Thriving Alcohol-Free with Mocktail Mom

EP 99 How Better Than Booze Is Taking on the Beverage Giants With Drea Groeschel

• Deb, Mocktail Mom • Season 1 • Episode 99

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This week’s episode is a total vibe! I’m sitting down with Drea Groeschel, the go-getter behind Better Than Booze, who’s making waves in the non-alcoholic beverage world. With years of experience in consumer product goods, Drea made the bold decision to break into the food and beverage industry, and wow, has she made her mark!

In this conversation, Drea shares the journey that took her from experiencing the foggy haze of alcohol to crafting a line of non-alcoholic drinks that have now won 36 awards! From experimenting in her kitchen to landing her beverages on the menu at the Grand Ole Opry, her story is a classic David vs Goliath tale that inspires.

We explore the challenges she faced in launching a brand from scratch and the big wins that have validated her hard work—like beating out global competitors to snag a major “best in class” award in Vegas. Drea also talks about why she’s so passionate about creating high-quality non-alcoholic options and how Better Than Booze empowers people to enjoy the moments that matter most.

Whether you’re curious about the non-alcoholic movement or love a good success story, you’ll be in awe of Drea’s drive, creativity, and refusal to settle for less than amazing. Tune in to hear more!


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You are loved. Big Time Cheers!

Deb:

Buckle up, friends, and welcome to the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. I'm your host, deb, otherwise known as Mocktail Mom, a retired wine drinker that finally got sick and tired of spinning on life's broken record called Detox to Retox. Let this podcast be an encouragement to you. If alcohol is maybe a form of self-care for you, where you find yourself dragging through the day waiting to pour another glass, I am excited to share with you the fun of discovering new things to drink when you aren't drinking and the joy of waking up each day without a hangover. It is an honor to serve as your sober, fun guide. So sit back and relax or keep doing whatever it is you're doing. This show is produced for you with love from the great state of Kentucky. Thanks so much for being here and big time cheers. Okay, friends, welcome back to Thriving Alcohol Free. It's Deb. I am so happy Drea of Better Than Booze is here. Drea Groeschel, you got it.

Drea:

You nailed it Drea Groeschel is here.

Deb:

She's right down the road from you. We've never met in person. She's down in the Nashville Tennessee area. I'm up in Kentucky and I have fallen in love with your brand, so it is a joy to have you here today. You and I have never spoken before. I cannot wait to hear your founder story. I want to get into the drinks. I love the spirit-free, the drinks that you have, but I'm going to share your bio and then we're just going to have a little girls chat. Amazing, let's do it. So here we go.

Deb:

Drea Groeschel is a lifelong entrepreneur and pioneer, most recently spearheading and co-founding Better Than Booze, a revolutionary non-alcoholic beverage company featuring a line of flavor forward buzzy mocktails with hemp derived CBD and THC line and a fully sober mocktail line. That's the one I enjoy as an ardent advocate for healthier and non-alcoholic ways to relax. She is shaking up social drinking ideals. Okay, you are making waves here in the non-alcoholic space and I'm so. I love your cans. Thanks, I'm trying to think. You guys reached out to me. I think you sent me some and I loved them and I started ordering and I was like what are these cans of deliciousness? Who are these people? So I want to hear your founder story. I want to hear how you got into this and how you got in this space, how this all started for you.

Drea:

Well, my background is about I'm going to age myself here. I've been in the CPG space which is consumer product goods, for those that don't know for about 20 years.

Drea:

So, I love product. I just like things that I can physically touch and hold and feel. And I had the opportunity after I exited my last company to explore what I wanted to do. And I have been in the gift and home decor space, I've been in the beauty space and I finally was, like you know, I love to eat and drink. Why not look towards food and beverage? My parents, for years, everyone's like you should open a restaurant. I'm like over my dead body, will I open a restaurant? It's a very, very challenging business, but I decided that with a co-founder of mine, I was like you know, I am drinking less wine. Mine, I was like you know, I am drinking less wine, less gin, less alcohol. And through COVID, you know, that was certainly an interesting space.

