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Well, we\u2019re in February now, so we\u2019re all off the hook. The health-conscious get their gyms back from the January joggers; the January joggers can take it or leave it; and the Dry January adopters can stick with it, or start paying for rounds again. And the rest of us are as we ever were, patiently looking forward to an eventual springtime. The jury\u2019s out on whether our bank balances or early-in-the-year moods are back on track.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Not just January<\/b><\/p>\n Nevermind our New Year personas, however, more generally <\/span>young people are drinking less than before<\/span><\/a>, and the older you are, the better you\u2019ll understand how you can\u2019t take it like you used to. You still have the taste for a Hendricks, but the fun has to end after one, maybe two. Oh, and we\u2019re <\/span>obviously<\/span><\/i> talking about singles. Double servings? Steady on.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you\u2019re a Gen X Graver -- bent on <\/span>\u2018raving to the grave\u2019<\/span><\/a> -- or just a Gen X-er that likes the ceremony of getting together with friends over a drink, this is a problem: mocktails are too sweet (and there\u2019s only so much cordial you can drink over an evening), and after only a couple of real drinks you know you\u2019ll be regretting it the next day.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2026 While the iron\u2019s hot...<\/b><\/p>\n Cue Alex Carlton. Alex\u2019s background includes a decade in the US entertainment industry before he made his name with Funkin smoothies, purees, cocktail mixers and syrups with a customer base largely in bars and restaurants in the UK before then breaking out into the States. In 2015 Alex sold the company to AG Barr, the Scottish drinks giant, whose brands include Irn-Bru, Strathmore and Bundaberg, amongst others.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Crucially, Alex\u2019s next move was a direct response to his drinking habits, which he wanted to moderate. It\u2019s one thing wishing you could drink less, and another thing if it\u2019s the millstone around which you and your friends converge. \u2018People will cancel plans because they\u2019re trying to stay off the drink,\u2019 he says, because there aren\u2019t adequate \u2018session\u2019 drinks available.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Stryyk has been putting itself on the map since bringing a product to market in 2018. Alex explains that \u2018in the year and a half we\u2019ve had a product on the market, we\u2019ve had four different iterations. We\u2019re always improving, pioneering for the best liquid of its kind in the market.\u2019\u00a0 Working with mixologists including Thomas Soden, a well-known London mixologist, they develop their flavours to meet their market niche. Currently offering three \u2018spirits\u2019 (we\u2019ll do without the inverted commas herein, don\u2019t worry), each being calorie free -- Not Gin, Not Vodka and Not Rum -- and each with a view to \u2018fit in with any ritual with friends\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sessionable, say what?<\/b><\/p>\n First, let\u2019s start with what these spirits are. Each contain distillates, additional botanicals and flavours, which have been designed to mimic the flavour of their alcoholic counterparts. For this article the company sent over two Not Gin and Not Rum for sampling.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n These ingredients combine to create a challenging taste for younger taste buds, and could be described as \u2018grown-up\u2019, similar to what you\u2019d find with any spirit. Not something you\u2019d glug down but something you\u2019d savour: that\u2019s what makes Stryyk-based drinks <\/span>sessionable<\/span><\/i>. There are only so many pints of blackcurrant and soda you can manage in the company of increasingly <\/span>hooned <\/span><\/i>friends, but with Stryyk you don\u2019t have to feel so parsimonious in your drink choice, somehow. Rather than feeling like you are drinking a mocktail, you feel like you\u2019re drinking a G&T without a twist of disapproval from your GP.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Flavour-wise, the gin tastes summery fresh, with overtones of mint and cucumber, and undertones of juniper and basil. And the rum is delicately spiced and certainly betrays an oakwood and vanilla base: a happy sub-in for the rum in your Dark & Story, Mojito, or Cuba Libre.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ABV as easy as 1,2,3<\/b><\/p>\n In the UK you\u2019re considered non-alcoholic if, like Stryyk, you\u2019re 0.05% ABV. Then, at 0.5% you\u2019re considered low alcohol. In the EU the numbers shift slightly, where a spirit that\u2019s low-alcohol in the UK can be considered non-alcoholic. Knowing this, it\u2019s a differentiator if, say, you\u2019re spending all day drinking when pregnant or planning to drive: better to plum for the 0.05% Stryyk, perhaps, than surprising yourself when breathalised. Know your limits, as the saying goes.