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Club Soda Drinks Academy group photo at the Tasting Room

Join the Club Soda Drinks Academy

Elevate Your Low and Alcohol-Free Drinks Game

Monday 7th & Tuesday 8th July 2025

Monday 6th & Tuesday 7th October 2025

Wednesday 14th & Thursday 15th January 2026

Are you ready to revolutionise your approach to drinks? The Club Soda Academy offers a dynamic, 2-day programme explicitly tailored for hospitality professionals eager to master the art of low and no-alcohol drinks. This is your chance to stay ahead of the curve and review your range.

The programme costs £350 + VAT, with a limited number of free bursary places available.

What our graduates say ...

The Club Soda drinks academy is truly ground-breaking, giving drinks professionals a deep understanding of the no and low alcohol sector in a well thought-through, structured format that involved hearing from the producers themselves to demonstrate the breadth of high-quality products that are available today.
Jane Scott
Jane ScottThirty Fifty
Educational, friendly and fun introduction to the world of alcohol free!
Tom ForrestWAFA
The deep knowledge and passion of the ClubSoda team is infectious and made the course even more enjoyable on this incredibly exciting and important topic. I enjoyed the cross section of various industries with rich content from manufacturing, tasting, insight into today’s UK consumer behaviours, off-trade barriers across non-alc categories and the opportunity to taste many liquids across categories and understand challenges vs alcoholic equivalents. There was a great variety of people selected for the course from local venues, buyers, manufacturers (future presidents) so exchanging ideas was excellent.!
Sam ContractorWilliam Grant

Monday 7th & Tuesday 8th July
Monday 20th & Tuesday 21st October
Wednesday 14th & Thursday 15th January 2026

Read more about our Mood Enhancing and Functional Drinks Academy on 10th June 2025

What You Can Expect:

  • Expert Guidance: Learn from the best in the industry, including the renowned Nicolas Medicamento aka Dr. Cocktail, along with Laura Willoughby MBE and Josh Kelly from Club Soda. Their expertise will provide unparalleled insights into the world of alcohol-free drinks.

     

  • Exclusive Brand Access: Engage directly with leading brands such as Three Spirit, Everleaf, Rebels, Zeno, Noughty, Double Dutch, Lucky Saint, and Big Drop. Understand their unique offerings and how they can enhance your menu.

     

  • Hands-On Experience: Witness the exciting process of crafting these innovative drinks and acquire essential skills to create exquisite alcohol-free cocktails that will wow your customers.
APPLY HERE

Why You Should Attend:

  • Stay Competitive: With the growing demand for non-alcoholic options, staying informed and skilled in this area will set you apart in the hospitality industry.

  • Broaden Your Expertise: Expand your knowledge and diversify your beverage menu, catering to a wider audience and ensuring everyone has a delightful experience at your establishment.

  • Network and Grow: Connect with fellow professionals, share experiences, and build a supportive community focused on elevating the standards of hospitality.
APPLY HERE

Don’t miss this opportunity to be at the forefront of a movement transforming the way we think about drinking. Join the Club Soda Academy and become a pioneer in offering exceptional low and no-alcohol drinks.

There are only 12 spaces on each Academy. Secure your spot today.

APPLY HERE

Who is this Academy for?

  • Bartenders
  • Venue and Bar Managers 
  • Front of House teams 
  • Drinks Retailers
  • Head of Departments
  • Drinks Buyers
  • Marketing Leads in retail and the on-trade

By the end of this programme, you will learn

  • More about the low and alcohol-free drinks category 
  • How to use low and alcohol-free drinks to market your venue and pull in new customers, especially in January 
  • About the customers for low and no and what they are looking for
  • How to design and implement a low and alcohol-free range in your venue
  • Methods of production of low and alcohol-free drinks and be able to answer key questions about them
  • How to make great alcohol-free cocktails 
  • Knowledge to share with your colleagues

Bursary Places

If you are applying as an individual or a small business with a limited training budget, we have a small number of bursaries available for this programme. You can indicate your interest on the application form. This opportunity is open to both UK and international participants.

The bursary covers 50% of partipation costs.

Outside of London and need help with travel and accomodation?

If you are self-funding or work for a small business, The Drinks Trust offers course participation grants to help cover the cost of attending – including travel and accommodation – for those who meet their criteria. See below for more information (UK-based participants only).

Programme dates and outline:

Monday 7th & Tuesday 8th July and Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st October

 

📊 An introduction to alcohol-free at The Club Soda Tasting Room, 39 Drury Lane. With Laura Willoughby, Jussi Tolvi and Josh Kelly. Hear data and insights that will help power your purchasing and making decisions, and find out how this links with your and your team’s health with The Drinks Trust. 