Drea:

A lot of us were at home, we had a lot more time and, of course, stress was through the roof. And so what do we do? We turn to alcohol. It's, of course, given, you know, hindsight and perspective. I look at that and I'm like, wow, wow, that is such an interesting behavior that our society has developed in its culture to turn to alcohol.

Drea:

You're stressed, turn to alcohol, good time. Turn to alcohol, tired. Turn to alcohol. What is this stuff? And it's bad for us. So I came out of COVID and I looked around and went okay, I think there is an entirely different path forward for those that enjoy a wonderful libation, for those that really get a kick out of taste and flavor and social enjoyment with their friends on the back patio or sitting on the couch watching a football game, like I like to have a beverage in my hand Same, but I can't do as much alcohol anymore and I don't want to. And that was really it. And heck, I mean I leaned so far into this right that I even named the dang beverage company Better Than Booze. So I'm really sticking it to the alcohol industry. I love that.

Deb:

Take this, take this seriously. Okay, when did you launch? When did you guys start? When did this all begin?

Drea:

Yeah, we actually launched our first product at the end of 2022. So we're just two years. Brand new Two years in yeah, yeah, we're a baby.

Deb:

Oh, my goodness. Okay, so were you tasting flavors? How did it? How did it come about that you came up? Okay, do we want to share the flavors?

Drea:

Oh, At least the three flavors of the mocktails.

Deb:

Yes, Of the non-alcoholic. Like the spirit I ordered, I ordered the regular.

Drea:

Yes, yeah, yeah, this is the best way to do it right. So we have an elderberry gin and tonic, we have a rosemary, grapefruit, paloma, and then we have a mint mojito with lime. And you know, for me I really wanted to have robust flavor. I didn't want a light seltzer with a hint of watermelon, white seltzer with a hint of watermelon, and I was like no, I want a cocktail. And for me, that just makes me feel like I'm vibing, I'm relaxing, I'm on vacation, I need flavor and I think we're coming off of the seltzer craze, right, yep, where seltzers were so big in the alcohol industry. But the funny, what's amazing to me is they were so massive but no one really likes them.

Deb:

Isn't that funny, right, right yeah.

Drea:

Like so why drink them? Yeah, now I'm gonna say something. I'm gonna hit a hot button subject here. Okay, here we go. I'm going to dive right in Hot button subject. This is typically very polarizing. This is something a lot of people don't want to speak about. So, deb, here's my question to you. Okay, let's go. Sugar, no sugar.

Deb:

Well, I am trying to cut back my sugar. Yep, I am so. Yes, so you have one now. That's no sugar, is it zero sugar?

Drea:

We do. We have a couple that are no sugar and are sort of I call it like the OG line has 14 grams of sugar. You know, I find that this is really an interesting subject because, of course, again in the day we live in, we all understand that sugar now needs to be cut down. It's moderate, you know we need to again moderate, but I'll tell you what, in general, like I'm not a no sugar gal, like you know what I am going to have the piece of cake I am going to, you know, like, have the cookie every once in a while. I'm going to grab, you know, a piece of my five-year-old's Halloween candy. I was eating that yesterday.

Deb:

I was just going to say my daughter's gave me these like caramels and I'm like, why are you giving me this bag of caramels? Okay, it's my birthday, but, like, I will eat the whole bag, even though I do want to cut down on sugar and I'm trying to cut down my sugar, but it's in front of me and I'm like I do eat it. I'm eating it.

Drea:

You know, I just don't think we need to be mindful. But a little bit of indulgence actually is good for the psyche. I'm a believer in that and so hence why my mojito tastes like it is a mojito where you are putting your feet in the sand. You're on the beach in Jamaica. It's muddled mint, it is cane sugar and it's so delicious.

Deb:

It's so good. Okay, what's funny is I have two of the cans in front of me but I don't have the mint mojito because I drank my other one. I drank one of them out of the box already, my favorite of them. I mean, they're all so good, that's my favorite.

