Tonic, a zero-proof bottle shop in Easton, popped the cork on plentiful nonalcoholic beverages downtown.
“There’s nowhere to really get a good alternative to alcohol, like a sophisticated drink, so I feel there’s a need,” said Jackie Ruedo, who owns Tonic with her husband, Wilson Ruedo.
The shop offers a variety of nonalcoholic beverages from different companies, including bottles of wine, Phony Negroni and even drinks that do not aim to replicate any particular alcohol.
Many of Tonic’s beverages contain adaptogens rather than alcohol. Adaptogens are natural substances such as herbs, roots and mushrooms that can help alleviate stress. Several of the calming drinks at Tonic contain valerian root, which is found in “sleepytime” teas. Some beverages contain spices to mimic alcohol burn.
Tonic’s tagline is “Enhance the ritual.” The Ruedos seek to welcome people into the ritual of alcohol without its negative effects, such as hangovers and dehydration.
“I feel it’s been ingrained in us,” Ruedo said of drinking, from dinners to weddings.
“I love the taste of wine,” said Sherry Darr, a customer of Tonic. “What I’ve always wanted from that glass of wine I’m able to get in even better measure with Tonic products because they’re not meant to inebriate you.”
While some customers, like Darr, do not taste a difference between Tonic’s wines and alcoholic wines, others say it is not the same.
“But the whole thing’s more about the flavor than thinking about replicating alcohol,” Joe Gourniak, who works at Tonic, said.
Tonic welcomes older and younger customers, those who never drink alcohol and those who are “sober-curious.”
“We’re not trying to tell people, ‘Don’t drink alcohol'” Ruedo said. “We’re just saying, ‘Hey, there’s options for you.'”
“I just didn’t have a good experience with it,” said Gourniak, who stopped drinking eight years ago. “It’s definitely a lot better for my mental health and I don’t wake up with hangovers anymore. There’s all kinds of positives.”
“That social feeling that you feel you get when you get FOMO from not drinking — the fear of missing out — you can replicate or have just as good a time with either the adaptogens or the replica spirits that we offer,” he continued.
Darr works in Easton as a social worker, having worked with people with substance abuse problems. She says Tonic drinks may be able to serve as substitutes for those with these issues.
“I do think it’s part of a larger trend where people are becoming more conscious about the carcinogens around us,” Darr said. “People are more aware of what they’re putting in their bodies.”
Earlier this month, the U.S. surgeon general of the Biden administration advised that alcohol consumption is a leading preventable cause of cancer.
“They’re extremely healthy people, so anything that they’re marketing is going to be something that’s good for all of us,” Darr said about the Ruedos.
The pair also run Tonic’s parent company, Green Vida, a wellness cafe and juice bar. They expanded with Tonic more recently.
“Alcohol doesn’t sit well with me,” Ruedo said. “But I do like to have a good drink. So we started experimenting.”
Tonic also hosts mocktail making classes. The Ruedos said that they have another room in the back of the Tonic property that they may turn into a bar or cafe.
“Just hoping people can stop in and check it out and explore this world of nonalcoholic spirits,” Gourniak said.