🫒 Creating perfect alcohol-free cocktails, and how to photograph them at The Club Soda Tasting Room, 39 Drury Lane. With Nicolas Medicamento, Quentin Fichot and makers of exceptional alcohol-free and mood-enhancing spirits.

🤿 A deep dive into alcohol-free beer – plus connect with producers to see how alchol-free drinks are made. 

🍇 Understanding alcohol-free wine and wine alternatives, and pairing drinks with food at The Club Soda Tasting Room. Join Josh Kelly and Christine Parkinson to learn about the key techniques in this category and meet some of the makers. 

Financial Support to attend the course

The Drinks Trust support those on low incomes to access training in the hosoitality sector, inclding this academy.
Applicants will have to meet the following criteria:

  • Eligible to work in the UK (NI number)
  • Unemployed, or earning less than £26k.pa, with less than £2k savings
  • Aged 18 or over

To apply complete the form here

Travel expenses are reimbursed retrospectively and you will need to evidence your receipts. This can be used for travel and hotels. You should await approval before assuming your costs will be covered. Bursaries are subject to availability.

Bespoke Academies

We also run bespoke academies for teams in drinks, hospitality, creative and marketing. You can see who we have organised courses and academies for below.  Just get in contact with laura@joinclubsoda.co.uk to hear more and discuss your requirements.

Alternatively, we offer two hour-long Industry Insights sessions that can be tailored to your needs. They will support your team to get up to speed wth the sector, or work as an induction for new staff.

The Tasting Room

Club Soda’s Tasting Room is the UK’s premier destination for low and no drink discovery, offering you a chance to explore a curated collection of over 150 of the best and brightest low-alcohol and alcohol-free drinks brands.

Each week, we have a wide selection of drinks available to sample, free of charge. Come and discover an outstanding selection of alcohol-free beers, wines, spirits, premixed cocktails, adult soft drinks and mood enhancers, and a selection of low-alcohol products.

The Tasting Room is a place to discover and explore alternatives to beers, wines and spirits. Discover drinks you’ll love with our team of mindful drinking experts, including IWSC and World Alcohol-Free Awards judge Josh Kelly, and head of our cocktail programme, Noah Villeneuve.

Accessibility at the Tasting Room

We occupy an old building but have done our best to make as many adaptions as possible to improve access to our venue.

Follow this link to see a walkthrough video and read other information.

Terms and conditions:

These Terms and Conditions outline the agreement between the provider (“we”, “us”) and the client (“you”). By enrolling in our training programme, you agree to the following terms:

1. Payment Terms

  • Full payment is required prior to the commencement of the course unless otherwise agreed in writing.
  • Payment must be made within the timeline stated on the invoice to secure your booking.
  • Failure to make payment by the due date may result in the cancellation of your booking.

2. Cancellations

  • Cancellations made 14 days or more before the course start date will receive a full refund, minus an administrative fee of £50.
  • Cancellations made between 8-13 days before the start date will incur a charge of 50% of the course fee.
  • Cancellations made 7 days or less before the start date will not be eligible for a refund.
  • All cancellations must be submitted in writing to jussi@joinclubsoda.com.

3. Transfers

  • You may request to transfer your booking to a future course date, subject to availability.
  • Transfer requests made 15 days or more before the original start date will not incur additional charges.
  • Transfer requests made 14 days or less before the course start date may incur an administrative fee of £50.
  • Transfers must be confirmed in writing.

4. Substitutions

  • If you are unable to attend, a substitute participant may take your place at no additional cost, provided you notify us in writing at least 7 days before the course start date.
  • Substitutions made less than 7 days before the start date may be subject to an administrative fee.

5. Programme Changes

  • We reserve the right to make changes to the course content, format, or schedule, including rescheduling or cancelling a course, where necessary.
  • In the event of a cancellation by us, you will receive a full refund or the option to transfer to a future course.

6. Liability

  • We are not responsible for any travel, accommodation, or other costs incurred by participants in the event of a course cancellation or rescheduling.
  • Our liability is limited to the refund of the course fee paid.

7. Intellectual Property

  • All training materials provided during the course are protected by copyright.
  • You are not permitted to copy, distribute, or share any materials without prior written consent.

8. Data Protection

  • Any personal information you provide will be handled in accordance with applicable data protection laws. Your data will not be shared with third parties without your consent.

9. Attendance

  • Participants are expected to attend the full duration of the course. Failure to attend any part of the course without prior notification will not entitle you to a refund or transfer.
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