Drea:

It's like spot on, it's a spot on dupe, spot on dupe, yeah. You know what we actually went through. Oh gosh, almost a hundred different variations of mint to really get to what we thought was the right variety balance. And when you formulate beverages balance you'll hear this a lot like balance, roundness of flavor is so important. You don't want it to have too much acid, you don't want it to have too sharp of tartness, you might not want it to be too sweet or too salty, right? So what is the balance?

Drea:

And we're always sort of looking for the big B word there, and I think we really did that well in these flavors. But what we also tried to do was give it enough layering and enough complexity that even with the grapefruit rosemary, paloma, it's like man, do you get that fresh grapefruit juice? Right on the tongue? It is like an explosion. And then on the back you get this wonderful light, herbaceous rosemary that's fresh. On the tongue, it is like an explosion. And then on the back you get this wonderful light, herbaceous rosemary that's like fresh from the garden. So good, yeah, it's so delicious.

Deb:

What's it been like being a founder in this space, coming from like building you know building somebody else's brand, or you know building a big CPG, right yeah.

Drea:

You know, the space is a little bit tricky because I think it kind of came out of nowhere.

Deb:

Right, right Came out of COVID.

Drea:

A lot, A lot of COVID even your own story right.

Drea:

Totally, and so, because of that, I feel like the consumers are a champion, just like you and I. Like we're networking, we're meeting people, we're meeting other moms and meeting dads'm meeting all sorts of people and professionals and people that are interested in this space of sobriety. But the retail side and the distribution side is slow to adapt. Interesting, and that's where I'm going to say the rubber meets the road. Those of us that are out there working to grow these alcohol alternative businesses are meeting a lot of headwinds at retail and with distributors who are typically seeing high velocity pull off the shelf with their alcohol brands who are owned by the big boys. Right, we've got a little bit of a David and Goliath here, so many of us that are small business owners and are trying to claw our way onto the shelves and are getting into restaurants and music venues. That is really challenging when you're up against the multi, multi-billion dollar companies that are global liquor empires.

Deb:

Wow, okay, david is going to win. Heck yeah, david's winning. We already know the ending of this story.

Drea:

We do know the ending, don't we we?

Deb:

already know and these are your little stones that you're throwing there. Yes, these delicious, the cans of deliciousness, yes, so good. Yeah, that's really interesting. Yeah, just like that, this side of it, the consumer side, the demand is there and we're so excited about it. And then, right, like I mean I even go in shops, that I shop, and it's like, why don't you have more options here? You know, I know all these brands, why aren't they here? But obviously we all have to speak with our wallets and then they're gonna put them on the shelves.

Drea:

You know and I think that's also an interesting point you bring up sort of speaking with wallet. The business right now is priced a little bit premium, and it's a lot of. That is because there's a lot of small players in this space, and so we don't have scale yet. We don't have what in the business world they call unit economics at scale. So when you're running a national brand and you have big distribution, you are producing millions upon millions of cans in a scalable manner, so that brings your cost way down, whereas right now we're small batch, most of us are, and so the cost is a bit higher. I think, although we don't want to see the bottom of the barrel pricing I don't think we need to. We're all using these beautiful ingredients that we have and we're presenting an elevated brand. But I do think over time we're going to see a little bit more shakeout in the price roster at the shelf, and I think that that will also help more consumers have accessibility to such unique products, which I think is very important.

Deb:

No, that's very true. Yeah, because you're running small batches, right, it's like it costs a lot more than when you're running it does.

Deb:

Yeah, it costs a lot more to make it Okay. As you guys know, I love Giesen 0% Wines. Their Sauvignon Blanc is my go-to on a regular basis. They recently launched a delicious sparkling fruit 0%, which is quickly becoming a fan favorite. I am so proud to have Giesen as the exclusive non-alcoholic wine sponsor of the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast.

