The Next Round: What happens after you change your drinking?
The Next Round: What happens after you change your drinking?
This week’s podcast is a little break from the norm as Club Soda founders Laura and Dru chat about how to pick the perfect alcohol-free drink. Of course, this conversation is really about the fact that we’ve opened a brand new Tasting Room and Shop in the West End, and we want to tell you all about it! So if you’re looking for independent experts to help you choose, taste, and enjoy an alcohol-free drink, then come on down to 39 Drury Lane, London, and we’d be very excited to welcome you to our fantastic new venue.
Find out what motivated our team to open a permanent tasting space, what the plans are for the space, and what alcohol-free drink selection we’ll be stocking and serving you when you call in over Christmas and New Year!
Club Soda’s new Tasting Room and Shop is the UK’s premier destination for low and no drink discovery, offering you a chance to shop a curated collection of over 150 of the best and brightest low-alcohol and alcohol-free drink brands. This exciting new venue is easy walking distance from both Covent Garden and Holborn Tube stations. Find the Tasting Room near the junction of Drury Lane, Long Acre and Great Queen Street.
The Tasting Room is open
As co-founder Dru would tell you himself, it was not Club Soda’s intention to open a permanent venue with a shop and bar. The mindful drinking movement created by Laura, Jussi, and Dru was about inspiring and facilitating venues to accommodate alcohol-free drink choices. Initially, the Mindful Drinking Festival was an opportunity for the community to meet brands, try drinks, and engage with low and no alcohol options. When the pandemic hit and holding a festival became impossible, the pop-up off-licence became a way to continue this facilitatory aim.
Seeing the impact that we had on individuals when they were able to taste the product and go away with something that they would then drink the rest of the year round is what inspired me to think about a permanent venue. And that was always a goal of the festivals; you could go and meet all the brands and drink the drinks and share their story and understand and find something that you liked. But there was something very different about us being that point of contact rather than the brands direct, and in particular about the fact that venues came into the space and took part in our training, they came in to try stuff to put onto their menus. And they saw us as being the independent experts to do that, and having a knowledge that they wanted….I suddenly realized that the bricks and mortar space could could increase and amplify our influence and aims.
Laura Willoughby, founder of Club Soda
There will be products available to sample for free in the shop. There’s also the bar as well. So, you know, if you want to try a spirit in the context of a cocktail, or you want to try a cold beer that’s in the fridge, you can buy it, drink it at the bar, enjoy it. And if you like it, buy some more from the fridge and take it home with you. There are lots of possibilities!
Dru Jaeger, co-founder of Club Soda
We’ve got a fantastic team in the shop – pop by and meet Josh, Noah, Hope, Teddy, and Stacey, who are all ready to help you find your new favourite alcohol-free drink. Taste new and exciting products, be guided by the team towards mixers, the best way to store and serve your drinks, and leave with a bag full of clinking goodies!
Join Club Soda for 10% off your first order of drinks for UK delivery. Plus get our latest news and special offers for members to choose better drinks, change your drinking and connect with others.
If you get an error message with this form, you can also sign up at eepurl.com/dl5hPn
