Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Alcohol Tipping Point podcast. I'm your host, Deb Maisner. I'm a registered nurse, health coach, and alcohol free badass. I have found that there's more than one way to address drinking. If you've ever asked yourself if drinking is taking more than it's giving, or if you've found that you're drinking more than usual, you may have reached your.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Own alcohol tipping point.
[00:00:22] Speaker A: The Alcohol Tipping Point is a podcast for you to find tips, tools, and thoughts to change your drinking.
[00:00:28] Speaker B: Whether you're ready to quit forever or.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: A week, this is the place for you. You are not stuck, and you can change.
[00:00:35] Speaker B: Let's get started.
Welcome, everybody, to the Alcohol Tipping Point podcast. Today on the show, I have Abby Romano. Abby and her husband are the founders of Raising the Bar, a zero proof cocktail business they started in 2020. Raising the bar is doing really well, and it's been featured on the Today show, the Boston Globe, Oprah, Daily Food and Wine, GQ, and more. So I'm just really excited to have Abby on the show today and share how she got started with this and talk about raising the bar and just give us some maybe holiday tips and maybe ideas for celebrating and maybe even she can answer the million dollar question if there's actually a decent and a red wine. So welcome to the show, Abby.
[00:01:35] Speaker C: Thank you, Deb. It's so great to be on.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Well, I'd love to hear more about you. I don't know your story and how you came to start this business, so feel free to share whatever you're comfortable sharing.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Thank you. Well, starting an alcohol free cocktail business is pretty much the last thing I ever expected I would end up doing. So I came to drinking in late middle school, early high school, and I remember having my first drink and feeling an immediate like, oh, wow. This is the thing that will allow me to be social and all of my insecurities will melt away. And this is just how great. This is so great. And I pretty much from the beginning, had a problematic relationship with alcoholiday. I remember brownouts or blackouts in high school, and then I ended up going to an undergraduate college that had a very heavy drinking culture where the rally cry on Friday and Saturday nights was let's get blackout. That was kind of the norm. And so a level of drinking that was unhealthy was normalized for me from the very beginning. And after college, I continued on drinking alcohol and kind of having really bad periods where I would have a lot of blackouts or say, oh, my goodness, I'm going to take a break. I'll take a break. And once I take a break, then I'll be able to drink normally like other people. And you're nodding your head. I'm guessing that sounds very familiar to you. And a lot of people have that experience where they think, okay, moderation or taking a break, that's going to be the magical antidote. And so for pretty much half my life, it was struggling with, how do I drink? How do I keep this in my life? And ultimately, there was a tipping point for me when I went on a business trip to New York. I left my kids and my husband for just a couple of days. And it wasn't one of those blackout situations or a dangerous situation or anything like that. It was just I'd had several drinks the night before a big agency meeting, and showed up to that meeting and just felt horrible and was kind of fed up and reached the point where I was like, I just can't do this anymore. Not only is it taking up space while I'm doing it, but the worrying about how I'm going to drink normally or how many drinks can I have, or having a strategy for alternating drinks. And then the day after feeling shame and regret and guilt and feeling sick, it's just taking up too much space in my life. So for me, it was really stumbling years and decades through trying to make it work until finally I just got fed up. And I feel really lucky. Like, I went to AA several times trying that out, and I never felt like I belonged there. I didn't feel like my stories were as bad as some other people's. And I felt like if I didn't define myself as a clinical alcoholic, then I should be able to drink. And it was kind of getting into the online community of sober and sober curious people and realizing that AA, number one, isn't the only way to quit drinking. Number two, a path does not have to be linear, and there's lots of support out there. And that, oh, my gosh, I felt so isolated by this. But I'm not alone. There are lots of other people, especially other women, who really helped me realize that this is something that I don't have to struggle with. There's support there, and there's other options there. And so that was kind of the big Aha. Moment for me. And your question, how did we come to start this company?