Deb:

Giesen 0% wines are created through the magic of advanced spin-cone technology to remove the alcohol from their full added wines. The award-winning winemaker Duncan Shouler and his team have done wonders in Marlborough, new Zealand, by creating an entire family of 0% wines with all the flavor and deliciousness you expect from traditional quote full-leaded wine. Their non-alcoholic wines maintain the aroma and the body to create a low-calorie wine that never contains more than 0.5 ABV. Globally available, look for Giesen 0% wines wherever you shop for your non-alcoholic options. Their family of alcohol-free wines include the most effervescent member of the family, the sparkling brute 0%, which is absolutely delicious for any celebration. My personal favorite although I do love them all is the Sauvignon Blanc, coming in at only 100 calories for the entire bottle. And, not to be missed, the other members of their 0% family, the Riesling, the Premium Red Blend, the Rosé, the Pinot Gris.

Deb:

With Giesen 0% wines, there's a de-alcoholized wine for everyone and every occasion. Give Giesen a try and let me know how much you love it and if you want to meet their winemaker, go back to episode 33 of the podcast, where Duncan Shouler joined me to share about the Giesen story. Okay, what was it like for you? It must have felt like giving birth, like when you saw these cans coming off the line, the name that you've created, this product. What was that like for you? And then tasting them. It was so exciting.

Drea:

Was it so like Like surreal? I was going to say, like, unlike giving birth, which was also exciting too where I felt like I was going to die, okay, I mean, let me just-. Epidural or no? Epidural Drea no epidural, I didn't have one either.

Deb:

I didn't have one either, it was an accident. It was. My only birth plan was to have an epidural. I was like I'm having an epidural and then I went too fast and they were like okay, you're ready. And I thought they meant I was ready for the epidural. Oh no, we were done.

Drea:

We were ready to push. Sorry, sorry for the middle of your wait. No, no, no, this is amazing, because I gotta say one more thing. Okay, go ahead. Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say no epidural, but here's my reason, and this is not a badge of honor. I do not. I'm not proud of this.

Deb:

Now again okay, okay, okay um but look, I am 45.

Drea:

I have no problem sharing my age. I was 40. I was 40 when I had my my little guy, okay so I. He's five years old, I'm worn down to a nub, but so when I had him, though, I had him with no epidural, because they told me I was a high-risk mom because I was high-risk pregnancy because I was so old. You're so- old.

Deb:

You're so ancient, so old you could barely do it Right.

Drea:

And they basically said, if you have an epidural, you will likely have a C-section. And I was like, oh my gosh, I can't, because at the time I was running another business and I was like I can't take time off of work. And so I was like you know what? I'm going for it? Because I need to get back to work and I have a. That's a whole other podcast.

Deb:

That's the Mocktail Mom, the mom podcast.

Drea:

That's the mom part of the podcast, we'll go back to the mocktail part.

Deb:

Sorry for all you dads that are listening that just had to hear our birth stories, our stories of giving birth to children, but okay, so giving birth back to the mocktail.

Drea:

Yes, we ran our first production and I remember going into the facility and they gave me a hairnet, yes, and I was like, yes, I am in the factory where they're making my beverage and I'm special and I'm wearing a hairnet, and like that was like the big moment. You're walking into an FDA approved, you know, it's got certifications, it's able to produce beverages to the market. And, of course, I brought my mom I'm super close with my mother and I brought my mom with me. I was like this is a moment, this is so cool, let's go, you know. And yeah, and they're running it off the line and it's like in beverage, unlike making food products in some ways, again in smaller batches, with food products, the line runs fairly slow and in beverage, the machine that loads the can runs really fast. No-transcript, it's hot.

Deb:

Is that okay Are?

Drea:

we okay, here Are we making the right beverage.

Deb:

Because, like it's hot, yeah, is this a hot toddy? What's in here?

