The Time is Now
We're losing an hour of sleep, but we're elevating our moods with board games, tea lollies, and spray tans—all while brainstorming a Cali-Sober rebrand.
News on Tap: The Anti-Boom Boom boom
We know you can’t open your eyes without reading this, but Gen-Z really is drinking less alcohol than any other previous living generation. This shift is fueling a cultural remix: more day parties, more social clubs built around offline communities, and fewer nights centered on bars. We are loving this anti-Boom Boom boom and the proliferation of game clubs (chess, poker, backgammon, mahjong) popping up nationwide for those craving real connection. And because we can’t help ourselves when it comes to retail decisions—Rhode Island-based Crisloid makes the best game boards out there.
In other news:
A captivating essay about working through trauma with plant medicine, The Living Death Drug (The Paris Review). TY Sheely for the share.
The 5 most drunk colleges in America and the 5 most sober (Quartz)
Can Four Loko reinvent itself for notoriously sober Zoomers? (Modern Retail)
OK, we’ll bite on The Yellow Bittern Serves Up Stews and Controversy about the London lunch spot that prefers you don’t come if you don’t drink alcohol. (The New York Times)
Pour Decisions: Kola Tonic
We went deep into the archives this week and uncovered some of the first published non-alcoholic cocktails that didn’t feature crustaceans or mollusks. The Savoy Cocktail Book, published in 1930, isn’t the oldest cocktail book, but it’s one of the most iconic. It includes four spirit-free recipes, two of which call for an ingredient called Kola Tonic.
Clayton’s Kola Tonic, made from African kola nuts and citrus essences was created as a whiskey alternative, and is still in production today. The recipes printed in The Savoy Cocktail Book are still featured by Clayton’s (though with slightly updated names). Aplós also makes a canned Kola Fashioned with kola nuts, and plenty of indie kola nut tinctures are readily available—though proceed with caution there.
Across West Africa, people chew kola nuts to extract caffeine and stimulate the mind. Fresh kola nuts have a bitter taste that sweetens the longer you chew. If you’re wondering whether cola and kola are connected—yes, they are. In the 1880’s, a pharmacist in Georgia combined caffeine extracted from kola nuts with cocaine-containing extracts from coca leaves, added sugar and other flavorings, carbonated it, and created…Coca-Cola. While Coke and Pepsi both originally included kola nut extract, neither does today. Ironically, while “Clayton’s” has become synonymous with “fraudulent” in Australia, Coca-Cola’s slogan remains: The Real Thing 🧐.
Spray it Forward: Spritzes For Your Bod
This week we’re getting our quick fixes in spritz form. First up: Luca by Tsu Lange Yor, an Australian scent we’re inhaling, spraying on our clothes, misting into the air and dramatically lunging into. The lingering tail it leaves in our cars and coats is sublime—which feels right because the company’s name comes from a Yiddish toast meaning “to long years and to good years.”
Next we’re going full Paris Hilton with a spray tan. Abby Arad of
convincingly swears by it as her #1 mood booster, and honestly, we’re sold that this might just be our late-winter happy pill. We’re headed to Sugared + Bronze for their clean formula made with just three ingredients: water, beets and DHA—a sugar compound that YouTube dermatologist Dr. Dray assures is perfectly safe for your skin. Here’s the text thread that got us here:
Cartmaxxing: Fleurs D'Hiver Herbal Tea Lollies
For the tea heads: Just add hot water for a honey-laden botanical brew to power through the rest of winter. These herbal winter flower pops ($12 each) make a divine hostess gift and they’ll help you get to bed early this weekend before losing that sweet hour of sleep to Daylight Saving Time ⏰ 🔨.
Song of the Week: For What It’s Worth
80-year-old Stephen Stills got sober three years ago and said this week that he “has his original personality back.”
Last Call: Cali-Sober is Ready for a Rebrand
The WSJ published a story called: Meet the ‘Cali Sober’ Set: No Booze, but Drugs are Fine which places is it solidly in the mainstream. We are not alone in thinking the term could benefit from ditching the word sober.
May we humbly suggest rebranding to: High and Dry?
OMG this is just too much good stuff at once! I need YUCA.