I’ll be honest with you, I love a good beer. Whether it’s out with friends in a favourite pub or a quiet moment at home with a good book, it’s one of life’s simple joys. There’s nothing like that first sip of a truly great beer when you pause to appreciate the aromas and flavours held within the humble pint glass.
Whilst my drink is beer, I know for many others, they get the same moment of appreciation and happiness from their first taste from a new bottle of wine. These simple pleasures bring a happy contentment over any wine or beer lover.
Depending on your point of view, this simple pleasure also carries with it a downside – alcohol.
For anyone trying to keep their weight in check, alcohol can cause a whole heap of problems:
These problems have really been driven home over the years as I’ve competed in triathlons and distance running since 2008. As I trained for these events, I found my love of beer at loggerheads with my love of sport, especially as I’ve always battled with my weight. Invariably to get my weight down I’d end up giving up drinking for a number of months. Not only did I miss my favourite drinks, but going out became a chore as I repeatedly had to explain why I was on soft drinks.
I got fed up with this and started searching for great non-alcoholic beers and I was lucky enough to find them. Long gone are the days of watery, tasteless imitations of beers. Instead, I found a wonderful variety of full flavoured, rich tasting beer.
Inspired by my new discovery, my wife convinced me to try and find her some wine that was equally great tasting, but alcohol free. To our surprise, we found a wide variety of these wines available. These weren’t fancy grape juices, but wines rich with flavour and aroma. They were proper wines, just without the alcohol.
We realised that we can’t be the only people out there who love wine and beer, but didn’t drink them regularly because of the health impacts of alcohol. And so early in 2019, Good Stuff Drinks was born.
Initially the site existed as an online shop, but the pressures of running a business along with a full-time job and having a young family became too much. In 2022, I took the decision to stop selling alcohol free drinks and change the focus of the site.
The years running the shop strengthened my love for these fantastic drinks and the incredible people that dedicate their time to making them. There’s no way I could just leave all this behind.
Instead, the focus changed to producing fantastic content that all alcohol-free drinks lovers will love, whether they’re experienced or just starting out their AF journey. Without the distraction of the shop, I’m able to produce more content on your favourite drinks, the wonderful people behind them and where you can buy them.
The alcohol-free drinks market is a special place that’s going through incredible growth as more people discover these amazing drinks. Good Stuff Drinks will be here to help you learn about the drinks and find the best for you.
Tom