From The Essential Spirits
The Maplewood shop Essential Spirits invites you to join them for a celebratory Dry(ish) January full of festive mocktails and CBD beverages. Essential Spirits, 1875 Springfield Avenue, Maplewood, is a cocktail shop with everything but the booze and the largest selection of zero-proof beverages in New Jersey. Essential Spirits also runs a Facebook group called Free Spirited, an inclusive group for anyone examining the role of alcohol in their lives. Throughout Dry January, Essential Spirits will run sales in store and share recipes and encouragement in their Facebook group.
Local mom Amy Howlett started Essential Spirits after a year of pandemic drinking that led to a daily cocktail routine. She started experimenting with alcohol-free cocktails to preserve her new ritual without the negative health effects that come from booze. She eventually opened Essential Spirits as a micro shop inside the General Store Cooperative, where she is a co-founder. Her goal and the brand mission is to make drinking less, or not at all, a fun, social endeavor, instead of something to be dreaded or stigmatized.
Essential Spirits started the Facebook group last year for people wanting to try a Dry(ish) January. Some group members stopped drinking during the week but continued on weekends, some went completely dry for the month, and some stopped drinking and never started again.
Howlett was one of the participants who embraced the “ish” last year, but this year is trying for a full dry month. “In order to hold myself accountable and to inspire others, I’m going to post daily in the Facebook group, sharing experiences, recipes, and encouragement.”
Essential Spirits had planned for several in-person events during the month, including taking over a local bar for a dry night, but changed course due to the recent covid surge. Essential Spirits hopes to resume in-person zero-proof events as soon as it is safe.
For more information or to join the Facebook group, visit the Essential Spirits website: TheEssentialSpirits.com.
