Report 029, food
Published 2020 - 10 - 15
Preview
No spirit is the spirit. Replacing the current cultures with an alternative that doesn’t share any characteristics in taste, yet is interchangeable in experience, to give you the real good spirit.
Alcohol has long been a tradition we accepted by default, even though function loss and brain damage are proven to occur. Yet the use of alcohol is very high in all social levels, even the rulers of our society, who you would like to be clear-headed and concentrated. In every level it is universally accepted, but the contrary; drinking no alcohol, is often not accepted. We often take this as it is, without thinking about the reasoning behind the acceptance of alcohol, even in countries where other drugs are highly illegal.
The coronavirus acted as a detox on our habit of drinking alcohol. Not being able to visit parties, go to a restaurant, or drink a beer with some friends, our consumption of alcohol slowed down greatly. As a result, our resilience to alcohol dropped, we began to see health and even financial benefits. Also, the health benefits of not drinking alcohol greatly increased in value, as more and more people tried to find ways to stay healthier during the coronavirus times. For many reasons, we are starting to rethink our habits on our alcohol consumption.
Going out with friends when trying to conform to 1.5m-distance regulations can often be difficult. Especially when in the influence of alcohol, even when the level of intoxication is very limited. In The World Before we never really thought about the consequences of alcohol in this way, but now, this particular situation we find ourselves in is showing us the realities of alcohol use. We are reopening the political discussion about the effects of alcohol.
The first steps in the trend were already visible in The World Before. We create direct substitutes for our alcohol consumption, such as 0.0% beer, or alcohol free gin. It’s quite illogical to make an alcoholic product, only to remove the alcohol at a later stage. The logical next step was to make a beverage designed to substitute alcoholic drinks, without sharing the same recipes or processes. A classical example is Crodino, an alcohol free Italian aperitif. Its popularity is proof that this was accepted widely by consumers. The artificial flavours and colours are obvious in this, which don’t fit in well with our current (and future) health-focussed society. A healthy version of this product is an open door for the beverage industry.
We can keep the ritual of drinking alcohol, while substituting the beverage itself. You wouldn’t drink wine out of a coffee cup, it just doesn’t taste the same. Well, we can reverse this idea to create an experience of ‘drinking alcohol’, without actually doing so, or trying to fake it. Drinking out of a fancy wine glass, in a restaurant setting, sometimes even accompanied by a sommelier, it’s all about the experience.
The perfect substitute for wine is tea. Just like we can select the best grape from a particular region to match up with a dish, we can do the same with a tea leaf. There are just as many differences in tea as there are in wines. Green tea, black tea, white tea, how long is it brewed for, what temperature water is used? We can discuss tea at the same intellectual level and the same depth that goes into vinology. The tea sommelier will partly replace the wine sommelier.
No spirit is the spirit. Replacing the current cultures with an alternative that doesn’t share any characteristics in taste, yet is interchangeable in experience, to give you the real good spirit.
