Every October, half the internet finds out what it's like to be the one holding a club soda at a party. Some of us have been doing Sober October for years, and the drinks have gotten a lot better since the O'Doul's days.
This week, Alysse and Tamar sit down with the two people who know exactly what to pour: Kim Parsley and Justin Lamb, who hold down The Sober Curator's Happy Every Hour section. Kim covers NA spirits and cocktails. Justin is roughly 150 NA beer reviews in and still can't find a non-alcoholic single malt scotch.
In this episode:
- Sober October, Dry January, and "the always forgotten Dry July": eye roll, gateway drug, or marketing?
- Justin's fall NA beer list from 2024 still pops off, and some of the breweries on it are gone
- Why celebrity NA beer brands might not want sober customers (and why there should be room at the table)
- The "drink as prescribed" rule for trying NA spirits for the first time
- Kim builds Justin an NA Negroni and Alysse a pink Barbie Cosmo on the spot
- The one drink each of us is pouring for the rest of fall, plus what we're eating with it
CHAPTERS
00:00 Club soda at the party
02:01 The Sober Curator Mixtape
04:16 Sober October: eye roll or gateway drug?
09:44 From craft beer to NA beer
13:36 Kim's piano bar and Tanqueray 0.0
17:55 The 2024 fall beer list, two years later
20:22 "The War on Alcohol" and the SNL sketch
23:37 "They don't want recovered addicts"
25:23 TOMONOTOMO: drink as prescribed
29:30 What drink are you?
30:57 Which NA spirits can you sip neat?
33:41 "I drink Diet Coke"
37:48 One drink for the rest of fall
TSC Articles mentioned in this episode:
- Justin's Top 10 Non-Alcoholic Beers for Fall
- Kim's TOMONOTOMO Tobalá review
- SNL's "Non-Non Alcoholic Beer" sketch, pro or con
- “It’s Always Sunny,” NA Beer and the Joke That Didn’t Land for Me
- The Sober Curator Mixtape (Sober Snail Mail)
- Backstage with The Sober Curator
Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more.
SEASON 2 MERCH: https://shopthesobercurator.com/
SC RESOURCES:
- Meet the Contributors
- Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide
- Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide
- LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide
- Family Resource Guide
CONNECT: www.thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter: https://www.thesobercuratornewsletter.com/ | @thesobercurator on Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube + Pinterest
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Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice.
Music: TSC S2 theme "Sober Shots" created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno's commercial license.