When I finally made that decision to stop drinking, I immediately knew I was going to feel left out and I was going to miss having that prop of a drink, that ritual of a drink, the celebration and connection and community that sharing a drink can offer. And so I was looking for alternatives to alcohol. And when I looked out there, there were some wine, some spirit alternatives, but I was really looking for this kind of all inclusive kit where I could learn how to mix up drinks that didn't include alcohol, and there wasn't one. So that's where the idea came from.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: Oh, it's super cool. Well, congratulations to you. I mean, your story. I was like, this is my story. Because it was mirrored it so much. Like, I started drinking in junior high, went to a big party, college school, felt stuck forever, tried to moderate forever, and felt stuck in that whole paradigm of either you're, quote unquote, a normal drinker or you're an alcoholic. And so there was a great area in between.
[00:06:04] Speaker C: And I think that we're talking about it now, but for a long time, it was black and white.
[00:06:10] Speaker B: Yeah, it really was. And it's so great. Now that we have all these alternatives. Do you mind sharing who helped you the most? Or if there were books or if you joined a group or how that worked for you?
Yeah.
[00:06:28] Speaker C: So there were a bunch of online Facebook groups, like private Facebook groups, specifically for women. Because I also feel like being a woman who's struggling with alcoholiday, there are specific things that are different. And connecting with other women was really helpful. I also did read a lot of quitlet. Holly Whitaker's quit like a woman was a really eye opening read for me. But then just so many other memoirs of people who had given it up, there's just countless ones that I loved. And I think through reading all of those memoirs, especially those really personal stories and less kind of statistics and a look at the alcohol industry, it was so relatable to see myself in these other people's pages seeing a lot of similarities. And again, this notion where you feel so isolated when you're first kind of considering, is this something that I can keep in my life? And then when you realize there's so many other people going through the same thing, it helps normalize it, it helps destigmatize it. And so hearing from other real people was so huge. And I also know several people in my own life on their Facebook profiles, they would talk about this decision. I was like, oh, my gosh, I look up to and respect this person so much.
I could talk to them about this. They're opening up. They're giving me this gift of their vulnerability and honesty, and I could do that, too. So I think that was really helpful.
[00:07:54] Speaker B: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. It is so important to share our stories if you're comfortable sharing them. But it's scary. Like you said, it's really a place of vulnerability. And I think for the most part, I found that when people have shared their stories, they've had people just reach out to them and it's been really amazing.
[00:08:20] Speaker C: I remember at the three month mark after I had decided to stop drinking for good this time, and I knew this wasn't a temporary thing. I felt comfortable that this was like a life decision. And I shared on my Facebook profile because I felt like other people had given me the gift of sharing and I wanted to do that as well. And to your point, my inbox was flooded with people who were saying, I have felt the same way. I'm so grateful that you shared this. Can we talk about it or. I've been sober for 20 years and I've never felt comfortable talking about it. And it felt like such a gift of open communication. And to your point, it's a very personal thing and I don't encourage anybody to share if they're not ready to. But I have found a tremendous sense of relief in having open dialogue about it.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: Yeah, me too. Definitely. Well, so then you notice, oh, there's this gap in the market of Na drink options and kits and whatnot. So tell us a little bit about what raising the bar is.
[00:09:25] Speaker C: Yes. So raising the bar, it's a non alcoholic cocktail subscription box. We also offer one time boxes, but in these boxes, we provide all the ingredients, tools, garnishes, and the tutorials necessary to help you craft a really well made, sophisticated, elevated drink. So we're not about Shirley Temples. We're not about soda and lime. We're about creating really well balanced craft cocktails that happen not to contain alcohol. And I think that is a really important distinction because the word mocktail kind of comes to mind. Lemonade with some seltzer in it, or like I said, a Shirley Temple. And what we want to provide is not drinks that are at the kitty table. These are sophisticated drinks for adults who want a good drink without the alcohol.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: And I think it's so important. Like you said, a lot of our drinking has been a habit and it's so ritualized and incorporated throughout society.
Think of all the cheers you do at weddings.
