Meet Amber

DRY BEGININGS - HOW IT STARTED

Welcome to Dry Variety!

London Ontario’s first online bottle shop for premium non-alcoholic wine, spirits and beer. My name is Amber and it’s a pleasure to meet you. 

A fairly common question I'm asked is how Dry Variety came to be? Well, let's just say that the past few years were tremendously stressful (which is relatable for most, I know) and admittedly, my wine consumption increased. With the roller coaster of pandemic lockdowns, forced closures of my primary self employed business, and other personal events, “happy hour” became a regular thing. 

I believed at the time it was a way for me destress and tune out the way things were. Ironically, rather than easing my stress, I was waking up with added headaches and I really didn’t like the way I felt.

Then something shifted for me...

I was ready for a change.....

Sitting down with a cocktail was always about taking a
minute for myself, to wind down at the end of the day. When I decided to take a break from drinking, sparkling water just wasn’t cutting it.  I wanted to find a way to enjoy the ritual of “wine time” with a more sophisticated beverage only without the alcohol.

I started to notice influencers and celebrities talking about being “sober curious” and “mindful drinking”. They were sharing names of brands they liked, and my search began!…...I was excited to discover a world of non-alc options that were actually really good.

The niche was growing in other parts of the world but these options were new to Canada. I started to dive in and search them out. I wanted to find them, try them and share my discoveries with EVERYONE!  

I started to question why we're programmed to take alcohol to social events?? I believe in part it’s because quality non-alcoholic alternatives are not easily accessible.  And so the development of Dry Variety began.

"My mission is to provide you a with trusted list of top tasting non-alcoholic wine, spirits and beer and make them easily accessible to you."

My love for food, wine, cocktails, & connection are the fuel for this venture...

I consider myself sober-curious. I indulge in a traditional cocktail from time to time but to be honest I don't miss the alcohol. Whether you consume alcohol or abstain completely, I simply believe it’s important to have a variety of options when it comes to what we imbibe. I like the idea of normalizing sophisticated adult beverages without alcohol because no matter what your reason is for choosing to skip the booze we all deserve to share a decent drink together.

I’m still learning the tricks to mixing and building some
of these cocktails but I promise to share my experiences with you as my bartending skills expand and my research continues. 

I hope you enjoy my personally curated collection and shopping at Dry Variety. I look forward to serving you some great drinks

Cheers to a world of sophistication without the alcohol.

Amber ♥

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