A "mocktail" or a tipple from an award-winning local distillery? The choice is yours

Between 1999 and 2018 the amount of pure alcohol consumed by Swiss people fell from 9.2 litres per head to 7.7 litres. At the same time, according to a recent article in the Sonntagszeitung, the popularity of non-alcoholic drinks is rising, with bars reacting accordingly.

What is the situation in this regard in the pubs and bars of Zug? One journalist investigating this heard a variety of different responses, depending on the clientèle they serve.

“We have noticed the trend away from alcoholic to non-alcoholic drinks,” said Walter Speck who runs the well-known confiserie of the same name. “Hence we are now offering drinks such as cold brew coffee, Kombucha and fresh fruit juices. Then there are hot drink alternatives such as chocolate chai, too.

On the other hand, the managers of the Mr Pickwick Pub and Pier 41 have not noticed any major trend away from alcoholic drinks, though as Reto Leuenberger of the former, and Driton Gashi of the latter, along with Samuel Frei of the Mantra bar, all mentioned, a selection of mocktails was on offer, even though Gashi added that his business guests were very often “connoisseurs of good wines and spirits.”

As to why this trend was evident, Speck put this down to the current trend for healthy eating and drinking, with Leutenberger and Gashi citing the fitness food craze and increasing number of vegetarians and vegans, all promoted by social media. One other reason for the increase in non-alcoholic drinks was, of course, the drink-driving limits, the blood alcohol content now being 0.5, compared with the old limit of 0.8 (the permitted level in the United Kingdom, though not in Scotland where the limit is the same as in Switzerland).

While on alcoholic drinks, let it be known that the Hermann Röllin distillery of Baar was voted “Distiller of the Year” and awarded gold medals in four categories at the DistiSuisse awards ceremony in Basel last week. Furthermore, the Heiner’s Destillate GmbH company of Zug was awarded gold medals for its wild cherry, rowan berry and morello cherry products

The Etter distillery (photograph) also distinguished itself with six gold medals, and the oldest distillery in Zug, Weiss zum Erlenbach came away with no fewer than seven silver medals.