In episode 5 of The Alcohol-free Sommelier, I interviewed Laura Willoughby MBE, of Club Soda. This bonus episode comes from the Club Soda archive. You can find out more by visiting their website ClubSoda.com . Laura, with guest Tom Ward, chat about the confusing labelling regulations for No & Low drinks in the UK, and the ever-growing range of products now available in bars and retail.

Guests:

Laura Willoughby MBE Co-Founder of Club Soda, former politician, and an inspirational force in the world of No & Low

ClubSoda.com

Tom Ward Founder of Wise Bartender, the largest online selection of No & Low drinks in the UK

wisebartender.co.uk

Contact The Alcohol-free Sommelier:

Please DO get in touch. We'd love to hear your comments and questions:

Chrissie Parkinson: chris@brimfuldrinks.co.uk

James Morgan: james@brimfuldrinks.co.uk 

Club Soda was created as a community for people moderating their alcohol intake. It has become the go-to place for information and support for sober drinkers. But it's also the place where the industry goes: Laura realised that to make the world a good place for non-drinkers, she had to change everything about drinks: from manufacture and distribution through to retail and hospitality. Club Soda has had an enormous impact and - if you are in anyway interested or involved in No & Low - it's an essential source of information in a rapidly evolving category

Guests:

Laura Willoughby MBE is Co-Founder of Club Soda

Laura@joinClubsoda.org.uk

Links: 

Nudging Pubs full report: http://nudgingpubs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Nudging-Pubs-2016.pdf

There are two real reasons why our ancestors made and consumed alcoholic drinks:

1. Foodstuffs ferment quite naturally to produce alcohol - it just happens.
2. Once alcohol is present, it tends to preserve the drink.

(possibly they liked the effects, too)

Non-alcoholic drinks, however, don't have alcohol to preserve them, and this can cause problems.

Simon Rucker of Timeless Drinks and Tom Ward of Wise Bartender share their experiences of making and storing alcohol-free drinks. We hear why some drinks are more vulnerable to spoilage than others, and what can be done to make them stable.

We also ponder the need for education around handling drinks without alcohol.

Guests:

Simon Rucker is the Founder / Joint CEO of 
Timeless Drinks Ventures Ltd, creator of the award-winning 'Nine Elms no 18'

https://www.nineelmsdrinks.com

Tom Ward is the Owner of Wise Bartender, online distributor of non-alcoholic drinks

https://wisebartender.co.uk

Who we are:

James Morgan co-founded the No & Low consultancy Brimful Drinks after a 25-year career in hospitality. He also has a background in both art and research.

james@brimfuldrinks.co.uk

Christine Parkinson co-founded Brimful Drinks after 18 years as the award-winning Head of Wine for Hakkasan Group

chris@brimfuldrinks.co.uk

Contact:

Please DO get in touch. We'd love to hear your comments and questions. You can reach us on the emails above.

Christine talks to Bethan Higson and Matthew Jukes about the drinks they have created, and what made them choose apple cider vinegar as a base ingredient.

Learn about the 3 key ingredients that go into a shrub, and why switchel is just another name for a shrub with ginger.

Guests:

Bethan Higson is the Founder of Mother Root https://www.motherroot.london

Matthew Jukes is a wine expert, journalist and buyer, and is the creator of Jukes Cordialities https://jukescordialities.com and https://www.matthewjukes.com

Contact:

Please DO get in touch. We'd love to hear your comments and questions:

Chrissie Parkinson: chris@brimfuldrinks.co.uk

James Morgan: james@brimfuldrinks.co.uk 

Where can non-alcoholic drinks be bought? 

The suppliers you've used for years probably don’t sell No & Low drinks – but Tom Proctor and Daniel Stiller do. Francoise Mathis and Adrian Needham would like to, one day. James Morgan explains why the wrong choice of supplier can cause a traffic jam!

Shops, bars and restaurants are all expected to have a good selection of alcohol free drinks nowadays, but it’s not always clear where to buy them.

The wholesalers that supply the trade rarely have much choice of No&Lo – if, indeed, they have any.