[00:10:31] Speaker C: People are like, oh, don't cheers with water. It's bad luck. There's something bad that's going to happen to you if you participate in a ritual without alcohol. It's very strange.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: Yeah. I had never heard that that was bad luck.
[00:10:46] Speaker C: I don't believe in it, but I've heard it many times. But, yeah, it is a huge ritual. And whether you're at a work party or you're having a holiday with family or going out to dinner with friends, it is ubiquitous. And I think only recently have we seen that there's an understanding of why other people might want to enjoy a drink that's elevated. That looks nice. We drink decaffeinated coffee or tea when we want the ritual of a warming beverage to start or end our day, we have sugar free options. If you're looking to cut out sugar, but you still want dessert, so why wouldn't there be an alternative to something like this?
[00:11:29] Speaker B: Yeah, and I remember I had Heather Lowe on the show, and she's from ditch the drink and does a lot of workplace talks and whatnot, and she had worked for HR. And so they talk about inclusivity a lot. And so how some inclusivity for people say at your work function, your work holiday party, is if you're going to have an alcohol drink, you have to have an equally attractive adult NA drink as well. Not just, like you said, not just a Shirley Temple, not like a plastic bottle of an off brand, not even like Diet Coke. Sometimes it's just the off brand beater of fizz or whatever.
[00:12:20] Speaker C: Yeah, it's been really interesting. One of the things, especially early on when we launched in 2020 and a lot of these corporate events were taking place virtually, we got a lot of outreach from businesses that were looking to have virtual celebrations with our mocktail kits. And what they provided was the kits for everybody. And people could opt to add a shot or two of a spirit of their choice at home. But the drinks stood on their own, as they were. And I think this idea of inclusivity is so important in the NA realm. We cater to gluten free options, dairy free, vegetarian, and it's just an extension of that inclusivity that I think is becoming more normalized and available, which is wonderful.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. I remember my sister telling me, like, she was getting cocktail kits or they'd have happy hour or whatever. And so I love that the companies could get your kit and send it to everybody. If you want to add your alcohol, go for it. But it was for everybody.
[00:13:24] Speaker C: For everybody, exactly. Yeah.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: Because not everybody drinks. I know that when we were drinking.
[00:13:32] Speaker C: It seemed like we thought everybody was drinking.
[00:13:34] Speaker B: Right. And I think, isn't it like 30% of the population doesn't even drink?
[00:13:42] Speaker C: Have you heard.
That's right. Exactly. And an additional third of Americans are actively trying to reduce their drinking. So it's a segment that's always been there, whether or not we felt like it or others feel like it. And it's part of a market that has buying power. So it makes sense that this is a growing sector.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: Yeah. So what is going on with the NA beverage business now? I keep hearing how booming it is. I don't have, like, stats. I'm sure you do.
[00:14:15] Speaker C: It's a wild time in the best way possible. So when we launched in September 2020, for sure, there were already canned mocktail drinks. There were alcohol, alternative spirits, like ritual. But what we've seen in the three years since we've launched, the business is just a greater attention to both the depth and breadth and quality of these things. And also a generation Gen Z, which is drinking less and less. And they're interested in these drinks and creating a bigger market. So there are just so many new brands that have launched, whether they're spirits, canned drinks, bitters, mixers, syrups. And I think it's just only going to continue to grow. It's not going anywhere. We know from data that it's not just people who completely abstain from alcohol, who are using these drinks. We are finding that people who are wanting to go out for a night and they want to keep enjoying a sophisticated drink, but they wanted one drink. That was what they wanted, but they don't want to just have water the rest of the night. So bars and restaurants are taking notice. I think people who are hosting at their homes are being aware that it's nice to have inclusive options, even if they're drinkers in their household having something for guests. So it's a really exciting time to be part of it and to see the growth over the past three years and also for us, different options that we can include in our kids has just been really wonderful.
[00:15:45] Speaker B: Yeah, super cool.
I mentioned some of the shows and print you've been featured in, like the Today Show, Oprah, Daily Food, and what, what has the response been?
