The choice of whether to consume alcoholic drinks or not is, sadly, greatly stigmatising in South Africa. There\u2019s a generation of people who are asked \u2018why not?\u2019 when they decline a drink, with the connotation that they\u2019re not \u2018joining in\u2019 or there\u2019s \u2018something wrong\u2019 with them. It\u2019s painted as very \u2018un-South African\u2019 to not enjoy a drink, eat braaied meat, watch sport or make jokes about Eskom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past year, there\u2019s been a positive shift being led by the younger generation, whose focus on health and wellbeing (specifically following the pandemic) has seen the adoption of no-alcohol or low-alcohol (\u2018NoLo\u2019) beverages as the norm. Fewer young people today drink alcohol \u2013 or drink alcohol in excess \u2013 marking an entirely necessary and ongoing transition to more healthy, natural, organic, non-GMO ways of eating, drinking and living, in general. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fiona Hilton from alcohol free e-tailer Drink Nil says, \u201cWhether your reasons are religious, health-related, in the interests of maintaining a clear head \u2013 or simply because you want to \u2013 there\u2019s no reason that not wanting to consume alcohol should see you stigmatised. The availability of a massive array of non-alcoholic drinks means you don\u2019t have to choose between being a \u2018drinker\u2019 or \u2018abstainer\u2019 \u2013 it\u2019s an entirely new way to enjoy yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The choice of whether to consume alcoholic drinks or not is, sadly, greatly stigmatising in South Africa. There\u2019s a generation of people who are asked \u2018why not?\u2019 when they decline a drink, with the connotation that they\u2019re not \u2018joining in\u2019 or there\u2019s \u2018something wrong\u2019 with them. It\u2019s painted as very<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2236,"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2234\/revisions\/2236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fashionscoop.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
NoLo is an entirely new category of drinks, rather than a substitute for alcoholic ones \u2013 an exciting option, not a trade-off. Splitting that group into no alcohol and low-alcohol – opens the variety up even further. In South Africa, plenty of non-alcoholic wines and bubbles, gins, spirits, beer, ready-to-drink options like \u2018mocktails\u2019 and interesting sparkling tonics, sodas and seltzers are available through high street stores and e-tailers like Drink Nil<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A drink can be called non-alcoholic or de-alcoholised if it contains 0.5% or less alcohol by volume (ABV). A drink may be labelled \u2018alcohol-free\u2019 if it contains 0.05% or less alcohol by volume (ABV). If a beverage contains alcohol, the label must reference its ABV, even in trace amounts. A drink that is 0.0% ABV may contain less than one 20th<\/sup> of a percent of alcohol – the same amount found in a very ripe banana or pear. By comparison, alcoholic beers generally start around 4% ABV, wines at 12% and spirits 40% and up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The vast number of new products entering the market from traditional alcohol brands and new producers has developed non-alcoholic drinks as a quality and enjoyable option to the array of choices people are able to consume, for those who choose not to drink alcohol for their own reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThese drinks have come a long way in a very short space of time \u2013 another industry accelerated by the pandemic and the shift towards a healthier lifestyle – led by variety, quality and innovation,\u201d concludes Hilton. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"