Prohibition by choice: NA RTD cocktails revive the Roaring '20s

The speakeasy opens with the pull of a book. When the shelves part, music spills out like an overturned drink, and then come the voices laughing, the glasses clinking. Behind it all, the hot, astringent aroma of alcohol hangs in the air, suffusing everything.

You might expect a flapper to race out, chased by a dapper gent in pinstripes and fedora, but this isn’t a story from the 1920s. It’s a century later, in 2020, at a small bar named Room 33 in Erie, Pennsylvania, where owner Rebecca Styn, Ph.D., is trying to figure out how to sell alcohol during a global pandemic. It wasn’t as simple as bringing beverages to the people, most of whom were locked up inside their homes, because the state’s perplexing liquor laws didn’t allow to-go sales.

“At the time, 90% of our sales had come from the bar,” Styn explained. “We either had to shut our doors and let our team go or come up with different options. So, we ramped up our kitchen, but we also started bottling nonalcoholic versions of our cocktails. We had already seen a gap in the market, just in our travels to different restaurants and bars. And I still see a huge gap in the market at a lot of restaurants and bars in other states.”

These circumstances gave birth to Blind Tiger, a clever brand name that’s also a throwback to the Roaring Twenties, when the term referred to speakeasies, or establishments that sold alcohol illegally from 1920 to 1933 — during Prohibition in the U.S. — now cleverly repurposed to give new life to nonalcoholic (NA) ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails.

Telling tales with cocktails

Blind Tiger started off selling four classic drinks — Bee's Knees, Southside, Sidecar and Ward 8 — and they’ve since expanded, adding a Sidecar Mimosa, a Southside Mojito and a new fan favorite, the Lavender French 75. All offer delicious modern takes on nostalgic flavor profiles, but the unique part is that each can, perfectly sized for sipping or mixing, comes with the cocktail’s lore printed on the side.

French 75, for example, was created during World War I and reportedly possessed such a kick that drinking one was akin to being shelled by the ferocious French 75 mm field gun. The cocktail is traditionally made using gin, Champagne, lemon juice and sugar, with a hint of lavender rounding out the flavor profile in Blind Tiger’s zero-proof version, reflecting an unserved niche in the market.

Nostalgia may sell well on its own, but according to Styn, what consumers really want is something that feels old fashioned and newfangled at the same time — a familiar drink that still manages to delight and surprise. To do this, Blind Tiger had to stay true to the roots of the beverage, alcohol or no.

“I worked with a beverage engineer … If you look up flavor profiles that mirror brandy, they'll give you the fruits that do that,” Styn said. “So, it was just a combination of looking at a comparable natural element to what the alcohol was. And then obviously if it already had lemon juice or orange juice, then we were able to just go with that part of it.”

Beyond storytelling

The appeal of RTD NA cocktails goes beyond clever marketing. Blind Tiger had a “seasoned mixologist with a deep understanding of flavor profiles and the art of cocktail creation” develop its recipes from scratch, Styn said.

“Blind Tiger does not use any artificial colors, flavors or preservatives,” she explained. “For sweeteners, we exclusively use cane sugar, honey and monk fruit, depending on the drink, to provide a balanced sweetness that enhances the natural flavors without overpowering them. Historically, sugar and citric fruits were essential in masking the harshness of bathtub gin during Prohibition, and we honor that tradition in our recipes.”

To create distinct flavor profiles that set its canned cocktails apart from sodas and fruit juices, Blind Tiger carefully selects extracts and all-natural ingredients to capture the essence of traditional drinks.

“For example, our Bee’s Knees features juniper flavor and orange blossom honey to mirror classic cocktails,” Styn said. “In the Lavender French 75, we blend sparkling water, lavender, Maraschino cherry, juniper and lemon to evoke the classic gin and Champagne profile while adding lavender as a unique twist … Each ingredient is chosen not just for its taste, but for its ability to recreate the complexity of a true cocktail experience.”

Color can be another vital aspect of the “true cocktail experience,” but Blind Tiger has only added color to one cocktail: The Lavender French 75’s signature hue comes from natural purple plum liquid, which delivers on the brand’s clean-label promises.

Back to the future

Blind Tiger isn’t the only NA cocktail maker capitalizing on the public’s longing for bygone eras with a contemporary twist. SMASHD — which recently underwent a name change from MIXOLOSHE based on community feedback — has positioned its cocktails as a return to simpler times, with all-natural ingredients and, of course, zero alcohol.

“Back a thousand years ago, people were pressing juices, and that was the real wine,” Benny Smeds, VP of sales at SMASHD, said. “It wasn't 14% [alcohol by volume (ABV)] … It was more like 4% or 7%. It was low ABV. So, I see the world and the market is going to low ABV and nonalcoholic options.”

SMASHD cocktails even possess the signature “alcohol burn” that is so sought-after by NA beverage brands, yet so difficult to replicate. How SMASHD achieved this is a trade secret, but they have plenty to say about what consumers in the category want.

“It's not capsaicin, it's not jalapeno or peppers or anything else like that, but it gives you a tingle on the tongue, gives a signal to the mind without intoxication,” Smeds said. “When alcohol drinkers are the nonalcoholic buyers, you want the same taste … I don't want another juice.”

According to Smeds, low- and no-alcohol beverages are both the way of the future and a callback to humanity’s distant past, when we were still learning how to ferment sugars. In short, consumers want the decadence and ceremony of a modern cocktail, minus the health risks that come with getting drunk, especially since new research has debunked the myth that moderate consumption is good for you.

“I would say it’s more about the experience,” Smeds explained. “It's more about quality than quantity [of alcohol]. That's what I see for both nonalcoholic and alcohol drinkers — we're just getting a better quality of life. And who wouldn't like to have a better quality of life?”