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It seems like the biggest markets for drinks all have an addictive hook: sugar, alcohol, or caffiene. Without any of those, non-alcoholic beer seems to fall in
by chmod600 5y ago
It seems like the biggest markets for drinks all have an addictive hook: sugar, alcohol, or caffiene.
Without any of those, non-alcoholic beer seems to fall into a category of drinks like flavored carbonated water. I enjoy drinking those, but it's not likely to be a habit that sticks. If it's in the fridge, I will drink it; if not, I will forget that it exists.
- snakeboy 5y agoIt is nice, however, when it's an option at a bar and you can have something kind of like a beer, while not incurring the usual "What, just a water?" conversations.
- chmod600 5y agoOh, yeah, it's great for that niche. But it's hard to break out of that niche. It's also hard to grow that niche. If 20% of people in the bar are ordering NA beer, it would seem to reduce the pressure to be drinking beer at all, or perhaps going to the bar at all. If we time traveled to the future and you saw 90% of patrons drinking NA beer at the bar, you'd think it was a historical reenactment.
- atatatat 5y agoWhat's wrong with just making a small fortune these days, holy fuck
- r00fus 5y agoThe issue isn't profits, per se, but profit sustainability. Right now NA beer is trending, but what happens when that trend dies down? Also, our entire market economy is based on constant upward inflation/growth, and rewards those who grow faster.
- atatatat 5y agoWhat happens when PBR/Michelob hype dies down again? They still make a small to medium sized fortune =^)
- atatatat 5y agoLots of unsavory things are financially rewarded, too, but you won't find me running toward them.
- makeitdouble 5y agoLooking at other markets (EU,SEA), there is a stable niche for NA beers. We're talking about sustaining a business, so that should be a good enough prospect for employees that don't need buy a Ferrari.
- snakeboy 5y agoThat seems like a great outcome, no? Allowing room for a gradual transition to a net positive societal outcome rather than requiring some phase shift. I like bars and hanging out in them, and it would be awesome to preserve the atmosphere with less and less alcohol consumed.
- pm90 5y agoI'm for this idea in principle but part of the reason that makes bars great is the alcohol though. It lowers inhibitions (and anxiety) and makes people more friendly and open to discussions. I see a future where there might be less harmful ways to achieve the same state though (some kind of drinks with a very low quantity of a drug which has the same psycho-social effects as alcohol without damaging internal organs; maybe marijuana or maybe something more synthetic. In SF there are "bars" where you can simply consume marijuana based products, served by "budtenders". I can definitely see a future where bar-like places substitute alcohol for drinks which have some kind of rating that tells you how "strong" the effects might be, similar to how they show the ABV content of alcoholic beverages today.
- hibern8 5y agoAsk for a lime with it and no one will ask any questions.
- mywittyname 5y agoThis used to be a signal for "I'm an alcoholic." It might still be. Which is probably why people don't ask questions when you do it.
- meheleventyone 5y agoI thought the same then started drinking non-alcoholic beers recently. Now I actually prefer the non-alcoholic versions, same taste but no harshness. It also fulfils the role where you’d have a beer but aren’t particularly interested in getting drunk or being hungover. I’d also stress modern non-alcoholic beers are really good taste wise compared with what there used to be.
- k__ 5y agoNon-alcoholic beer tastes like malt beer with less sugar. Quite tasty.
- baby 5y agoBoba teas are taking the world atm. I’m betting my hand that starbucks will have them at some point in time. But it’s really sweet!
- k__ 5y agoWhich is interesting. I lived through 2 bubble tea hypes in Germany already, and they all just lasted only a year. Wouldn't have thought that I came back a third time now.
- vinay427 5y agoI think it's far more established in the US (assuming the OP found it on the west coast where it's usually called "boba"), and isn't a fad anymore. You can find it anywhere from dedicated fancier boba cafes with their own twists to local restaurants that serve some East Asian cuisine even if bubble tea isn't local to that cuisine.
- pm90 5y agoMost boba places I've been to let you select a percentage of sweetness. But I agree, its not something you could have many "pours" of in the same sitting (like e.g. beers).
- teawrecks 5y agoWhich has both sugar and caffeine depending on the tea used.