Seattle Refined Article: Sober Curious? WA native's non-alcoholic wine tastes like the real thing

Read the full article by Gena Wynkoop at Seattle Refined here. LINK

Coined by journalist, author, and sober warrior Ruby Warrington, the “Sober Curious” movement has swept the nation, making women and men alike take a closer look at their relationship to alcohol.

I too have gone on my own sober curious journey of sorts.

During the summer I was incredibly sick of alcohol. It was everywhere, and involved in every single activity I was invited to. Going swimming? Bring some beers. Going for a walk? Wine in a Nalgene bottle, and the list goes on and on and on.

Sure, I’m in my mid-20’s and it’s a common activity amongst us 20-somethings but BOY was I tired of it.

I was, to put it bluntly, bored of spending my Sunday mornings and afternoons with a hangover. I was tired of feeling tired on Mondays and was noticing that I didn’t even feel like a normal human being until Tuesday evening around 7 p.m.

More than anything, I started to feel like my free time wasn’t all that free after all.

My free time was consumed with happy hours which led to nights out with friends and then recovering from it the next day. Even with a hangover I would lose a day to just being lazy and glued to couch scrolling through Netflix (and yes Netflix, I AM still watching).

Alas, my sober curious journey. I cut out alcohol completely, picked up some books to read about young women who had also quit alcohol as an experiment and I learned a lot.

I stopped drinking for about two months and to put it lightly - I never felt better.

For starters, I was SLEEPING, and I was sleeping hard. My skin cleared up, I trimmed down, I was exercising every day and my mood improved ten-fold.

In a world that is so adamant about promoting “self-care” this and “self-care” that how can we possibly keep up with it when getting happy hour and drunk every weekend is on the docket? It’s like we are actively working against ourselves.

I digress.

It wasn't all sunshine and daisies, though. The thing I missed the most during my sober summer was the act of uncorking the wine bottle; hearing the glug, glug, glug sound the first pour made, the ritual, the communion, sitting down with the gals and spillin’ the hot goss.

Cue, Jøyus Wines, a non-alcoholic wine that looks and, wait for it, tastes like actual wine. Sign. Me. Up.

Jøyus Wines was created by Jessica Selander, a Washington native with 16 years of sobriety under her belt, who set out to create a non-alcoholic wine as an alternative to folks who are sober or are searching for a bit more balance.

“I set out to create non-alcoholic wines that tasted like the wines I missed," said Selander. "Wines that I would want to drink. So it was born out of necessity but it’s also a labor of love.”

The idea of Jøyus Wines was born after a friend’s bachelorette...

Read the full article by Gena Wynkoop at Seattle Refined here. LINK