At The Blue Dolphin Store, we are thrilled with this article in La Vanguardia. The food critic and expert mixologist Mar Calpena talks about the success of non-alcoholic drinks and the possibilities of our alcohol-free products. Calpena is someone who knows what she’s talking about when it comes to cocktails and drinks.
Apart from being a graduate in Mixology and Cocktail Making, the journalist and gastronome teaches History of Cocktail Making at the University of Barcelona. She writes regularly about drinks and cocktails in El Comidista. She keeps a blog dedicated to her love of cocktails, with the suggestive title of Una o dos copas. “Una o dos copas” means, literally, one or two drinks. She also writes about gastronomic and other topics in El Periódico and Ctxt.
We were delighted with the article. We are looking forward to get a personalized cocktail for us, and include it in our recipes for fun, delicious and healthy cocktails. In her article, Calpena interviews Andrea Mellado, our e-Commerce Manager , a person of international experience who gives an innovative impulse to this business of ours.
Beyond vanity at The Blue Dolphin Store
At The Blue Dolphin Store, we feel emotion and pride for having been featured in such a solvent medium as La Vanguardia, but there is more to it than pride. Something that goes beyond vanity: alcohol-free drinks are no longer something minor, incidental. They have attracted the attention of renowned gastronomes. They agree with us that non-alcoholic drinks, besides being fun, have nothing to envy to their high (or low) alcoholic cousins.
If Calpena – who is like a 21st century María Dolores Boadas – puts non-alcoholic gin and non-alcoholic whisky drinks on the same level as their ethylic relatives, we are on the right track.
We knew it, but now the experts, the scholars, the gourmets and the most prestigious cocktail makers and bartenders are proving us right. There are many reasons not to drink alcohol: to loose weight, for health reasons, for religious reasons. Because you have to work after a social meeting or because you have to drive. Or maybe you are preparing for a half marathon or because your religion forbids it. Perhaps you’re pregnant. Now you have another one: because you want to enjoy full flavour and an adult experience with the security of not suffering a hangover.
Debunking myths about non-alcoholic beverages
A couple of years ago, before the pandemic, I travelled to Finland to write an article about why it had been declared the happiest country in the world by the United Nations. For this there are variables such as gross domestic product, social benefits, the health of the population and life expectancy. This has a direct influence on the quality of life of the inhabitants. But there are also other data, perhaps more subjective, such as freedom and trust, the perception of generosity and honesty.
One thing that impressed me a lot – apart from the warmth of the people – has to do with their freedom and their physical and mental health. In all the restaurants there were two drink menus: one for alcoholic drinks and one for non-alcoholic wines and beverages. This shows that Finland has an advanced and caring society. It was one of the many details that made me love that great country where, if it weren’t for the cold, I would dream of moving.
The article in La Vanguardia, a generalist newspaper, written by a journalist specialized in cocktails and spirits is also a step forward here, in our land. Not only for our business, but for our society. Without making value judgements, it breaks the ugly habit, still widespread, of abstention = boredom. It normalizes the situation, having an alcohol-free drink is as socially acceptable as having an alcoholic drink. And we raise a toast to that. Cheers!
