Be aware of the drink.
They are on more and more shelves: alcohol-free 'drinks with benefits' that promise a high or stimulating effect, without the hangover. Does that really work or is the effect between the ears? Liquor journalist Esmee Langereis looks deep into the glass.
Those who drink a bit with the times have probably already noticed: alcohol seems to be on its way out. No need to panic, because in its place so-called 'drinks with benefits' appear that promise the buzz without the danger that you will text your ex at three in the morning.
Functional drinks, as they are also called, are not new in themselves. In the late 1980s we came to know energy drinks with caffeine and ginko or ginseng and our intestinal system was never the same after the introduction of Dr. Shirota's probiotic drink Yakult in the 1990s. Since then, AAs, wheatgrass shots, isotonic beer, bouillon-to-go, acai berry smoothies and vitamin waters have passed in review. All of them 'functional drinks', because they contain something extra, but when we talk about functional drinks now, we soon find ourselves in the corner of alternatives to alcohol - and there has been an increasing demand for these in recent years.
We exercise more, eat less meat and sugar and there is also more attention for the negative health effects of alcohol.
