JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After all of the celebrations of the holiday season, many Americans chose to participate in "Dry January" in recent years. Dry January is a public health campaign that urges people to abstain from alcohol for the entire month.
Wildcrafters is a bar in Jacksonville that is alcohol-free all year round and hopes to capitalize on the popularity of Dry January.
It has all of the makings of a traditional bar, just with none of the alcohol. Located in Five Points, Wildcrafters offers a wide variety of craft cocktails without alcohol. Owner Yhang Quintero uses kava, which is a liquid created from the root of a plant that originates from the south Pacific islands.
"You can drink as much kava as you want and you're good to go," says Quintero, "it's not mind-altering or impairing, motor skills are 100%, you can speak, walk and drive."
Despite there not being a single drop of alcohol in his bar, Quintero considers himself "sober-ish".
"Not shaming alcohol or people who drink it," says Quintero, "I still go out and support local businesses and enjoy a good alcoholic cocktail."
But it's the relaxed atmosphere of his bar that Quintero hopes is reflected in the drinks that he makes. He says that's why groups of regulars find Wildcrafters therapeutic in a way.
"Almost daily regulars come in and tell me all their stuff, just like they would at an alcoholic bar," says Quintero, "we talk about it, let it out, drink some kava, some mocktails and at the end of their visit they feel better and they go home and they're not drunk."
Wildcrafters is located at 2105 Park St. in Jacksonville and opens at 2pm Tuesday through Sunday.