their life as a regular wine with their full alcohol content, and are then filtered during the process to remove the alcohol molecules from the beverage. By doing this process, sometimes several times, the alcohol is removed almost entirely, bringing them down to less than 0.5%ABV.
Wines that are tea based, do not contain alcohol and generally give more of a “wine vibe” than tasting like actual wine. They will often still use the same grapes as their alcoholic counter parts, however the usually have their own, more interesting, flavor profiles.
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Of the two options for wines, the de-alcoholized ones will taste more like wine than the tea based ones. In my personal opinion, many of them are very close to tasting like the wines they started off as, if maybe a little bit watered down. The hardest to replicate has been Red wines, but I feel the industry is getting closer to ones with a better mouthfeel.
The tea based wines range in flavor, as some of them do try to imitate actual wines, and others aim to be their own flavor pallets all together.
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Blurred Vines
Giesen
Gruvi
ISH
Joyous
Kally
Lali
Luminara
Lyre’s
No & Low
Noughty
NON
OddBird
Proxies
Sovi
Teetotaler
Tost
Wander + Found
Muri (coming soon)
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Okay what’s the deal?
This category is usually the most surprising and confusing to people - if there’s no alcohol, how is it a spirit? How do you use them? Why would I use it if I’m not going to get drunk?
For starters, there’s many different ways for brands to create their spirits, but it mostly comes down to they either remove the alcohol (through various different methods) from their product, or they never had to introduce or remove alcohol to their process and instead use things like tea or natural botanicals - such as flowers, leaves, roots, and spices.
These spirits are meant to be mixed and used to create cocktails. Because of the wide flavor profiles, you’re able to use these to recreate traditional cocktails or make your own unique one.
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In the shop I have these split into two categories - Spirits that are meant to be alcohol imitations and ones that are designed to be their own unique flavor profile. I personally have a lot more fun playing around with the ones meant to be their own flavors.
For the alcohol imitations, I think that a lot of these come close to tasting like alcohol, including having the burn. It’s interesting experiencing where the burn hits (sometimes it’s right at the tip of your tongue and for others it hits at the back of your cheeks). Many of these can be easily used as replacements in alcoholic cocktail recipes and you wouldn’t even notice there’s not any alcohol in ‘em
For the ones meant to be their own unique thing, these really do range in flavors. Some are very herbal and bitter, some are smoky and sweet, some are so full of flavor your brain doesn’t even know where to begin
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Amethyst
Bare Zero Proof
Caleño
Everleaf
Figlia
For Bitter For Worse
Gather
Ghia
Kin Euphorics
Lyres
Monday
Myth
Pathfinder
Ritual Zero Proof
Seedlip
Sobrii
Sol Bru
Spiritless
Tenneyson
Three Spirit
Vers-Eau
Wilderton
Wilfred’s
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Okay what’s the deal?
Sometimes you just want a really good seltzer, sometimes you don’t want something that tastes like a cocktail or beer, and sometimes you just need a cocktail topper - we still got you!
I do my best to stock seltzers that actually have Flavor and interesting ingredients instead of just tasting like someone whispered a flavor idea into a can. We also stock local kombuchas made right here in Chicago.
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In the shop I have these split into two categories - Spirits that are meant to be alcohol imitations and ones that are designed to be their own unique flavor profile. I personally have a lot more fun playing around with the ones meant to be their own flavors.
For the alcohol imitations, I think that a lot of these come close to tasting like alcohol, including having the burn. It’s interesting experiencing where the burn hits (sometimes it’s right at the tip of your tongue and for others it hits at the back of your cheeks). Many of these can be easily used as replacements in alcoholic cocktail recipes and you wouldn’t even notice there’s not any alcohol in ‘em
For the ones meant to be their own unique thing, these really do range in flavors. Some are very herbal and bitter, some are smoky and sweet, some are so full of flavor your brain doesn’t even know where to begin
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Avec
Casamara Club
Dram
Fair State Co-Op
Fever Tree
Halmi
Hoplark Hop Tea
Immorel
Kommunity Kombucha
Sarilla
System Seltzer 0%
Top Note
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Can I still be sober if I drink CBD beverages?
Everyone’s sobriety is different and completely their own. No one can tell you that you’re doing it “wrong” if it’s working for you. A lot of people who are sober drink CBD drinks because it helps with calming them down, especially if you are someone who drank to manage social anxiety or to fall asleep. An important thing to note is that although CBD and THC come from the same plant, CBD does not get you high or make you feel intoxicated in any way.
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For the most part, CBD drinks don’t taste any differently from the cocktails and seltzers they’re put into. One thing I personally do notice is that sometimes CBD drinks can have a bit of a “funk” to them - similar to very hoppy IPA’s. Some people like this, some don’t. It’s totally just up to you!
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Flyers
Flora
Jeng CBD
Otto’s CBD Cider
Pink Cloud
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There’s more?
oh buddy, there is more!
We also carry things to make your cocktails more fun - syrups, bitters, shrubs, cocktail drops, cocktail teabags - it’s very cool
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This category is more straightforward - things will taste basically how they say they will.
The cocktail drops, Brella, and teabags, SaySo, are more experimental at the moment and are something you can just carry in your pocket or bag to use whenever you need it (like a bar that doesn’t have any good NA options - yawn) or use as a base for your cocktails.
The bitters, shrubs, and syrups are a great way to zazz up your cocktails, coffees, and smoothies. I try to carry a pretty wide selection of flavors of these as well.
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All the Bitter
Big Mich Michelada Mix
Blue Henry Garnishes
Brella Cocktail Drop
Dram Bitters
Element Shrubs
Portland Syrups
SaySo Cocktail Tea Bags