The Garden Medley is a nonalcoholic mocktail the Narrows Bar has on its menu for Sobriety Awareness Month. The drink was developed for a partnership with Recover Alaska. (Courtesy Photo | Jared Curé)

The Garden Medley is a nonalcoholic mocktail the Narrows Bar has on its menu for Sobriety Awareness Month. The drink was developed for a partnership with Recover Alaska. (Courtesy Photo | Jared Curé)

More sophisticated than a Shirley Temple: Mocktails are on the menu this March for sobriety awareness

Movie night and other recovery-friendly events are planned, too

The shamrock-green concoction filling champagne glasses at The Narrows Bar is a lot different from the green-tinged suds often seen this time of the year.

The Garden Medley is a nonalcoholic cocktail, also known as a mocktail, created for a partnership with Recover Alaska for Sobriety Awareness Month.

“I think it’s fun for people in recovery to have an option to go out and have fun,” said Carrie Amott, a board member of the Great Bear Recovery Collective who is in long-term recovery. “I enjoy things like that. I mix juice and seltzer water at home. That’s something that helps in my recovery.”

Great Bear Recovery Collective is a local network of people in recovery that helps provide support for people with a history of drug and alcohol misuse. In Southeast Alaska, 32 percent of households have a person with an alcohol use problem, according to Alaska Research and Evaluation Services statistics shared on Recover Alaska’s website.

A chance to feel special or celebrate without imbibing is the idea behind Recover Alaska encouraging bars to put mocktails on the menu during March, said Tiffany Hall, executive director for Recover Alaska, who is in long-term recovery.

[Alaskans share recovery stories in web series]

“I think a reason it’s nice to have nonalcoholic options at places is to just normalize sobriety and change the narrative a little bit that alcohol has to be a mandatory part of a person’s evening or event,” Hall said.

Jared Curé whips up a Garden Medley, a nonalcoholic mocktail, the Narrows Bar has on its menu for Sobriety Awareness Month, Tuesday, March 12. The drink was developed for a partnership with Recover Alaska. (Ben Hohenstatt | Juneau Empire)

Jared Curé whips up a Garden Medley, a nonalcoholic mocktail, the Narrows Bar has on its menu for Sobriety Awareness Month, Tuesday, March 12. The drink was developed for a partnership with Recover Alaska. (Ben Hohenstatt | Juneau Empire)

However, Amott said going out for mocktails may not be for every person with a history of alcohol misuse, and people in recovery will have to decide if it’s in their comfort zone.

March was designated Sobriety Awareness Month last year, and while the official status is new, Hall said the month has a 30-year history of being associated with sobriety through the Alaska Native Sobriety Movement started by the Alaska Federation of Natives, which is why this month was selected for its designation.

Amott said since the official designation is new, March mocktails and other sobriety awareness efforts are still catching on in Juneau. Hall said to the best of her knowledge only The Narrows Bar and Amalga Distillery were the only official partners in Juneau this year.

Almaga is rotating through nonalcoholic options featuring blueberry, spruce tip and rose flavors. All proceeds will be donated to Recover Alaska. At the end of the month they are hoping to do a canned mocktail release with the proceeds going to Recover Alaska.

Jared Curé, owner of The Narrows Bar, said the drink he’s serving — made of mint, basil, cucumber, Serrano pepper, lime, soda water and simple syrup — has been a hit with customers who aren’t imbibing whether they’re in recovery or not.

“I think response has been great,” Curé said. “There’s a lot of reasons someone might come to a bar and not drink. Someone could be the designated driver that night. Maybe someone’s expecting a child.”

Jared Curé chops lime for a Garden Medley, a nonalcoholic mocktail, the Narrows Bar has on its menu for Sobriety Awareness Month, Tuesday, March 12. The drink was developed for a partnership with Recover Alaska. (Ben Hohenstatt | Juneau Empire)

Jared Curé chops lime for a Garden Medley, a nonalcoholic mocktail, the Narrows Bar has on its menu for Sobriety Awareness Month, Tuesday, March 12. The drink was developed for a partnership with Recover Alaska. (Ben Hohenstatt | Juneau Empire)

Curé said his bar’s emphasis on creating cocktails with fresh ingredients put it in a position that made creating nonalcoholic drinks relatively easy, and nonalcoholic cocktails are something that are available year-round at The Narrows Bar. The Garden Medley was made specifically for this month.

