Every October, the same conversation starts. People decide to give up alcohol for a month, usually with a mixture of enthusiasm and mild panic, and immediately start counting the days until November. But I think we might be looking at Sober October the wrong way. What if, instead of thinking about what you’re giving up for 31 days, you looked at it as an opportunity to get curious?
I stopped drinking more than ten years ago, long before I started Drink Dry and long before ‘sober curious’ became part of our everyday vocabulary. My reasons were personal. I was trying to start a family and began looking more closely at my lifestyle. I started exercising more, sleeping more, eating better and drinking less. Eventually, drinking less became not drinking at all. I certainly didn’t set out thinking it would lead to a completely new career and business, but life has a funny way of doing that.
I think we might be looking at Sober October the wrong way. What if, instead of thinking about what you’re giving up for 31 days, you looked at it as an opportunity to get curious?
Today, through Drink Dry, I speak with people every day who choose not to drink, and one of the biggest changes I’ve noticed is the sheer variety of reasons. Some are training for a marathon. Some have an important meeting the following morning. Some are parents who simply don’t fancy combining a late night with a 6 am wake-up from a small child – something that, as a mum of three, I completely understand! For some, it’s recognising that drinking has become too regular, or harder to control, and wanting to give their bodies a break
That is why we have never defined our customer by age, gender or nationality. We look at their why. And increasingly, the why is simply: because I don’t want to tonight.
Sober October FOMO
One of the things customers often tell us when they try Sober October is that they expected the social side to be much harder than it actually was. What they were worried about wasn’t necessarily missing alcohol, it was missing the ritual around it: the Friday-night drink, opening a bottle over dinner, holding something beautiful at a party.
What they were worried about wasn’t necessarily missing alcohol, it was missing the ritual around it: the Friday-night drink, opening a bottle over dinner, holding something beautiful at a party
This is where good alcohol-free alternatives really make a difference. I have always believed that removing alcohol shouldn’t mean removing the occasion. If everyone is having a glass of sparkling wine, why should the person not drinking be handed a glass of water? If you’re eating a beautiful meal, your drink should add to that experience too.
Food pairing is actually one of my favourite parts of the category. Biere des Amis 0.0 is a great beer option with spicy food, burgers or anything salty. If you’re having seafood or lighter dishes, I love Vintense Prestige Blanc de Blancs as a sparkling alternative. And wine drinkers absolutely don’t have to abandon the ritual of wine with dinner either; Natureo and Sangre de Toro 0.0 are great examples of how far the category has come. The point isn’t necessarily to find something that perfectly imitates alcohol; it’s to find a drink that tastes genuinely good with the food in front of you.
Dubai’s Alcohol-Free Evolution
Dubai’s hospitality industry has come an incredibly long way in this respect. When I moved here in 2019, I genuinely felt forgotten as a consumer. Too often my choices were water, a fizzy drink or an incredibly sweet mocktail. It was one of the reasons I started Drink Dry.
Today, brilliant examples exist at both ends of the hospitality spectrum. Roberto’s in DIFC has embraced the category with a much wider alcohol-free offering, rather than a single token option. LPM is another great example: its cocktail menu gives alcohol-free drinks proper attention, including beautifully considered cocktails using Tanqueray 0.0.
But what excites me just as much is seeing this happening in community restaurants. Maison Mathis in Arabian Ranches, for example, offers several alcohol-free beers. Places such as The Els Club have also understood that their guests want genuine choice, while CQ French Brasserie has introduced non-alcoholic Sangria options. It doesn’t have to be complicated; it simply has to feel like the non-drinking guest has been thought about.
One of the nicest changes I’ve seen over the years is that choosing not to drink is becoming increasingly unremarkable. And that’s exactly how it should be.
Sober October inevitably brings more people through our doors at Drink Dry, but what I find far more interesting is what happens afterwards. A lot of people don’t remain completely alcohol-free, nor do I think they need to. Instead, they take something from the month and incorporate it into their normal lives. Maybe Monday to Thursday becomes alcohol-free. Maybe they alternate between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks on a night out. Maybe they discover a 0.0% beer they genuinely prefer at lunch. That, to me, is far more interesting than counting down to midnight on October 31st.
Tips to Get Through Dry January (and Beyond) And then there is the question every non-drinker knows very well: “Oh, go on, just have one.” After more than a decade, my answer is very simple: “No thanks, I’m good.” No lengthy explanation. No defence. No big announcement. One of the nicest changes I’ve seen over the years is that choosing not to drink is becoming increasingly unremarkable. And that’s exactly how it should be.
Drink Dry has never been about telling people to stop drinking alcohol. I don’t believe in preaching to people about what they should or shouldn’t have in their glass. Our whole ethos is about adding choice, not taking it away. So if you’re doing Sober October this year, don’t approach it thinking, 31 days without alcohol. Instead, perhaps ask yourself: What might I discover in 31 days?
You might go straight back to your favourite glass of wine on November 1st. You might not. You might land somewhere happily in the middle. All three are perfectly good outcomes. The important thing is that the choice is yours.
To learn more about alcohol-free options in the UAE visit the drinkdrystore.com
