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[drinksanddestinations]

  India’s only curated drinks fest, Agents Of Cheer, addresses the latest trends in the global and domestic drinks industry…

The dry days aren’t restricted to ‘Dry January’ anymore. The trend of skipping a few days or taking a break from consuming alcohol or total abstinence from alcoholic drinks is the latest shift in pattern that the global drinks community is witnessing at the moment.

So much so that the alcobev major Diageo has taken the pioneering step of investing into a brand like Seedlip, a sophisticated non-alcoholic distilled spirit, and has brought out two “ultra­-low” pre-­mixed gin and tonic sparkling beverages under its Gordon’s gin brand and also a a low­-abv botanical range for its Ketel One Vodka.

The non-alcoholic drinks space which had been overlooked for a long time is now gaining popularity thanks to the health conscious generation. And, interestingly as per the Spirits Business report, a YouGov poll to study the attitude towards low-alcohol beverages indicates that 7% of those questioned were already non-drinkers or preferred low-alcohol drinks. This poll also reveals that there were 22% chance of those aged between 18 to 34 to switch to either zero or low-alcohol alternatives soon.

At the third editon of India’s only curated drinks fest organised by Drinks & Destinaitons, Magic Cellar and Pointy Zebra at The A Club, Mumbai on 12th October, 2019 two such sessions are scheduled to take place with the experts from the industry . The speakers at the session (6.30 pm-7.30 pm) who will be addressing this particular trend are Aishwarya Nair Mathew, Wine Director, The Leela Group of Hotels, Shatbhi Basu, India’s most renowned Mixologist, Antoine Lewis, Food & Drinks Commentator and Host Radio One, Gauri Devidayal, Co-Founder – The Table and Magazine Street Kitchen and the session will be moderated by Sameer Malkani, Co-founder of FBAI (Food Bloggers Association India).

Speaking on the subject, Aishwarya Nair Mathew says, “The trend of low or no alcoholic drinks has been more en vogue lately due to a deep awareness of wellness coming into the lives of people now a days. Lifestyle patterns are changing and people are becoming more health conscious and we see a potential for growth in this particular sector. Market trends for low or non alcoholic spirits are gaining popularity amongst people who want to enjoy and adjust their habits according this well meaning introspection into living in a more holistic state of being”. Giving a few examples of some of the brands focusing on this category of spirits, she named Strykk non-alcoholic vodka (with a tag line “all the spirit, none of the alcohol”) , Ceder’s wild gin or Borrago a non-alcoholic distilled spirit that can be used like gin or vodka as a base for cocktails.

Even tonic water companies such as Franklin & Sons have come up with variants that could work as alternatives to alcoholic drinks. Specially, the dual-flavoured tonics such as pink grapefruit and bergamot, rosemary and black olives and infused sodas which can be enjoyed on it’s own.

Vikram Achanta, co-founder and CEO of the drinks portal www.tulleeho.com feels that drinking is a social experience and it makes little difference if it’s an alcoholic beverage you’re consuming or a non-alcoholic one. He adds, “One may not choose to drink for a variety of reasons, either cause one is abstemious or else linked to being possibly the designated driver for the evening or just not being in the mood. Either way any bar or restaurant, which wants to provide a complete experience for their guests, needs to ensure that there are enough options available, which provide as good an experience to a guest who is not imbibing as to the one who is. Their cause is being aided by a whole range of non-alcoholic drinks available, starting from a range of tonic waters, including flavoured ones, impending launch of flavoured sodas from various brands, and distilled non-alcoholic beverages like Seedlip”.

At the homefront we also have tonic water brands such as Svami Drinks who have consciously worked towards reducing the sugar content in their tonic varients keeping in mind the needs of the calroie conscious generation.

Then there are brands like UB Beer’s Kingfisher Radler, a non-alcoholic malt drink (by definition radler should have less alcohol) and Coolberg Beverages’ crafted zero-alcohol malt beer – Coolberg which are still testing the domestic market.

The idea behind most of these drinks are to offer the consumers an alternative choice to alcoholic drinks including cocktails which is also a growing category for the drinks market. Yangdup Lama, India’s renowned mixologist and bar owner is of the opinion that low calorie and low alcohol drink is the trend of the season and mixology is not far away when it comes to mixing drinks with low or no calorie alcohol. It surely is taking the mixology world by storm and is here to stay for long with the new age bartenders always looking for progressive alternatives to create new age cocktails.

Join us and interact with the speakers about this latest trend and what the future holds for these drinks at the weekend’s panel discussion during Agents Of Cheer Vol 3.

The other session is going to address HOW ‘CRAFT’ IS DRIVING TRENDS IN THE DRINKS MARKET (5.00 PM – 6.00 PM) with Panelists, Rohan Rehani, Co-founder & Benevolent Overlord at Moonshine Meadery, Shantanu Upadhyay, Co-founder & CEO, Kati Patang, Abhinav Rajput, Chief Operating Officer, Nao Spirits, Rohan Nihalani, Founder & CEO, Morgan Beverages and the session will be moderated by Rojita Tiwari, Co-founder Agents Of Cheer .

#TheCheerIsReal

Book your tickets to Agents Of Cheer here …

LOW-AND NO-ALCOHOL DRINKS TREND AND ALL THINGS CRAFTY AT AGENTS OF CHEER DRINKS FEST India’s only curated drinks fest, Agents Of Cheer, addresses the latest trends in the global and domestic drinks industry…