[00:15:59] Speaker C: The response has been amazing. And I think anytime I feel overwhelmed by running a business, I just kind of go into our latest surveys and read some of the feedback that we get from people. Because it's not just about, okay, the drinks are pretty and they taste good. It's about supporting people through various chapters of their life and providing something that really allows them to show up. So if you're pregnant in nursing, you might want to have an elevated option. I have gotten feedback from a customer whose husband was going through about a liver cancer. And they used to have an every night cocktail at 05:00 p.m. That was their ritual, and they replaced that ritual with raising the bar. It allowed them to still celebrate during a really challenging time in their life. We've seen people gift boxes celebrating recovery milestones and ushering people into the beginning of their sobriety journey. So I feel humbled by the way that these kids have shown up in people's lives. I think when we started, it felt important to me and I thought others would. It would resonate with others. But seeing that it's been a tool to support people's journeys, whether it's sobriety, whether it's moderation, or some other life event, has just been, I think, the most gratifying thing possible.
[00:17:16] Speaker B: Oh, that's wonderful. Yeah, I bet you get a lot of good feedback. I know, I hate to even ask this after such a positive answer, but I know some people are pretty like anti na drinks or something that is posing as an alcohol beverage, but it's non alcoholiday.
What do you have to say to that?
[00:17:39] Speaker C: I think it's a completely valid concern and I know a lot of people who are coming to sobriety from a very strict recovery standpoint find any drinks or any beers or wines triggering for them, and that's an incredibly valid thing. And I think with this sort of thing, whether it's our kids or any other spirit alternative, you have to know if that is going to be a trigger for you. And if you are concerned about it, I say don't even dabble with it or work with your sponsor. But I think it's a very valid point. And we do talk about it in our FAQ on our website, talking about why somebody might not want to use them. There's also the issue that in I wouldn't say most, but some Na alternatives, there's 0.5% or less alcohol by volume. So a lot of Na beers will have that. They're designated non alcoholic, but they do have to disclose on the packaging that there is trace amounts of alcohol. Now that is akin to the alcohol content of a ripe banana or a glass of orange juice. But seeing that on the package can be a big concern for folks. So it's something that we always want to be super transparent about and again, encourage people to do what works for them. I'm not shilling mocktails to anybody who doesn't want them, but it's very personal choice at the end of the day.
[00:19:02] Speaker B: Yeah, I agree. I personally found Na alternatives to be so helpful for me because I was just stuck in the habit and the ritual. So I would still come home from work and I would go into the garage fridge, and instead of getting a beer, I would get the Na beer and I wouldn't drink a six pack of it.
[00:19:31] Speaker C: But you're right. I remember last summer I was mowing the lawn and I cracked open an athletic brewing, and I was like, this just feels good to be mowing the lawn with a beer. So it's a placeholder for a ritual that for many of us, so ingrained and such a default. But being able to do so and waking up in the morning and feeling good about that choice, not feeling shame, guilt, regret, or any of those things, has been positive. And for my journey, mocktails were a huge part of how I was able to maintain my choice to not drink alcohol. And I think for many others, yeah.
[00:20:11] Speaker B: And I don't think. I rarely drink na beer anymore. I did at first daily, and then I kind of stopped needing it. And then I'll have mocktails on special occasions, like you were saying, so you can be part of the celebration or whatnot. So having an NA option is when I'll do that, but I don't feel like I need them daily. But good on people who do. I am a big beverage drinker, though, so I just feel like in general, maybe that's just my thing is I like to drink a lot of whatever it is.
[00:20:50] Speaker C: Well, have you heard of the beverage goblin concept? Like, you've got your water, your coffee, your seltzer. It seems like a lot of people who have quit drinking tend to be beverage goblins, where we have a lot of drinks around us. I don't know what the impulse is there, but I have several on my desk right now. Right.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: It's like that oral fixation or something. I don't know. Me too.
I'm always having something cool. Very cool. Well, let's talk about the holidays coming, and if you have any tips for people who want to celebrate alcohol free.