“I created a cocktail without alcohol with as much attention to detail as the other cocktails,” he said.“I do think that’s important. I definitely didn’t want to do OK virgin spicy lady or the virgin firecracker. I wanted this to be its own drink that was created from scratch. It’s its own drink. It’s great.”

Some other aspects of the drink, such as it’s seasonally appropriate color, were a happy accident.

“It wasn’t intentional,” Curé said. “I wanted to create something showcasing fresh ingredients.”

More events coming up

Amott and Mike VanLinden, re-entry case manager for Great Bear Recovery, said there are some recovery-friendly events planned for this month and beyond.

Sunday, March 24, there will be a free movie night at Gold Town Theater. Doors for the movie will open at 4:45 p.m., and at 5 p.m., “Fantastic Beasts : The Crimes of Grendelwald” will start.

[Recovery on ice]

VanLinden said the organization’s monthly events are an important aspect of helping people in recovery avoid misusing substances.

“We’re both people in long-term recovery,” VanLinden said. “Both of us noticed these therapeutic programs are what helped us gel together.”

Carrie Amott, a board member of the Great Bear Recovery Collective, and Mike VanLinden, re-entry case manager for Great Bear Recovery Collective, hold up a poster for their organization’s upcoming movie night. (Courtesy Photo | Great Bear Recovery Collective)

Carrie Amott, a board member of the Great Bear Recovery Collective, and Mike VanLinden, re-entry case manager for Great Bear Recovery Collective, hold up a poster for their organization’s upcoming movie night. (Courtesy Photo | Great Bear Recovery Collective)

Amott and VanLinden said it’s also why Great Bear Recovery provides some people with scholarships for activities such as yoga classes, art classes or a pool pass.

Those sorts of monthly activities, like a pizza and bowling night planned for April, help fill time and teach people how to have fun in a healthy way, VanLinden said.

“The reason we do this is because we know some of the reason people are bored or because they’re stressed out,” he said. “As things start warming up a little bit, we’ll be doing things like Frisbee golf or hiking that aren’t necessarily the monthly activity. We’re really trying to build a community around recovery.”

Need someone to talk to?

• Call 463-3303 and ask for Great Bear Recovery.

• VanLinden said there is a recovery group that meets at University of Alaska Southeast 5 p.m. on Wednesday in the Egan Lecture Hall, Room 116.


• Contact arts and culture reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.


More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Nov. 3

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

Juneau Assembly members and other visitors gather in the entrance lobby of the Michael J. Burns Building on Monday, April 8, 2024, as part of their on-site tour of potential locations for a new City Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
‘Office space shuffle’ for city workers continues with plan to buy part of Michael J. Burns Building

CBJ would purchase two floors, Permanent Fund Corp. would keep top floor under “condo” agreement.

Christopher Moore helps another Juneau homeless resident wheel her belongings from a makeshift campsite on private property near the airport on July 15. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
‘Dispersed camping’ worked better overall than homeless campground, Assembly members told

Scattered camping sites in Juneau less troublesome than fixed site last year, deputy city manager says.

Lemon Creek voters enter the Alaska Electric Light Power building as polls open at 7 a.m. on Tuesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Juneau voters keep turning out in large numbers as Election Day arrives

“It’s bigger than I’ve ever seen here before,” longtime precinct chair at one voting location says.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

A long line of voters waits Monday at an early voting station at the Mendenhall Mall annex. Voting locations around Juneau will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
Election Day in Alaska: When to expect results, and what to look for

First results should be posted online about 9:15 p.m., based on prior schedules.

Voters at Anchorage City Hall wait in line to cast their ballots on Monday, the day before Election Day. City hall, in downtown Anchorage, was one of the designated early voting sites in the state’s largest city; however, it is not an Election Day polling site. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
How to vote in Alaska: Options abound, but the deadline is almost here

In-person, mail, electronic and fax voting still possible on Election Day.

The Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, appears on stage with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., center, and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders during a campaign rally at the J.S. Dorton Arena on Nov. 4, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
‘Election Day is not results day’: Get ready for a wait to find out who’s president

Some Alaska results may not be known until 15 days after Election Day.

A voter talks to election officials at a early voting station at the State Office Building on Monday. Alaskans, like the rest of the U.S., are casting early ballots at a record pace ahead of Tuesday’s election. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
In longshot scenario of Electoral College tie, winner of Alaska’s House race may pick the next president

By-state vote in House means Peltola or Begich could determine winner; