Every event has them. The pregnant guest. The designated driver. The one who has stopped drinking, or is training, or is on medication, or simply does not fancy it tonight.

And at almost every event, they end up holding a glass of orange juice while everyone else is handed champagne.

It is a small thing. It is also the moment someone stops feeling like part of the party.

The problem with the soft drink table

The usual solution is a jug of something on a side table. Lemonade, juice, a bowl of punch.

It does not work, for a reason that has nothing to do with taste.

A toast is a ritual. Everyone holds the same kind of glass, everyone is poured from a bottle, everyone raises it at the same moment. The person holding a tumbler of cordial is not doing the same thing as everyone else, and they know it.

What the non-drinker wants is not a better soft drink. It is the same ritual.

What a 750ml bottle does

Our 750ml is a table bottle. It looks like a bottle of wine, it opens like one, it pours into a wine glass, and it is designed to be shared across a table rather than drunk alone.

That sounds like a small thing. It is not.

It means the non-drinker at the reception is poured from a bottle by the same waiter, into the same glass, at the same moment. They raise it with everyone else. Nobody has to explain anything.

And because it is dry and acidic rather than sweet, it actually works with the food - which a jug of lemonade does not.

Which flavour, and how much

For a toast - Cranberry & Rose. It is the most wine-like of the range, it has the colour, and it holds its own in a flute.

For the table - Ginger & Lime with anything spiced or Asian. Dragon Fruit with seafood. Mango with something rich.

For a long afternoon - the 250ml Spritz. Non-alcoholic, under 50 calories, and easier to hand around than a bottle.

Rough quantities. A 750ml pours three to four glasses. Assume around a third of your guests will want a non-alcoholic option at some point in the evening, and that the ones who want it will have two or three glasses across the night - not one token drink.

Most people underestimate this. The non-drinker is not drinking less; they are drinking something else.

Practical things

It needs to be cold. Our core range is live and unpasteurised. It travels cold and it needs to stay cold. Talk to your venue about fridge space before the day, not on it.

Open it gently. It is bottle-conditioned, so it carries real pressure. Whoever is pouring should know that.

Order ahead. We brew to order rather than holding big stock. Give us notice and we will make sure it is there.

Kegs are available if you are doing volume.

Getting it to your event

We deliver twice weekly across Perth metro, and weekly to the South West and north.

If you are working with a venue, there is a fair chance they already know us - we are on the list at Como The Treasury, QT Hotel Perth, Running with Thieves and a long list of others across WA.

For events, weddings and functions: rob@hippie.com.au

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