Amid Cancer Warning, Sober Bar Says You Don’t Need Alcohol to Have Fun

• Hekate Café & Elixir Lounge offers a sober experience in New York City.
• BI visited Hekate after the U.S. Surgeon General reported a link between alcohol and cancer.
• While drinking has surged during the pandemic, the sober curiosity movement is booming.

A sober bar tucked away in Manhattan’s East Village offers an alternative to New York City’s otherwise boozy scene.

On Saturday night, bar manager Eliott Edge of the Hekate Café and Elixir Lounge welcomed patrons, telling newcomers: “Everything – with a capital E – is non-alcoholic.”

business insider Hecate Revisited U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Alcohol is the leading cause of cancer And there should be warning labels like those on cigarette packs.

Edge, a professional bartender, said he was drunk for five years straight before seeking rehab. Now, after two years of sobriety and rebranding himself as a mocktail bartender, he’s not surprised by the Surgeon General’s announcement.

“News is not news, but at the same time, every time an authority figure comes along and makes a statement, people are going to reconsider their actions,” Edge told BI. “People are going to think about their choices in a different way now.”

Alcohol consumption surges During the COVID-19 pandemic, deaths from excessive drinking increased nearly 30% from 2016 to 2020, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the agency, excessive drinking continued into 2022, long after the COVID-19 pandemic first hit. Annals of Internal Medicine.

even so, Gen Z drinks less alcohol sparking growing interest compared to previous generations sober social.

“The slowdown in alcohol consumption seems to be enough for those of us in the alcohol industry to take notice,” Edge said. “If there’s a silver lining to this pandemic, it’s that this whole new world of non-alcoholic options is really appeared suddenly.”

Edge predicts every pub will have to offer non-alcoholic drinks to stay competitive “Because they’ll realize it’s like vegetarian or vegan or gluten-free or dairy-free. It’s just another customer profile that needs to be catered to — and the ones that don’t cater to that are going to go this road.

Although Hekate is a completely sober experience, Edge said the bar is a “shining example” of how to do it right.

For those paying cash, drinks at Hekate cost about $13 — slightly less than the price of a typical cocktail at a New York bar.

But Agee said people come to bars to have fun, and with the music, lights and atmosphere of his bar, Hecate delivers. The cozy bar shares its name with the Greek goddess of magic and is decorated accordingly.

“You don’t need alcohol,” Edge said. “You don’t need anything to have a good time. What we really need is permission to have a good time, and that’s what alcohol does to us. But how many times do good times end with a bad show?”

Edge says that not only does he feel happier as a sober mocktail bartender, but his customers seem happier too, even if they’re just stopping in for a mocktail or two before heading out for spirits later. .

“My regulars look great, you know? They don’t look like they’re slowly sliding down a hill,” he said. “I’m not going to watch a fight break out between best friends. I’m not going to watch a date melt into, you know, a puddle of pain.”

Maybe the best part?

“My bathroom is much cleaner.”