Drea:

Yeah, what's going on Like is there a temperature problem, but this actually has to do with tunnel pasteurization. So when it goes through the tunnel, the tunnel pasteurizer, it actually gets this like heat bath, okay, and that's what seals it off and sort of makes the liquid just like I'm canning Right, just like if you were to can fruits, veggies, whatever. If you're canning, you have to use heat as the reason that it's not going to grow microbials, right, and it seals it. So it's the same thing with beverage. So your beverages come off the line, they're actually hot.

Deb:

Interesting, but it's okay.

Drea:

Yeah, and so of course I'm tasting it, because I just had to crack one open immediately.

Deb:

Right then, here, mom taste this.

Drea:

I'm like I'm drinking a hot Paloma, like hey, and it still tasted great and I was like yeah, oh, it's okay.

Deb:

So it's good either hot or cold or over ice.

Drea:

So we have an employee that swears by. She actually heats up the gin and tonic flavor.

Deb:

Really.

Drea:

And drinks it like tea.

Deb:

Oh, I've never heard that she loves it warm.

Drea:

I don't know.

Deb:

Okay.

Drea:

But some people do.

Deb:

Maybe, if you have a cold or something, maybe warm up the gin and tonic.

Drea:

Yeah, I think you could.

Deb:

Maybe that'd be like an option to a hot toddy would be a warm gin and tonic. I, yeah, I think you could. Maybe that'd be like an option to a hot toddy would be a warm gin and tonic. I've never heard that. Let's try it. Yeah, let's try it. I love it, I love you. Okay, this is so fun. Yes, okay, and I can't wait to meet you in person. I'm coming to Nashville, so, for sure, january 5th I'm going to be at Killjoy phenomenal non-alcoholic bottle shop that just focuses on community and amazing drinks.

Drea:

Killjoy is in our hometown of Nashville and I remember when they began and I am so thrilled that they've been able to not only build community, and something that they've done exceptionally well is they run a lot of activations or activities and events that allow people to explore and be educated, and I think that that is a piece to this entire non-alcoholic sector that is sort of I don't want to say it's missing. There's many people doing a good job, but we need more of it. And so she will literally have vendors there at Killjoy setting up and give us the ability to talk to the consumer and say, hey, here's what a non-alcoholic gin and tonic tastes like Gosh, isn't that actually pretty good? And it's a big epiphany for people to start buying into that market and start and supporting that community. It's awesome.

Deb:

We love Killjoy, no, and just that opportunity to explore and be educated and learn. And like, just be curious, just be curious whether you wanna be sober, soberish, drink less. Like there's no judgment. There's like drinks for everyone, there's something here for everyone. So for me, I drink the spirit free, the mocktails, but I know you have other things that you offer, which is wonderful. Like there's people who are looking for CBD drinks, looking for THC drinks. I haven't tried them, but I'm telling you, if it's got this in it, it's already a winner. Yeah, yeah.

Drea:

And that was the idea is. It is variety.

Deb:

Yeah.

Drea:

Right. We live in an age of choice and we want to provide people with lots of different avenues that they can choose, based on mood, based on the event or the special occasion, and what's appropriate, what they feel good about, and all of it without stigma or judgment Totally.

Deb:

Totally.

Drea:

There's just no place for that anymore.

Deb:

But I love that word you used explore, like just come in, explore, come into the non-alcoholic space and explore whether you want to maybe have a cocktail in between your mocktails. Whatever, you know Great.

Drea:

Can I tell Okay, I got to say this. So when I first was getting into all of this non-alcoholic stuff and of course.

Drea:

I'm going to liquor stores and I'm like, what do you have for non-alcoholic? And in general they didn't have anything very good. And I'm looking around and I started tasting non-alcoholic wines and I was like, eh, and I think the non-alcoholic category kind of got a bad rap for a while because the sort of the technology, if you will, or the sophistication, really wasn't there yet. However, there is a breakthrough frontrunner. The brand's name is Joyous.

Deb:

Oh yeah.

Drea:

I don't know if you've heard of Joyous.

Deb:

I have a bottle of it.

Drea:

Right here you have Joyous. Right there, joyous.

Deb:

Pabernay-Savignon yes, Jess has been on the podcast.

