Fancy a cocktail, a beer or a drink with all the sophisticated barware and vibe, but can't drink alcohol?
A new beverage shop in Port Coquitlam will introduce a wide range of "booze-free" beverage options — going beyond the usual soda pops and juices — and it'll be the first of its kind in B.C.
(pronounced like beverages) is slated to open in mid-November .
The business will have over 300 kinds of booze-free products — from beer and wine to spirits, liquers and pre-mixed mocktails — on their shelves, according to founder Racquel Foran.
Foran, who founded the business alongside her husband Jim O'Connor, said the establishment isn't anti-booze; it's pro-choice.
"We want everyone to have easy access to the same diverse selection of beverages as those who drink alcohol," she said in her booze-free blog.
"And we also think those who don't drink alcohol should be able to socialize with friends, and celebrate occasions in the same sophisticated environment as those who do drink alcohol."
The shop, she said, caters to those who drink alcohol too, with their huge selection of mixers, tonics, shakers, glasses and more.
In addition to having a huge booze-free selection in the Tri-Cities, the store will also be home to a large barware collection and have B.C.'s first booze-free beverage room, where everyone can get the bar experience without the booze.
Humble beginnings
Nothing good ever happens after 2 a.m., but this wasn't true for the Port Coquitlam couple.
In fact, it was at 2 a.m. on a random night in bed that Foran had an epiphany.
Foran said she and her husband had long mulled over an idea for a business. Somewhere, they read a news article about the booze-free beverage trend and got into a conversation about it.
"I went to bed that night, and about two o'clock in the morning I woke up and I swear I sat upright in my bed and thought, that's it…that’s the business idea,” she remembered.
It was an instant agreement from her husband, she added.
The couple then spent months researching about the trend in rise of non-alcoholic beverages — not just in Canada, but the whole world.
"A lot of the really hard work had already been done and people [especially in Europe] had already spent a good decade developing these products to bring them up to speed with their alcoholic counterparts," she said.
"It slowly started to seep into the United States and there's over 1000 non-alcoholic products now. We didn't realize it was this huge. The trend [now] seems to be that non alcoholic drinks seem to be the new cool thing that people are getting on to. So we decided to jump into the market."
While non-alcoholic beverages can be found in stores across B.C., Foran noted there is no dedicated shop to selling only non-alcoholic beverages. So they wanted to jump on it.
She admitted that the drinks have a bad reputation in society, but hopes to change that with their vast collection of products, many made locally in B.C.
"And it's healthier [than alcohol]. Most of the ingredients are natural. There are fewer additives, have less sugar, have fewer calories and they're yummy," Foran added.
The bar and the experience
From a simple storefront housing one of the largest collection of non-alcoholic drinks, Bevees became a bar-of-a-kind.
Foran said she wanted to have a tasting bar for guests to sample the non-alcoholic collection of drinks, so they get a taste of it before committing to a whole bottle.
But when word got out about a "non-alcoholic bar," they were met with real enthusiasm. So Foran said they decided to roll with it.
The beverage room will have a 15-feet bar, an event room and a lounge, so people can come together to socialize and have a cocktail lounge experience without the burden of having to drink alcohol.
Bevees will also have a 3x15 ft. mural of a local artist's painting as the highlight, feature piece of the bar.
Looking back, she said the idea was probably more than just a business idea. It was an interesting journey to embark, Foran said, as O'Connor had never been much of an alcohol-drinker.
"He just doesn't like the taste of it."
But with options few and far between, he was always pressurized to drink alcohol in the social settings or drink regular old cola.
"It's just not good for us…and why does society pushes booze so much," she added.
"We question the people who don't drink alcohol instead of questioning the people who do. And I think with these really delicious, interesting, fun, non-alcoholic content, cocktails and drinks, there’s an opportunity to shift people away from something that's really bad for them. And into something that's a little bit better."
Especially with flavours like jalapeno and cayenne pre-mixed mocktails and more, she hopes, non-alcoholic drinks will be something people will get behind on.
To introduce the world to Bevees before it officially opens in Port Coquitlam mid-November, the founders are bringing a mini-version of it to the West Coast Women's Show at Tradex in Abbotsford from Oct. 13 to 15.
The brick and mortor Bevees shop and beverage room in Port Coquitlam will open to the public mid November daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