[00:21:25] Speaker C: I mean, this can be a really.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: Challenging time of year.
[00:21:30] Speaker C: Such a challenging time of year. There is both the celebration piece and there's always going to be drinks. And then there's the kind of other side of the holidays. There can be stress, there can be anxiety, there can be family drama. And for those of us who were or are drinkers, that can be a time where you turn to alcohol to cope more than ever with some of these things. So I quit drinking. It was December 5 years ago next month. So it was right before Christmas. It was right before New Year's. And I remember saying, are you crazy? Are you sure you want to do it this month? Is this really the time to be doing it? And I knew that if I was going to be successful, I would have to go in with a plan. And so for me, that meant bringing drinks that I knew I would enjoy and would make me feel special. That meant giving myself permission to give myself space if I was in a situation with family, for instance, that would stress me out. Giving myself permission to exit the situation if I wanted to, and feeling comfortable with a number of people with close friends, letting them know what I was going through so that they could support me. I found for me personally, it was easier to tell them and have their support and buy in than try to hide the fact that I was choosing not to drink, which is something I had done on previous occasions out of embarrassment. And this time I knew I needed the support. So I think just going in with a lot of grace for yourself and knowing that there are options there at the table, but have an exit strategy if you need to.
[00:23:13] Speaker B: Those are really good.
So having some alternative beverages, having someone you can be accountable to, having an exit strategy. And yeah, I always tell people, just have grace and compassion and self kindness because it's hard and it's new.
We get a lot of practice when we're quitting drinking or changing our drinking. We get a lot of everyday practice. Wednesday after work or all of those are pretty similar. But Thanksgiving is once a year, Christmas is once a year. So we don't have as much practice around the holidays.
[00:23:55] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:23:56] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:23:57] Speaker C: And I think holidays are a time of overconsumption on many fronts, whether it's food, sweets, gifts, and alcohol is part of that, too. So I think the flip side of that is choosing not to drink and going into the holidays and doing that successfully, it's going to feel so good. And coming out on the other side, starting the new year with that behind you is one of the most empowering things I think I've ever done. And I will never forget the feeling of waking up on January 1, that 1st, January 1, where I wasn't hungover and sick and depleted, and I feel like I'm still riding that high.
[00:24:35] Speaker B: Yeah.
And there's just never going to be a perfect time to quit.
[00:24:40] Speaker C: Never.
[00:24:41] Speaker B: Yeah. So why not start now?
[00:24:44] Speaker C: Totally. And I think also, having gone through so many times where I was like, I'm going to take a break, I'm going to quit this, that and the other thing. It's not a linear path. Also giving yourself grace that if things don't go exactly as you imagined, tomorrow is another day. I think this absolutist, all or nothing can be really hard and really difficult if you fall short of your goals and if things don't go as planned, you've still learned something. You've still started somewhere. You have something to build off of.
[00:25:16] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. It's so true.
I think we tend to beat ourselves up, especially around this time of year. And for a lot of moms out there trying to be the perfect mom and move the elf and get all.
[00:25:34] Speaker C: The presents, I have opted out of the elf and I'm sticking into it. I am so sorry if you're going to do that.
[00:25:43] Speaker B: That elf. That fucking elf. Anyway, now my kids are teenagers. It's easier to do Christmas, that's for sure. And it's like, choose your hard.
Yes, it's hard not drinking, but it's even harder being hungover the next day and trying to get through family and make dinner and get all the presents ready. That's hard.
[00:26:09] Speaker C: It is really hard. I love the idea of choose your heart. I'm not going to lie. I'm almost five years alcohol free, but I still am using sugar as a coping mechanism.
But I'm okay with that.
[00:26:22] Speaker B: Right?
[00:26:22] Speaker C: I'm okay with that. It's getting me through. And I think to your point, people who struggle with alcohol, we're already so good at beating ourselves up and being disappointed in ourselves and setting too high expectations for ourselves. So just grace, compassion, and maybe it's okay if you spend the whole week in sweatpants and you're eating Christmas cookies by the fistful. Maybe that's okay.