Drea:

Okay, I have been at awards show. We were at the San Francisco International Spirits Awards show together in Vegas and she won, we won. And I was like, yes, girl, we are doing this. This is what it's about. Great product with people behind it that are really passionate and that are putting the pedal to the metal, to the alcohol industry, and she is one of those too.

Deb:

Yeah, yeah, yes the two of you.

Drea:

Wow, you're surrounded by good people.

Deb:

What you're doing in the RTD space, what she's doing in the non-alcoholic wine space, is incredible. Yeah, when she won the first award, I think that she won. It was like maybe two years ago at this point three years ago, I don't even know, I feel like she's been around a while now, but it was like when she first came on the scene, when Joyas first came on the scene, it was like this is so good, this is so good. And she won in a blind taste test up against full-leaded alcoholic wine Incredible.

Drea:

Yep, it's amazing. We're seeing that now. Right, we're seeing these breakthrough brands that are just killing it.

Deb:

Okay, so you won an award there. What was?

Drea:

that.

Deb:

Yeah, okay, you won an award. What's the award that you won?

Drea:

So, if I may, we've won 36 awards.

Drea:

Drop the mic and I say that because we're very proud of that, and the reason we're proud of it isn't that it is just simply a brag. It's a statement to the sobriety and to the moderators that these products are great and they stand up next to alcohol beverages and those were again. Many of them are blind. Taste We've won double platinums. Taste we've won double platinums. We've won double golds. We've won best in class. And these, many of these competitions are also international. So we have sent our product over to europe. We've participated over there. We've sent it to africa. We've participated there. Oh yeah, yeah, we are really big on like let's get the word out, that let's, let's be a participant and an active brand in a lot of these award shows because they are able to get the word out Right. So when we went to Vegas, I mean Vegas is just wild, it's Vegas right, but the funny thing we want to hear what happened in Vegas.

Deb:

Yes, let's hear it.

Drea:

Wait, I think we're not supposed to talk about it, but I want to hear it.

Deb:

We're breaking the mold on everything.

Drea:

Yes, so, of course, I put on like my fanciest heels and, girl, I haven't worn heels in years. Okay, this was just last year. They were like three inches. Yeah, I went for it, and, of course, the girls. I took my entire team. Okay, I was like everyone's got to go. This is like a big deal. We didn't even know we were going to win, but we had already won a double gold which qualified us to be a best in class winner. Okay, and in the RTD. And so we all went as a team. We're all sitting at the same table.

Drea:

My feet were freaking, killing me, and I also am not someone who dresses lavishly. I'm a pretty simple gal myself. And we're sitting there. I'm just kind of uncomfortable, I'm shifting my Spanx around. And then I leaned over to I think it was maybe Jackie, my marketing manager, and I was like I don't think we're going to win. And she was like why do you think that? And I was like look at the competition, look at the other brands in this category are big brands, they're much bigger than us, so we're going to have to earn our way into this. And she's like no, no, no, just stay, just wait. And they called our name and I was like what? And the funniest part about it was they were like and the winner of the RTD category is, and the woman opening the envelope was like better, no, and she paused and I was like, and then she was like better than booze. And I was like you didn't even want to say it.

Deb:

That is a David Goliath moment. It really was. Oh my gosh yeah.

Drea:

Yeah, so we're just. We're obviously ecstatic about the whole thing and freaked out, but then I had to walk all. We sat in the back. We're a little guy. I had to walk all the way through this huge hall down to the stage, up on the stage. Pretend my heels didn't hurt, just pretend it's so comfortable.

Deb:

Yes, you always walk around in an evening gown with three-inch heels.

Drea:

This is how you dress at home. I practiced for this moment.

Deb:

Okay, you didn't fall on the stairs, nothing, you made it.

Drea:

You got up there, I made it through gracefully, and I think those that know me were like okay, drea, good one, you got through. She's very multi-talented she held it together.

