WHEN I FIRST started reevaluating my relationship with alcohol, I managed to find a bar in my Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood that served nonalcoholic beer. Each time I’d visit, they’d pull a dusty bottle from the six-pack of O’Douls kept in the back. I’d sip it at the bar while reflecting on the changes to my social life that would likely ensue if I quit alcohol for good. I didn’t identify as an alcoholic; I was simply “sober curious” — a term I’d coined to describe the pull I felt to investigate life as a non-drinker. And when it came to eating and drinking “out,” I was quickly discovering that stepping away from my trusty sauv blancs and hazy IPAs would seriously limit my options.

Seven years later, things have improved considerably — to the extent that the most forward-thinking bars, restaurants, and hotels are now identifiable by their zero-proof selection. The transition was a matter of supply meets demand, multiplied by innovation: As more and more people get curious about either cutting back their alcohol intake or quitting altogether, the alcohol-free beverage sector has exploded. From nonalcoholic craft beers to dealcoholized wines, to a new breed of adaptogen-laced “social tonics” such as Kin and Three Spirit, in 2022 there is plenty for bar managers and mixologists to get excited about putting on their menus.

2015 saw the launch of the first nonalcoholic spirits brand, Seedlip, which I first sampled at London’s COMO Metropolitan hotel when I gave a talk there on sober curiosity. They served it with tonic and a green pea garnish. Today, the zero-proof menu at Brooklyn’s Wythe Hotel hosts temptations such as the Michelada Sin — a punchy concoction of Special Effects nonalcoholic beer (brewed across the street at the Brooklyn Brewery), hot sauce, pineapple, and salt. Meanwhile, the most popular order is the zero-proof Old-Fashioned, made with Ghia nonalcoholic aperitif, ginger, and a house-made old-fashioned cordial. “People are always going to order nonalcoholic drinks in bars; why not offer them something that reflects the same care and creativity that we bring to our spirited offerings?” says Rafa García Febles, the hotel’s beverage director.

Why not, indeed? But for so long, non-drinkers were palmed off with a soda from the kids’ menu or a begrudgingly muddled mocktail. This new attitude reflects a fundamental shift in how non-drinkers are perceived — namely, that they are equally discerning and deserving of a thoughtfully curated selection. It follows in the flexitarian movement’s footsteps, which likewise has seen plant-based options move up the menu hierarchy.

When I first met Mark Livings, cofounder and CEO of alcohol-free spirits brand Lyres, he noted how “it used to be that you’d find one vegetarian dish on a menu. Then, if you were lucky, you might be offered a separate vegan menu if you asked for it. Now, plant-based dishes are often the star of the show.”