Let Me Tell You—Your dry month doesn’t have to end in January

“Let Me Tell You” is a series of columns from our expert editors about NYC living, including the best things to do, where to eat and drink, and what to see at the theater. They publish each Tuesday so you’re hearing from us each week. Last time, Food & Drink Editor Morgan Carter told us about her top restaurant openings to look out for in 2025.

By the time the clock struck midnight on December 31, officially marking the top of the year, I was more than ready for my Dry January to begin. In my line of work, free alcohol is definitely a perk. Of course, I want to try your fermented pineapple spirit straight from the spigot, a vintage sparkling wine that was bottled the year I was born and a bone-marrow-washed martini, only if it's cold. But over the last seven months since I've started this role, I’ve noticed how this unlimited access can easily slide into excess. Do I really need a glass of Champagne while going to an ice cream shop opening? Do I really need a midday cocktail because the media event is at noon? And do I really need to go three drinks deep on Monday just because it's a speakeasy? (The answer to all of these questions is “no.”) 

This balancing act between my profession and the industry I cover is one that I’ve walked since I started working as a food writer almost nine years ago. Back in my twenties, drinking throughout the week, and going even harder to the weekends, was the norm given my profession and my age. But as I am nearing my mid-30s and looking back on a decade plus in which a drink has been in my hand, it is more than enough reason to pause not just for one month, but to consider the future as a whole. 

RECOMMENDED: NYC's 10 best mocktails and where to find them for Dry January

Of course, I’m not the only one re-evaluating their relationship with alcohol. Plenty of folks across the restaurant industry have turned to sobriety, including Gregory Gourdet, Michael Solomonov and Andrew Zimmern, as well as the writers who cover them, including Julia Bainbridge and Mayukh Sen. Even bar professionals are going sober, even as their jobs require swirling cocktails and pouring shots. Paired with a generational move away from alcohol, thanks Gen Z, this refocus on drinking as a whole has opened the conversation toward sobriety and sober curious living 

Thankfully, our scene has risen to the occasion. Coming leaps and bounds from the scene that once was when Dry January was initially created in 2013, zero-proof drinks are no longer an afterthought. Finding permanence on menus across restaurants and bars, the industry is leaning on its creativity to cater to individuals of all preferences, drinking or not. 

For me, my “off” month was spent very “on,” exploring the scene albeit sans spirits. In a month where I visited 15 restaurants and bars, I spent them sipping on prickly and hibiscus-infused spritzes and tipping back tea-infused drinks. I watched some of New York’s top bar talent from Dante, Death & Co and Please Don’t Tell battle it out for the title of “Best Alcoholic Cocktail” at Listen Bar’s Good AF Awards. While at home, my fridge was stocked with non-alcoholic beer from Athletic Brewing and glass bottles of spirit alternatives, including Ghia and NON, all courtesy of my haul at spirit-free shop Minus Moonshine. And I spent the last night of Dry January sweating it out, via dancing and deep breathing in an 85-degree sauna at Daybreaker’s first nighttime rave at Othership.

As the month came to a close, I wasn’t readily reaching for a glass. In the face of friends happily reminding me that “I was free,” I extended my Dry January a day longer because, turns out, I just wasn’t thirsty. As the rest of the year continues, I along with others are looking forward to exploring the spirit-free scene. Due to a successful first shop, Minus Moonshine recently opened a new location in Greenpoint. The non-alcoholic pop-up event series, Third Place Bar, is throwing a spirit-free VDay party alongside its weekly co-working sessions at booze-less bar, Hekate Café & Elixir Lounge. Bringing community to the cold plunge, Othership hosts Saturday night socials to meet fellow sober and sober curious individuals while in a sauna setting. All to say, there is plenty to do, drink and explore, sans alcohol. And that deserves a cheers. 

Notable non-alcoholic cocktails try around town

• The Prickly Hibiscus Spritz from Santi
• The Spicy AF at Neuehouse, courtesy of Listen Bar
• Pom DeLouise from Hekate Café & Elixir Lounge
• The Winter Rum Spritz from Time Out Market New York