Posted by James Stuart
on October 15, 2025
It's been almost a hundred years since Prohibition ended, yet most bars and restaurants are still slow to the Zero Proof party, challenged by the idea of anything other than alcohol at the center of their beverage experience.
For decades, the industry has relied on the buzz, both literal and figurative, for profit, personality, and perceived fun.
But ask a restaurateur or beverage director to embrace a drink without booze and many react with cynicism or indifference. To some, the “N/A” or Zero Proof movement sounds like a fad that risks both the bottom line and the soul of hospitality. But resistance has always been part of evolution.
Predictable Pushback
Think back to when organic products first hit the market. Pay double for a chicken just because it was “organic”? Unthinkable. Or when hybrid cars were dismissed by car enthusiasts as political statements. It always comes down to the same human truth: people resist change.
New ideas are almost always met with skepticism or indignance; until they’re not. We all know someone who only comes around once they’ve had enough time to believe it was their idea in the first place. The hospitality industry may be in that same phase now, slowly evolving, reluctantly adapting, but inevitably opening up to zero proof products.
“Every movement begins with some discomfort. Resistance is just the first sign that something new is really happening”
Perspectives Change, Rituals Don’t
I’ve spent most of my life around alcohol. As a Brit who grew up in my family’s pub, drinking was always part of the landscape. Later, I worked in industries where drinking wasn’t just accepted, it was practically expected: music and hospitality.
I’ve had my share of nights out and close calls, but time and perspective thankfully shifted things. What once felt essential doesn’t anymore. Every movement, personal or cultural, begins with some discomfort. Resistance is just the first sign that something new is really happening.
These days, alcohol plays an insignificant role in my life. Weeks, sometimes months, go by, and though not completely abstinent, I just don’t want the buzz anymore. Thankfully, as zero proof options continue to shape the zeitgeist, I can still get what I do want — and the ritual doesn’t have to change.
Zero Proof Is Challenging More Than the Bottom Line
Of course, resistance to the non alcoholic trend is not just about menu strategy or revenue concerns. It runs deeper, into emotion, identity, and habit. For generations, alcohol has been more than a drink — it has been our social lubricant, our connector, and for many, our coping mechanism. It occupies a deeply personal space in our lives. To question it is to question part of who we are, and that can be uncomfortable.
For some, it threatens the traditions, lifestyles, and emotional foundations that have relied on a certain degree of intoxication for so long — the essential accoutrement to how they experience almost everything in life.
An Evolution of How We Operate, and Celebrate
Perhaps the slow adoption of the zero proof movement is not a rejection at all. Maybe it’s simply the industry and society going through their awkward phase of waking up. It takes time to rewire such an old habit, to redefine connection, and to eventually realize that a fun night doesn't require a buzz. Drinking has always been more than just a behavior. For many, it’s woven into their social and family life. To shift that is to ask people to rethink not just what’s in their glass, but everything it represents.
The zero proof movement challenges that conditioning. It invites us to rediscover the act without the reliance. This is not about imitation or substitution; it is about evolution and a new approach. Zero proof opens the door to a different kind of energy, one based on presence and genuine connection. In truth, this is not the end of anything. It is the beginning of a broader, more inclusive way of drinking.
We are not losing the art of celebration or socializing. We are simply learning to do it differently, to live in the moment, and to savor what is real, not just what is poured for effect.
Zero Proof Manhattan by Rienne
A New Way of Doing Things
At Rienne, we don’t preach and we don’t judge. For us, zero proof is not a rebellion against alcohol, but an opportunity to do an old thing in a new way — a moment to rethink what connection and pleasure actually mean.
The future of drinking isn’t about replacing one thing with another; it’s about broadening the experience for those who still want to raise a glass, just with a different approach.
The world is changing, and the bar, both literally and metaphorically, is rising with it.