[00:26:46] Speaker B: That sounds amazing.
[00:26:47] Speaker C: Right?
[00:26:48] Speaker B: What I want to do, that's my plan.
Okay, well, what are some of your favorite mocktail recipes?
[00:26:58] Speaker C: So I was a bourbon girl. I loved Manhattan's old fashioned. So I'm a big fan of any drink that uses spiritless Kentucky 74 bourbon alternative. It does a really nice job of replicating some of the smoky, spicy aromas. So I like 1 December, we put out a sugar plum old fashioned recipe that was really good. It was with the spirit list and a plum shrub and that was a really good one. And I also really like, if I'm feeling super simple, I know, no Shirley Temples or club soda and lime, but just bitters and soda. So all the bitter has a whole line of completely alcoholiday free bitters. So a few dropperfuls of bitters, maybe a squeeze of lime and club soda is just like a really nice, sophisticated, but simple way to not get too complicated. And then I love the Shirley brute wine. So it's like a sparkling, alcohol free white wine. And that's a really festive one, I think, especially around the holidays, something bubbly feels really festive. And if you want to add a little something to it, you could do like a splash of cranberry or something like that just to make it feel a little bit more seasonal.
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Yeah, that seems like something you could cheers with.
[00:28:13] Speaker C: That's exactly right.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: Okay, I got to ask. So what are bitters and what are shrubs?
[00:28:20] Speaker C: Oh, my goodness, yes. All these terms. So bitters are commonly used in a lot of different cocktails. So the classic one is, like, aromatic bitters. And usually they are made exclusively with alcohol, but it's like a lot of different herbs and botanicals go into it, and you only use a few dashes. So, for instance, I feel comfortable personally using alcohol based bitters because it doesn't create an alcoholic drink. It creates something that just has a little splash of flavor. But I also use the alcohol free ones, and we only use alcohol free bitters in our kits, but it's basically like a digestive. So it's a really concentrated flavor that brings out a lot of the elements of a good cocktail. So the classic ones are aromatic. All the bitter has a New Orleans bitter, which has hibiscus in it. They have an orange bitter, but it's commonly digestive. So it helps with kind of digestion, but it also really enhances drinks. And then shrubs are apple cider vinegar based drinks. So back in, I guess, the 18 hundreds or something like that, if fruit was spoiling, they would macerate the spoiling fruit with sugar and distill it into a shrub that could be mixed with water or seltzer for kind of a complex bitter drink. So apple cider vinegar is the base, but there's so many different flavors of shrubs. So, for instance, we have a holiday box that has a pear chai shrub, which is really special. So those are great because they're not super sweet. They do have some sugar in them, but with the vinegar, it's more balanced and nuanced than like a traditional, just straight up syrup.
[00:30:00] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you for explaining that. I'm like, I kind of know what they are, but not really.
[00:30:06] Speaker C: I feel like I'm so immersed in the shrub world, but I've had so many people over the. Are you talking about bushes like what are we talking about here?
So it's a very valid question.
[00:30:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Cool. Okay, my million dollar question.
Is there a decent Na red wine?
[00:30:25] Speaker C: It's such a good question. It's such a good question. And I feel like after five years, my taste for red wine has slowly dissipated. And I can't really remember what the real thing is. But I know when I taste an alcohol free red wine, when it's not, when it's not. So, to my earlier point with bitters, Ian Blessing and Carly Blessing, who own all the bitter, have in the different non alcoholic communities, touted the benefits of actually taking the aromatic bitters and adding it to your nonalcoholic red wine to really help kind of amplify and recreate some of the qualities of a good red wine. So I won't say that I have a number one favorite. I will say that we are doing a box this month in November that is an alcohol free sangria, and we're using the free alcoholiday removed red wine. And oftentimes, I think red wine works better in, like, a sangria or something. Not straight up, but I do like the free. I think the geysen makes a really nice one. There's luminara, and then naughty is my other pick. But pretty much if somebody's new to it, I wouldn't suggest red wine as their first intro to the non alcoholic world. It's a hard thing to recreate.
