There's an elixir for that
Elixirs are the newest competitor in the beverage market in Sebastopol
Sebastopol is full of tasting rooms—for beer, wine and spirits—but a new business in the Barlow is betting on a new kind of buzz to buoy their bottom line.
Better Sunday sells what, for lack of a better word, are called elixirs—sophisticated herbal beverages that can go head-to-head with wine, beer, and traditional cocktails. Many contain mildly psychoactive substances like Egyptian Blue Lotus, Kava root, Kanna, or Kratom.
Better Sunday was founded by San Franciscan Matthew Hawes, who also has a bottle shop on Union Street in San Francisco. The Better Sunday in the Barlow, which is located next door to Taylor Lane Coffee, is run by his longtime friend and west county native Matthew Gress.
With its towering ceiling and moody dark gray walls, the tasting room is still a work in progress, but for now, they’re operating as a bottle shop, doing tastings from bottles, much like a wine tasting room. Eventually, they plan to serve nonalcoholic cocktails from the handsome bar at the back of the space.
For now, Hawes said, “We usually do it from the tables that are there in the bottle shop at the front. So essentially, you’ll come in, and we will dive into what you drink now. If it is alcoholic or not, it doesn’t matter. We go based on flavor profiles. So we'll say, ‘Hey, are you salty, sweet, citrus, berry forward…And so you tell us a little bit more about what your palette looks like and then we’ll direct you to things that meet that criteria, and maybe a couple that are adjacent to that. And then we’ll talk about psychoactive substances and how familiar or comfortable you are with exploring some of them.”
Hawes, who used to own a bar in San Francisco called Dirty Water, has worked in the cannabis industry for the last ten years.
“Around 2018, Lagunitas entered the cannabis marketplace with a special hop water infused with five milligrams of THC. So they offered an option of sparkling water that had the hop flavor of a beer with no calories, no sugar, no artificial flavors and had mind-altering effects. This was the first time that someone introduced something with a psychoactive nature that could be considered health forward in that manner. And a light bulb went off to say that this could be an entire category of beverages. I think that people would be very interested if, not only did they have the substances involved, but it also had sophisticated flavor profiles for adults that don’t want to drink juice.”
Hawes explained the psychoactive effects of these beverages this way:
“In almost all cases, the effects of the substances infused in these beverages are very mild, mood-altering and mood-elevating effects. So you might feel a slight head change. You might feel a little loose, you might feel a little giggly, you might feel a little relaxed, but for the most part, they’re very manageable and not overwhelming.”
“We don’t serve THC because then we’d have to be a licensed cannabis facility. So most people have a comparative that, say, THC is their first toe in the water when it comes to any type of edible or beverage that would do this kind of thing. What we're offering is a much more mild sensation, and the substance is not going to be overwhelming, like THC. If you get too much THC, then you are in for a world of regret for the next four hours as you come through it. I think almost anybody who’s tried cannabis in the edible form has the story where they took too much.”
“That’s what we’re trying to avoid here. Instead, we want to provide a scenario where you don’t have to consume alcohol, which comes with all sorts of the other health risks, as well as, side effects socially, and getting away from the feeling of how THC can completely overwhelm someone and make it a bad experience. We’re trying to play in that sweet spot of, ‘Let me just elevate your mood, make it feel a little bit more loose, and allow you to kind of socialize with that same communal effect and without the without side effects or downsides.’”
Better Sunday is 100% alcohol-free. The bottle shop at Better Sunday is equally divided between de-alcoholized wines and beers and herbal elixirs. (I tried—and then bought—several of the latter because they were different and incredibly delicious. And I did feel really happy when I left, but that could have been because Gress was such a fun and knowledgeable host.)
Where does the name Better Sunday come from?
“It really just came from the idea that this is a new beginning for a lot of people. Starting with the first day of the week, you could make a choice that would give you a different result,” Hawes said. “It’s really just a reminder that there’s another path. I’m not here to necessarily say that alcohol is bad or you shouldn't drink. It’s not for me to tell you, but what we are is, we’re a store that says, if you choose not to drink today, we’re here for you.”
Better Sunday is located in the Barlow at 6790 McKinley St., Sebastopol. Their hours are Monday-Thursday, 3 pm to 7 pm, and Friday-Sunday, 1 pm to 7 pm.
Gosh, so much disposable income, for some portion of citizens….
Oral gratification is such a powerful drive, to be exploited.
IMHO