How to consume less alcohol with a local sparkling water brand from Ontario

During January, many are trying out a “dry” or “damp” lifestyle by lowering their alcohol consumption, or cutting out booze entirely.

There are many different ways to tackle this lifestyle change that can be challenging for some, but there are a ton of great beverage products out there that can make drinking less alcohol a little easier.

Barbet is a local Ontario sparkling water company that has been busting stereotypes by becoming a go-to non-alcoholic option everywhere from restaurants to events to stores.

“In 2020, my sister Katie cut out drinking alcohol for a short period of time for health-related reasons. It was a very personal decision, and the questions she got from others—like ‘why aren’t you drinking?’—started to feel unnecessarily invasive, leading Katie to feel discluded from social moments. We quickly realized that a lot of the options on the market were either juvenilely branded sparkling beverages or sugary de-alcoholized RTDs and wines,” Barbet co-founder Andrea Grand tells YourCityWithIN.com.

“There wasn’t much that spoke to the modern human. Something that had the attention to design, flavour, and experience that some alcohol-based beverages offer. We decided to create a drink that flips the narrative and inspires people to ask, ‘What are you drinking?’ instead of ‘Why aren’t you drinking?’ Fast forward to December 2021, and Barbet was born.”

Barbet breaks the mold by offering flavour profiles that are as thoughtful as cocktails with equally stylish names like Light Wave (cucumber, pineapple and lavender) and Love Bite (grapefruit, ginger and juniper).

“Barbet is all about shifting the focus from what’s not in your drink to what is,” says Grand. “Each of our flavours are designed with a full-sensory experience in mind, from the colourful can stripes that reflect tasting notes, to the aromatics that hit your nose the second you pop the tab, to the bold and unexpected combinations of flavours.”

The drinks are also designed to offer a sense of freedom, with bold flavours that not only stand out on their own but that can also be mixed with alcoholic or non-alcoholic spirits so you can choose your own drinking adventure.

The founders of Barbet are focusing on de-centring alcohol in favour of centring celebration, romance and fun, what Grand calls “a celebration moment.” She emphasizes that this can be achieved with lower levels of alcohol so everyone can always feel included in celebrations.

“Drinking alcohol less doesn’t have to mean sacrificing fun or flavour, it’s about having options and finding balance,” says Grand.

“Don’t lose the romance and ritual that has traditionally been reserved for alcoholic cocktails.”