[00:31:42] Speaker B: It really is. Yeah. I feel like there's a lot of great beer and a beer options.
Even white wine and white wine. Yes, for sure. And the sparkling ones.
And I wasn't really, like a hard liquor, mixed drinks kind of girl, but I get that feeling of, I get where I'm like, I want to have something my kids wouldn't drink.
[00:32:07] Speaker C: Right, exactly.
It's to that earlier point of, liKe, you don't want to feel like you're at the kids table. You're a grown up. You're somebody who has a great talent. You can enjoy things that aren't for everybody. And it's funny, my kids are ten, seven, and three, and they'll sometimes sample drinks. And we used to do, like, an Instagram series called Cocktails with kids where they would sample the raising the bar drinks and give their honest opinion. And I always loved when they were like, they were like, this is no good. I'm like, okay, so this is for a sophisticated palate. I have actually achieved my goal here. They don't like it, and that's okay.
[00:32:47] Speaker B: That's so funny. It's so true. Okay, well, tell me you're going to be running some holiday specials. I feel like this kit would be such a great gift for someone to give to a friend or someone that is changing their drinking. So tell me what's coming up with raising the bar? What you got?
[00:33:08] Speaker C: The subscriptions are kind of how we really encourage people to dive into the world because we do kind of seasonal monthly drinks. So you're always checking out new brands and new ways to mix up drinks and especially for gifts. If you're gifting somebody at the holidays and you want to do like a three month subscription, they'll have something in December to enjoy, but then they're starting off dry January with really great options as well. But we also do around the holidays put out a number of one time boxes because we know subscriptions are not the right choice for everybody. So we have a Perry and bright drink, which is our pear chai shrub mixed with chai syrup. And that one is a really nice giftable box. Then we have a toast, the town, which is toast, the non alcoholic sparkling beverage. And it's kind of like our New Year's Eve box. It has cute little sparklers in there, some New Year's Eve napkins. So that's a fun one to bring to a party or if you're hosting. And then we have kind of a building your bar cart box, which has a few of our favorite options, so they're at all different price points. So there's something for eveRybody. But for sure, we see the holidays as a time where we really see a big uptick in subscriptions because people are gifting, but they're also trying to start the year off on a certain foot.
[00:34:23] Speaker B: Perfect. And then where can someone find you?
[00:34:27] Speaker C: So our website is weareraisingthebar.com and on Instagram. We're at wearezingthebar.
[00:34:35] Speaker B: I love the name. Raising the bar. Did that take a while to come up with?
[00:34:41] Speaker C: It came up the day I thought of the idea on our way to a New Year's Eve party. Then it took us two years to launch the business after that because I was like, who am I to start a company? Blah, blah, blah, blah. But raising the bar was the name from day one.
[00:34:55] Speaker B: Wow. So cool. Well, I'm so glad that you're doing this and so proud of you and really glad we got the chance to talk. I think will really enjoy this. I think it sounds like such a great gift idea and fun, and I want to get one for myself.
[00:35:14] Speaker C: We'll send you one. And Deb, I really appreciate the chance to talk and also appreciate the resources that you offer, and I just feel like we're in an age where there's so many great tools for people who are looking to reevaluate their relationship with alcohol. So thank you for what you do as well.
[00:35:31] Speaker A: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Alcohol Tipping Point Podcast. Please share and review the show so you can help other people too. I want you to know I'm always here for you, so please reach out and talk to me on Instagram at Alcohol Tipping Point and check out my website, alcoholtippingpoint.com, for free resources and help. No matter where you are on your drinking journey, I want to encourage you to just keep practicing. Keep going. I promise you are not alone and you are worth it. Every day you practice not drinking is.
[00:36:03] Speaker B: A day you can learn from.
[00:36:05] Speaker A: I hope you can use these tips we talked about for the rest of your week, and until then, talk to you next time you.
