Hello! Long time no see, 5PM Eternal readers. I have an update as to where I have been and the future of this newsletter, but first, something time sensitive!
The company that now employs me, The Zero Proof, has collaborated with the good folks who make The Pathfinder, one of my favorite non-alcoholic spirits, to host an end of Dry January pop-up at Hotel Delmano in Brooklyn, TOMORROW, from 4PM - 1AM. When I tell you the eight (yes, EIGHT!) zero-proof craft cocktails their head bartender, Miguel, has created for this special menu are better than mine, please understand that I have a huge ego when it comes to my cocktails, and that’s a giant compliment.
Here’s the details:
Dry January, the Finale
What: a special menu of non-alcoholic craft cocktails to toast the end of Dry January
When: TOMORROW! Tuesday, January 31st, 2023 From 4PM - 1AM
Where: Hotel Delmano, 82 Berry St., Brooklyn, NY 11211
Now that that’s out of the way… hello to my long time readers, as well as to the 150ish(!) new subscribers that have signed up for this newsletter while it was entirely dormant. I am honored you would subscribe to what seemed like a dead newsletter.
Waaaaaaaay back in March of 2022, I said I was going to take some time to figure out how to make writing about non-alcoholic drinks sustainable. Which I kind of did… or, rather, it found me. In May, The Zero Proof offered me a job as the full time Content Director for the site. I started in July, when the company closed on that sweet, sweet investor capital. At that point I’d been sitting on the news for so long I decided to wait to tell you all until my first big assignment was finished: overseeing the redesign and redevelopment of the company’s website.
Then the website launched on Black Friday. Taking time to write a proper update to you all as I played whack-a-mole with new website glitches during the busiest season in both e-commerce and non-alcoholic drinks was impossible.
So now I get a salary to write about non-alcoholic drinks, which was beyond my wildest imaginings when I said I needed to find a way to make this sustainable. But does that mean for 5PM Eternal?
When you are offered a full time job as a “content creator” for a company (instead of a freelancer like I was before), it turns out they’re going to want to own everything you write or say or do in the same industry, whether or not you do it for them. And they’re going to make you sign a contract to that end before they give you the job. Which means I can’t really charge for subscriptions for 5PM Eternal, and that writing this newsletter as a hobby wouldn’t be a hobby at all… just doing more work for the company in my spare time.
But I also know that, given the number of subscriptions that came in even while I wasn’t writing anything, that there’s a thirst for this kind of information (no pun intended). And I’m in the unusual position of being able to give you that info on someone else’s dime.
So let me ask you, and please leave your answer in a comment:
What do you want to know about non-alcoholic beverages?
What recipes do you want to see developed? What techniques do you want to explore? What products do you want reviewed or want to know how to use? Tell me everything you want to know about non-alc, from the wide-open general to the incredibly specific and niche.
Please leave your ideas in the comments. I want to write these things for The Zero Proof for you. (Or commission other writers to do so. And if you have an idea for a pitch, let me know in the comments and I’ll reach out via email to chat about it!)
Seeing through the overhaul of the website was a massive undertaking, which limited the amount of actual writing I’ve been able to do. Despite that, I have written some pieces for The Zero Proof of which I’m really proud, and I’d love to share with you.
an interview with Miguel de Leon, the absolutely delightful, badass, and brilliant sommelier at Pinch Chinese
talking to the hilarious co-owners, Christian Wölffer and Roman Roth, about their incredible non-alcoholic sparkling rosé on a gorgeous summer day at Wölffer Estate Vineyards. Germans get a bad rap as being humorless, but I laughed so much listening to the recording of this interview that it took me a full 8 hours just to transcribe it
I hope that I’ll get to see many of you tomorrow at Hotel Delmano. I’ll keep an eye on the comments to see what it is you care about on this topic, as well, and we’ll figure out how I can give you the information you crave without making a hobby just me working overtime for someone else.
Until next time, shake up a zero-proof drink, tell me what you want in the comments, and we’ll keep 5PM eternal!
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