Sober communities thriving as alcohol use drops

It's 10 o'clock in Miami, and the party is raging. Not 10 o'clock at night, 10:00 in the morning, and there's not a drop of alcohol to be found. Daybreaker is a sober community, first and foremost. So you don't come in. There's no psychedelics.

Radha Agrawal is the host of this party, one of almost a thousand Daybreaker events held in more than 60 cities since 2013. It's an appealing idea, with Americans now drinking less than ever before. Only half of young adults say they drink alcohol, down from more than 70% four decades ago. I'm sick and tired of going out on a Friday night, waking up Saturday, being hungover. I think people are waking up to all these longevity and health-and-wellness practices, that we have to take care of what we're putting inside our bodies.

Sober curious doesn't mean quitting alcohol. It means cutting back. Like maybe you have one alcohol beer, and then you have a nonalcoholic beer, and then you call it a day.

I heard it's called zebra striping. Zebra striping, yes.

Tawny Lara wrote the book on dating sober. She now runs Parentheses, a Brooklyn-based nonalcoholic spirit company. Even 5, 10 years ago, you tell a friend, I'm taking a break from alcohol right now, that could raise some concern. Where, now, it's very common. It's like it's almost social.

Spirited Away opened in New York City in 2020 as America's first booze-free bottle shop. The shelves are stocked with zero-proof wines, beers, and spirits. Alex Highsmith is the cofounder. Who are your customers? Yeah, all generations, all ages, all persuasions, all genders. It's the same people that drink alcohol want to drink nonalcoholic stuff. They're just looking to moderate.

The global market for nonalcoholic beer, wine, and spirits hit nearly $20 billion in 2023, double what it was just four years earlier. Even big alcohol is getting in on the act, investing in alcohol-free alternatives like Tanqueray's zero-proof gin and Diageo's Guinness zero-proof stout. I saw so much potential for events where people want to gather without sort of having the pressure or even presence of alcohol. We are seeing at our events and through the culture that we're building to break the codependence. You don't need the drink in your hand? You don't need a drink in your hand--

To have fun. --to have a good time.

For millions of Americans, the sober-curious wave isn't about giving something up. It's about gaining something back, quality of life and maybe even a few more years of living it. For Eye on America, I'm Lilia Luciano in Miami, Florida. And getting high on life itself.