Deb:

Yeah, I could not do that. I am so past heels at this point. Yes, yeah, and I work from. I'm at home all the time now, my dog's with me all the time. I'm just like I can't go anywhere.

Drea:

No, just yeah, no, I do want to say something that's so uh fascinating, also about mocktails. I was just thinking about how, um mocktails can make something special. It can also be like a special aha moment, uh, for people when they have it, maybe at a restaurant, if they're offered an offering on a menu. We are the mocktail of the grand old opry.

Deb:

No, yes, yes, when no yes.

Drea:

When did that happen? This just happened about a year ago, oh my gosh, and it was a big pitch. I mean I went to their corporate office on Opry drive, number one, and you walk through their office and there's like gold records on the you know, and there's like pictures of Dolly Parton in her you know band. I mean it's like big stuff and I'm like hi, I'm here to educate you on mocktails and how you maybe should carry mocktails at the Grand Ole Opry and pitched it.

Drea:

The beverage director at the time was like you know, we are starting to see this shift. We are starting to see that more people are interested in a non-alcoholic product. And I was like well, look, carry this line. I'm telling you, better Than Boo's line can be that menu option for you folks. And I'll tell you, deb, they are killing it, and so much so that we actually heard from the beverage buyer about a month ago and she said we had no idea how much of the stuff we were going to sell. And she said it just, people, we actually have posts on Instagram where people are holding a can of Better Than Booze at the Opry saying thank you for the non-alcoholic option. Wow.

Deb:

Like, yes, that's incredible, that's incredible. I love it. And that people are so excited about that they're going to have to order more. Yes, yeah, they're not. They weren't ordering enough. Huh, there you go, I mean it really is.

Drea:

It's wild because I think that there's what's amazing is we're in the space, right? So to us we're like yeah, of course, like. Why wouldn't you offer At this point?

Deb:

why wouldn't a restaurant or an event venue At this?

Drea:

point. It's like it's crazy that there's not if there's not an option 100%?

Deb:

At least a non-alcoholic beer, please.

Drea:

But they're still resistant to it. And so it's just now and I was so proud of the Opry for coming forward and being one of the movers and shakers in the Nashville area to like, yes, let's go.

Deb:

That's huge. Yeah, to have it there. And now, yeah, here we go. That's just going to be a ripple effect to other places, yeah.

Drea:

That's so huge for you. Congratulations. Yeah, thank you, that's amazing.

Deb:

Yes, thank you. I was just down at the Ryman, Cool yeah. There was like a fundraiser event for the Hurricane Helene victims me and Morgan. Oh yeah, yeah, Sure A comedy event down there but I didn't realize there were church pews. It was my first time in the Ryman. Yeah, oh.

Drea:

So you know the Ryman is really more the original Opry yes, Yep, Right, and the church pews. I get asked that a lot of times from people that are out of town. They're like what's it like? Like you're sitting in these pews next to people, Like is that weird? I'm like it is. If you have to get up and go to the bathroom, Like you do have to really slide and shuffle out, you really do have to do the shuffle. So you don't want to do that mid-performance. That's true.

Deb:

That's some old wood we were sitting on. Yes, drea, this was so fun. Thank you so much. Congratulations to Better Than Booze for all the awards, for getting into the Grand Ole Opry. I mean everything that you have happening. I am so excited for you, I'm cheering you on and I'm just so, so thrilled to have delicious things to just pull out of my beverage refrigerator. So good, it's so wonderful to have. So thank you for creating this brand.

Drea:

Well, thank you. It is beyond an honor to be with Mocktail Mom, because I am just such a fan and such a champion. Thanks, drea.

Deb:

Thank you so much for saying that. I appreciate it. Thank you Big time. Cheers to you for tuning in to the Thriving Alcohol-Free Podcast. I hope you will take something from today's episode and make one small change that will help you to thrive and have fun in life without alcohol. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post about it on social, send up a flare or leave a rating and a review. I am cheering for you as you discover the world of non-alcoholic drinks and as you journey towards authentic freedom. See you in the next episode.