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A Sober Mom in the Wine Mom Culture with Adrienne Stillman Krausz

Episode 152

 

My guest this week is Adrienne Stillman Krausz, a lady with a very sophisticated palate.  Her passion for fine food and wine began when she lived in Paris during her formative years. 

Adrienne went to college in the US but while her fellow students were downing beers and jello shots she was heading downtown to drink expensive craft cocktails.

She lives in the Nappa valley with her husband Jake who is a 2nd generation wine maker and as a couple they turned their talents to the alcohol free space.

In this episode

  • I think Adrienne is quite unique in that she has "a foot in both camps" as she puts it
  • I love the way that together with her husband they are busy sourcing and curating the very best AF products – with the same care that would go into fine wines
  • As they say on their website they believe that everyone deserves a good drink, whether it has alcohol or not!
  • Adrienne admits that she did sometimes go overboard on the craft cocktails and as a newly married couple two bottles of wine was the norm most evenings
  • She did begin to feel the after effects of that wine in the morning and never really bounced out of bed feeling great
  • As they started to think about having a family Adrienne stopped drinking during the week
  • However that meant that the weekend drinking affected her more
  • Coping with fertility problems led Adrienne to give up drinking completely
  • She also had to give up eating various foods with led to bouts of FOMO when she was socialising
  • She got a taste of what us ex drinkers go through in early sobriety!
  • Happily Adrienne became a mom and now has a 9 month old baby
  • That’s when she noticed the mommy juice culture
  • Hanging out with some other moms she was surprised to hear plans to drop off the babies and so they could drink some cocktails
  • She noticed that some wine brands were targeting moms and we agreed that wine was sometimes seen as a “parenting aid”
  • Mommyjuice gives our children the message that it’s so difficult looking after them that we need wine – not to mention the more general message that we use wine as a coping mechanism
  • Adrienne’s interest in alcohol free drinks began when she met a sober coach who recommended that she try them.
  • She was very sceptical and her expectations were low – she couldn’t really see the point
  • However when she started tasting the various choices she was blown away by the quality
  • Together with her husband they started researching – and were both inspired.
  • She feels that the US is just scratching the surface but there is a lot of innovation going on
  • Adrienne and her husband concluded that there were some great choices available but that the AF space was difficult for the consumer to navigate – so they decided to become “curators.
  • They would be retailers of alcohol free drinks but only of drinks that they had sampled and enjoyed
  • They would be two experts providing advice and education around their products
  • They launched the Dry Goods Beverage Company in Summer of 2021.
  • Their best sellers are the alcohol free wines and she particularly recommended Copenhagen sparkling teas – perfect as an aperitif as its crisp and refreshing.
  • Adrienne explained that these teas provide the depth and nuance that the AF wines sometimes lack
  • She also reminded us that AF spirits should always be mixed rather than drunk neat.  That’s why the cocktail recipes are so important.
  • Adrienne has kindly offered our listeners a 10% discount on their products so just use the coupon code TribeSober
  • The website is drygoodsdrinks.com and they are @drygoodsdrinks on Instagram

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