Trend Watch: The Alcohol Moderation Movement
Consumers are trading caffeine highs and alcohol-fueled outings for clarity, calm, and connection. Here's what it means for product design, branding, and the future of UX.
What is Mondae Morning?
Each week, I explore how research, marketing, and design influence what we buy, use, and believe (particularly in the worlds of health + wellness, and wearable tech). With a background in UX research and public health, I share insights at the intersection of behavior, branding, and trust.
This newsletter is part commentary, part case study, but more importantly, a space to think out loud about the products shaping modern life, and the systems behind them.
For curious readers, researchers, and anyone designing for real people.
There’s a quiet but growing shift happening in coffee shops, on bar menus, and across social feeds. From reduced caffeine to alcohol-free nights, consumers (especially Gen Z and Millennials) are rethinking their relationship with stimulants and substances. Binge drinking among younger adults is down by over 20%, and the cultural narrative is shifting from escapism to intention.
So what does this mean for the consumer packaged goods industry, for nightlife, for restaurants, the wine industry, and anyone designing products and experiences that once relied on buzz, energy, and indulgence?
An Evolving Relationship with Stimulants
We’re witnessing a generational redefinition of what it means to feel good. Younger audiences are drinking less, and unexpectedly it’s not because of scarcity but because of choice.
A mix of cultural and personal drivers are fueling this shift:
Rising mental health awareness
Burnout from hustle culture
A push toward “clean” or optimized wellness
Mindfulness and mood tracking as cultural norms
Social media’s role in aestheticizing sobriety
This change among those under 40 is less about beverage restriction and more about reframing energy and connection.
Signals in the Market
While the alcohol moderation movement feels current, it’s not entirely new. In fact, the most forward-thinking brands have been tracking the shift for years.
Recently, PepsiCo’s acquisition of Poppi, a functional prebiotic soda brand, signaled a big play in the gut health space earlier this year (2025). Marking a larger recognition that “better-for-you” beverages can be successful to the mass-market, legacy players are increasingly seeking footholds in this category. From low-caffeine energy drinks to mood-enhancing alternatives, growth across the beverage industry is at an all-time-high.
We can see this shift to non-alcoholic drink options showing up across product and experience design:
🌿 Alcohol alternatives:
Brands like Ghia, De Soi, and Kin Euphorics have built their identities around reimagining the longstanding (and traditionally very profitable) alcohol industry into non-alcoholic social beverages that still feel elevated, complex, and ritualistic.
💧 Low / no-caffeine drinks:
From mushroom coffees to sparkling adaptogen tonics (think: Recess, Moment, Droplet), consumers are embracing energy alternatives that offer clarity without the crash. So long Monday(ae) Morning anxiety.
🍹 Menu changes:
Restaurants and bars are expanding their mocktail menus as core offerings rather than afterthoughts with dedicated sections alongside wine and spirits. Even more disrupting, entire alcohol-free bars like Sans Bar (Austin, TX) or Listen Bar (New York City, NY) are growing in urban areas, turning sober curiosity into community.
🛍️ Brand aesthetic + UX:
These products are functional and beautifully branded, with soft color palettes, affirming copy, and intentional unboxing moments from influencers. Their brands successfully evoke calm, clarity, and care with the UX mirroring the consumer mindset: less urgency, more ease.
Designing for Mindful Consumption
For today’s consumer, how you consume is as important as what you consume. The ritual of pouring, stirring, sipping becomes the reward. It’s not about restriction; it’s about presence. The most resonant products design for the experience as much as the outcome.
So what does UX look like when designing for less stimulation? Though dependent on your audience and whether you are a product or a service, a CPG brand or an app, brands and products in the non-alcohol space often exude calm, clarity, and minimalism because it aligns with the psychological effect of product or experience.
Product-Based Brands (CPG & Packaging)
Mindful consumption thrives on experience and ritual, focus on visual branding, tone of voice, and physical interaction:
Favor low-saturation color palettes, generous whitespace, and rounded edges or soft textures
Messaging that affirms instead of sells: “center yourself” vs. “buy now”
Segment markets in “mood states” instead of demographics; when designing consider user ideals such as: what does calm look like? What does present feel like?
Digital Products & Apps
Design should be rooted in completion, reflection, well-being as a means to lead customers to habitual use. Shift the UI/UX behavioral design goal to establish trust:
Mood check-ins instead of dopamine loops
Natural stopping points = “you’ve checked in for today”
Replace FOMO-based UX (e.g., limited-time offers, “last chance” language) with reflection-based UX, such as "mood check-ins" before a purchase, or prompts like “Is this what your body needs right now?”
Use ambient nudges. Consider adaptive interfaces that soften or slow down interactions to encourage mindfulness over impulse.
Community & Experiential Design
The old nightlife model was designed for disinhibition, however mindful consumption flips the script. Now it's about feeling present. Speak to nightlife, hospitality, and events:
Hosting “Sober socials” as a rising category (e.g., sober happy hours)
Influencer activations that promote connection over consumption (e.g., hot girl walks)
Marketing events offer unique experiences like non-alcoholic tasting menus, group co-playlists, or ritualistic activities (e.g., making matcha)
How Brand Builders Can Innovate for the Alcohol-Free Consumer
If you're building for the alcohol-free consumer, don’t just ask what they’re drinking instead of alcohol - also ask why, when, and how they want to feel. Mindful consumption is rooted in intention, and understanding that mindset is your best UX advantage.
Here are a few guiding UX research questions to build more resonant products, brands, and experiences:
What does energy or relaxation look like in their daily routine?
(Where does your product fit in?)What are users actively opting out of? What are they seeking instead?
(Caffeine, hangovers, overstimulation, hustle?)What rituals or emotional states already exist around their consumption habits?
(Can your product enhance the: wind-down, mid-day reset, or group gathering?)How do users define presence? / What does it mean to feeling “well”?
(Design should follow their definitions, not your assumptions.)What makes a product feel trustworthy or intentional to them?
(This gives feedback to brand tone, design aesthetic, and overall experience.)
Bottom line: lean on the principle of encouraging your user to trust in one’s self more than they chase a dopamine hit. This mindset shifts design from attention capture to attention respect. It’s about supporting users’ intentions to slow down, savor, and engage meaningfully.
Some final thoughts:
Is this movement true paradigm shift or just a soft rebrand of wellness? Will intention-driven design solidify as the new normal, or swing back once the cultural pendulum moves again? Either way, the smartest brand builders are listening more closely by designing more gently.
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