Here’s to Zero-Proof Partying! We taste-tested DRY Cranberry Botanical Bubbly Zero-Proof Bay Breeze recipe. Pardon the pun, but making this recipe was a breeze. If you love a cran-pineapple hybrid, then you’ll want to add this alcohol-free bevie to your next Happy Every Hour.

Here’s to friends with convertibles! That’s what you’ll find on the packaging of the DRY Cranberry Botanical Bubbly. Their claim? Four ingredients plus optimism. We’ll drink to that! Our glass is always half full at Happy Every Hour. There’s just no booze in it.

ZERO-PROOF BAY BREEZE RECIPE CARD:

2 oz. Pineapple Juice
3 oz. DRY Cranberry Botanical Bubbly
Splash of Grenadine
Splash of Cranberry Juice

DIRECTIONS:

In a shaker mix pineapple juice, grenadine, and cranberry juice with ice. Shake until cold and pour all into a glass and top with DRY Cranberry Botanical Bubbly. Garnish with Pineapple, cherries, and orange slices.

This is the kind of drink I can imagine sipping while vacationing in the Hawaiian Islands. One Saturday in September, my bestie Erin helped me throw a tasting party for two of healthy DRY zero-proof recipes. As we sipped on the Zero-Proof Bay Breeze in her backyard in Kirkland, WA it reminded me of that time we decided to go to Hawaii for the weekend. When you’re single and in your 40s, you can just pack up and go to Hawaii for the weekend. And that’s exactly what we did in February of 2017.

TASTING NOTES:

Erin (BESTIE): This drink takes me to a tropical location, like that time we went to Hawaii for the weekend.

Alysse (ME): “We are over 8 drink recipes in at this point, I’m too tired to taste this one. I bet I would like it tho. Although Pineapple sometimes gives me heartburn.”

Insert screeching tires sound here! Me? Tired of drinking? At “only” eight drinks? WHO AM I? Back in my drinking prime, eight drinks during a day drinking activity would have been nothing.

After consistently practicing a sober lifestyle for over 14 years, so many things have changed for the better. When people meet me and realize I don’t drink, I frequently get “Really? You don’t drink? You seem like a drinker…” Yeah, I bet I do. I was a lot of fun in my drinking days…until I was not.

With my profession and love of a festive and full social life, I am truly a gal about town. Well, I was pre-Corona. I’ve worked in media sales for over 20+ years. Deals get done over drinks. Colleagues want to bond after work over drinks. Single? Well, most dates happen over drinks. Sportsball time! Where are the drinks? When you think about it, almost everything surrounds or involves drinking. It’s everywhere.

I learned that in an exercise I did in early recovery. I listed out 10 places I saw alcohol every day for months. MONTHS! Make it stop! I was so sick of this exercise after the first few weeks. I tried to get out of it by not leaving the house.

But guess what? It’s there too, even if you have zero alcohol in your cupboards. Alcohol is everywhere! Literally EVERYWHERE!

Magazines!
On TV – both in commercials and product placement in movies and TV shows
Outdoor billboards and buses
It’s on the radio
Facebook and every possible social media channel that exists
Websites
Product placement and referencing drinking in movies and even Broadway shows
Gas stations, airports, and train stations

Walking your dogs? There’s always that random beer can in the shrubs or beer cap that scratches under your sneaker.

IN THE EARLY RECOVERY PHASE

I realized pretty early on in my sobriety I was going to need to learn to be around it and not have it affect me. It took time. It took practice. Having an exit plan was always a key detail plan. It took a sober village around me, along with my loving family and friends that I could get honest with.

What I love about the DRY Botanical Bubbly product line is that they were one of the first drinks that became my event go-to over a decade ago. They aren’t paying me to say this either. Experience showed me that alcohol-free drinks at events were basically an afterthought. You knew your choices would be water, coffee, tea, or big brand sodas. No fancy mocktails. No craft zero-proof artisanal beverage menus.

I have memories of clinging on to my favorite DRY Lavender Botanical Bubbly bottle like my life was depending on it. That happened at more than a few events. People look at you when you’re not drinking. I just wanted to fit in.

Thankfully, brands like DRY figured out early on that not everyone wants to celebrate and use alcohol. There are many of us that want to celebrate being alcohol-free. We want to join in on the rituals of life too. We just want to do it sober.

Delight our taste buds and can we please have a pretty bottle or glass like all of the drinkers? Thank you DRY. Sobriety is not always a breeze. With brands like yours, gals and gents like me can socially celebrate and honor our alcohol abstinence at the same time.

CHECK OUT THE OTHER DRY RECIPES HERE:

Drinking on your mind? Resources are available if and when you need them.

Sobriety is meant to be shared. That’s why it’s better not to go it alone.

Resources Are Available

If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulties surrounding alcoholism, addiction, or mental illness, please reach out and ask for help. People everywhere can and want to help; you just have to know where to look. And continue to look until you find what works for you. Click here for a list of regional and national resources.