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Recent studies show young adults are drinking less alcohol. Bars and restaurants in San Antonio are responding by expanding their nonalcoholic options for customers who still want to go out and socialize.
The reasons for less alcohol consumption are complicated, but the data shows it’s definitely a trend.
Jessica Perrotte is an associate professor of psychology at Texas State University. Her research focuses on how social, cultural and cognitive factors influence risky and addictive behaviors, especially alcohol use among young adults.
“If we look at probabilistic national samples in the United States, I would say that the data overwhelmingly supports that claim that young adults are drinking less,” she told TPR.
One example of that broader trend comes from Gallup: the share of Americans ages 18 to 34 who said they drink alcohol fell from 72% about two decades ago to 62% in surveys conducted from 2021 through 2023.
“So whenever we look at the motivations though, it's like, OK, well, why are people drinking that? Is it because they want to drink less? Well, the research says yes, that's a motivation. They want to drink less. For both heavy drinkers, folks with alcohol use disorder, and even lighter drinkers, we are seeing that there's a real nod to this desire for harm reduction from alcohol. So all of these effects of alcohol like hangovers, maybe the risk of driving while you're intoxicated, people are motivated to select these nonalcoholic or no/low beverages (with zero alcohol or a low amount) because of that,” said Perrotte.
Many bars and restaurants across the country are responding to the trend in decreased alcohol consumption.
Derik Cortez is managing partner of Sojourn Trading Company, a downtown San Antonio bar. He says he saw a shift in alcohol consumption after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There's a lot of mental health issues that we have. I think we've all dealt with a little bit, maybe a little bit more perspective, as far as how you go about living your life,” Cortez said.
“You know, it was a big part of culture for a long time, and I think, you know, once that happened, the culture kind of changed a little bit.”
Cortez said Sojourn offers several nonalcoholic choices, with plans to add even more soon.
“It's like a sparkling prosecco that is non-alcoholic, you know, you can sit there and it's going to taste exactly like a, you know, alcoholic prosecco. We have something called a phony negroni, which, I mean, it's amazing. It tastes exactly like a negroni just without alcohol.”
Roundabout in Beacon Hill is also expanding its offerings. Co-owner Denise Aguirre says the bar is adding nonalcoholic choices, including hemp-infused beverages.
“I do feel that people, especially the younger demographic, want to go out. But, a lot of our clients, they're more on a sober journey, so I think a lot of it has to do with that, and they're looking for alternatives when it comes to going out. They want to socialize. They don't want to be the odd man out.”
Perrotte says that desire to socialize without drinking fits with what researchers know about alcohol’s longstanding role in social settings.
Perrotte also said that the literature shows "that alcohol is a very highly prevalent substance in social events. We've really got this cultural grounding that includes alcohol in it.”
At Roundabout, Aguirre says the bar plans to offer hemp-infused products on tap, along with several other types of non-alcoholic beverages.
Aguirre says recent changes in Texas law have sharply increased what she pays to be licensed to sell THC products.
“ A big part of our portfolio have been like the THC products, so much so, I had to shell out $5,000 for the license. That (fee) went from 150 to 5,000 (dollars) this year with all the new legislation,” she said.
But THC drinks are only part of the menu.
“I'm talking more like root beer, like truly nonalcoholic, like kombucha. We're doing Nitro coffee on draft, we'll be doing a water kefir (a fizzy fermented drink made by combining sugar water with cultures called water kefir grains) from a San Antonio brewery, Fermenteria,” said Aguirre.
Perrotte struck a cautionary tone when it comes to beverages containing THC combined with other substances.
“So, a lot of these beverages have multiple ingredients. So you might have THC, CBD, maybe melatonin, maybe caffeine kind of thrown into there. And the ways that those ingredients interact within an individual, both at the acute level and then long term, is highly under-researched.”
Aguirre says the demand for nonalcoholic offerings is growing, and they aim to meet that demand for their customers.
“People, they still wanna feel relaxed and feel those effects, but they wanna remember what happened that night.”