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Healthy competition<\/b><\/p>\n Non-alcoholic spirits are certainly on the increase: <\/span>Ceders<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Borrago<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Seedlip<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Three Spirits<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Clean Liquor<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Amplify<\/span><\/a>, to name but a few. Alex sees Stryyk as a different proposition: \u2018they are all playing in this unusual botanical distilled non-alcoholic spirit world. Stryyk are mainstream: we\u2019re aligned with the three mainstream spirits. You could get a Stryyk Not G&T because it\u2019s a reliable substitute for G&T, which is your favourite drink, but you want a clear head tomorrow. I think, too, that whilst we do buy into healthy minds, clarity and good mental health, we\u2019re about moderation not abstinence.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018If you go into Starbucks and everyone\u2019s ordering a Cappuccino, it makes no difference if you\u2019re ordering a decaf: that\u2019s what Stryyk does for spirits. They\u2019re for mindful hedonists.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Future<\/b><\/p>\n Alex is understandably enthusiastic about how the landscape is continuing to change, with attitudes having already turned 180\u00b0 towards the non-alcoholic movement. \u2018Only two years ago, I would speak to Mixologists, who would ask why anyone needs a non-alcoholic spirit. Now, they really get it.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the Stryyk team, their next steps involved continued sell-in at bars and restaurants across the board; their export is growing across the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Israel and beyond; they are looking into creating Not Whisky and Not Tequila; and they are looking to enter the ready-to-drink category. This is a promising diversification for the company in their category, not least as an excuse to involve <\/span>Diane Abbott<\/span><\/a> in their April Fool\u2019s Day campaign (you can have that one for free, Stryyk).<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Improbable ideas aside, fresh from his first Dry January, Alex affirms that for businesses to meet their ambitions they need to \u2018listen to the market and be flexible. If you\u2019re rigid, you\u2019re going to die. For us, that\u2019s realising that young Millennials don\u2019t drink so much, so why would they want to drink something that tastes of alcohol? We now see our sweet spot as those between 30-70 years old.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018People that work hard, love to travel, love experiences, love to let their hair down, but realise they have responsibilities.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n People like the author of this article, whose own libational approach is akin to Robert Burns\u2019 assertion that \u2018a now-and-then tribute to Bacchus is like the cold bath, bracing and invigorating.\u2019 Aye, Rabbie, here\u2019s to a slurp of the good stuff. And if it\u2019s not gin, it\u2019ll be Not Gin.<\/span><\/p>\n Stryyk<\/span><\/i><\/a> is available <\/span><\/i>via Ocado<\/span><\/i><\/a>, and in a growing number of restaurant chains, including London\u2019s <\/span><\/i>Caravan<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well, we\u2019re in February now, so we\u2019re all off the hook. The health-conscious get their gyms back from the January joggers; the January joggers can take it or leave it; and the Dry January adopters can stick with it, or start paying for rounds again. And the rest of us are as we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":520038,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34359],"tags":[],"hashtag":[23954],"type-d-article":[23048],"maddybasic_maturity":[],"maddybasic_thematic":[],"partnership":[],"poool":[],"class_list":["post-519825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-portfolio","hashtag-maddylife","secteur-foodtech","type-d-article-classique"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519825"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519825"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":598608,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519825\/revisions\/598608"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/520038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519825"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=519825"},{"taxonomy":"type-d-article","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type-d-article?post=519825"},{"taxonomy":"maddybasic_maturity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/maddybasic_maturity?post=519825"},{"taxonomy":"maddybasic_thematic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/maddybasic_thematic?post=519825"},{"taxonomy":"partnership","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/partnership?post=519825"},{"taxonomy":"poool","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.maddyness.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/poool?post=519825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}