(WXYZ) — It's a brand new year and many people are ready to start the goals they've set for themselves. For many, one challenge to start the year is Dry January.
A lot of people see alcohol as a way to unwind or socialize.
"When I got to the end of the day when I was thinking about a little treat to wind down with. If I wanted something to drink that felt like a reward, the only option was alcohol," Jason LaValla, the founder and CEO of Casamara Club, said.
But now, the tide may be changing with the rise of people doing Dry January.
"I think it's important, too, because a lot of people are abstaining from alcohol and kind of want it to be a little bit more socially acceptable," Donna Olkowski, the general manager at Rose House Brunch, said.
In the same vein as New Year's resolutions, many people take on Dry January.
"I just think it's it's good for your physical health. It's good for your mental health. And I'm just, I'm kind of like, don't want to drink all the time, you know what I mean? And I just think that we need to make that more acceptable, that it's okay that there are people out there that don't want to drink," Olkowski added.
It's no secret that heavy drinking can be harmful to our bodies, and we live in such a strong culture surrounding cocktails and social drinking. It's becoming a common practice to abstain and give the body a break for at least the first month of the year.
"A lot of people maybe don't want to come out and have a cocktail, but they want to participate in having something fun to drink," she said.
With the rise of Dry January and this tiny rebellion against drinking culture, bars and restaurants are getting creative and starting to include more non-alcoholic options for those seeking complete sobriety.
"You could take some of the principles that are used in bartending and mixology these days and all of these beautiful drinks that are created behind the bars around Detroit and everywhere that I could take some of that and put it into a nonalcoholic beverage and make something that was just as fun and rewarding and refreshing," LaValla said.
You don't have to limit yourself to only cocktails at the bar. Local businesses like Casamara Club are giving people looking for a healthier alternative to alcohol, a great substitute with all of the sophistication and fun with none of the hangover or side effects.
We are trying to create sort of a call it a permission structure for people to say, you know what, 'I am drinking, just not alcohol. I am having fun, I just don't want a, I don't know, a 12% IPA right now. I would rather have something else, something that fits in with where I'm at in the moment, wherever I am,'" LaValla said.