Most producers sell their products to the directly to the trade, but buying that way isn't necessarily the best thing to do.

Without the right supply chain in place, problems will arise, from admin costs to traffic jams

We talk to two non-alcoholic drinks specialists on either side of the Atlantic, and find out how they are combining selling to consumers with supplying the trade: d2c meets b2b

Guests: 

Daniel Stiller is CEO of the American online Low & No retailer Better Rhodes. https://www.betterrhodes.com

Tom Proctor founded and is Director of online Low & No retailer Alcohol Free Co. https://thealcoholfreeco.co.uk 

Adrian Needham is London & SE Sales Director of Hallgarten Novum Wines https://www.hnwines.co.uk/contact-us

Francoise Mathis recently joined Indigo Wine as Commercial Director https://www.indigowine.co

James Morgan co-founded the No & Low consultancy Brimful Drinks after a 25-year career in hospitality. He also has a background in both art and research. He has worked with clients including Distill Ventures, Travers Smith, Nine Elms No.18, Better Rhodes and Hakkasan Group.

Contact:

Please DO get in touch. We'd love to hear your comments and questions:

Chrissie Parkinson: chris@brimfuldrinks.co.uk

James Morgan: james@brimfuldrinks.co.uk 

The answer is maybe, or maybe not. Matthew Jukes & Amanda Thomson disagree, industry insiders Imma Cannavo, Harry Crowther & Francoise Mathis set out their wish-lists, and regular contributor James Morgan explains why some alcohol-free wine can taste, well .... terrible!

Wine seems to be the poor relation of the no and low drinks world. Unlike non-alcoholic beer, it's not widely considered to offer excellent quality, and it hasn't reached the same levels of awareness and excitement as alcohol-free spirits. Why? Well, there are several reasons, and a few solutions. This episode gathers comments from key industry insiders, and looks at what might come next for de-alcoholised wine.

Guests:

Matthew Jukes is a world-renowned, award-winning, wine taster, journalist and author. During his 35 years in the wine business, Matthew has worked for BBC Radio and Channel 4 TV, and as well as writing 14 wine books, he has written the most widely-read wine column in the UK, in the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine, for over two decades. Find him on matthewjukes.com. He is also the founder, creator and CEO of Jukes Cordialities jukescordialities.com

Amanda Thomson is the CEO and Founder of Thomson & Scott and creator of Noughty premium alcohol-free sparkling Chardonnay and Rosé. Having been brought up on a plant-based, no sugar diet by her health-conscious single mother, Amanda has always had a keen interest in healthy living. After a successful career as an Arts Broadcaster at the BBC, she moved to Paris and studied for her Diploma in Wine at the renowned Le Cordon Bleu School. Find her at http://noughtyaf.com

Imma Cannavo is Head Sommelier and Wine Buyer at Oblix. She started her career in 2007 at the Locanda Locatelli, moved to Paris to learn about French wines, then to Dubai where she became Head Sommelier Middle East for Hakkasan Group. She returned to London's Hakkasan Mayfair before joining Oblix. http://oblixrestaurant.com

Harry Crowther is founder of Grain to Grape: Modern profitable wine training, specialising in making teams 'wine confident' and increasing profitability of wine lists. He's a contributing writer at The Buyer, and has plenty of experience squishing grapes in NZ and Portugal. Harry also heads up wine buying for Good Pair Days, Australia's fastest growing online wine subscription service, launching in the UK in Nov 2021. Find him at www.grapetimes.co.uk

Francoise Mathis has lived in the UK for the last 17 years working with various wholesales across the wine trade and recently joined Indigo Wine as Commercial Director. https://www.indigowine.com

James Morgan co-founded the No & Low consultancy Brimful Drinks after a 25-year career in hospitality. He also has a background in both art and research. He has worked with clients including Distill Ventures, Travers Smith, Nine Elms No.18, Better Rhodes and Hakkasan Group. Contact him here james@brimfuldrinks.co.uk

Contact:

Chrissie Parkinson is The Alcohol-Free Sommelier. Get in touch with your comments, questions and ideas: chris@brimfuldrinks.co.uk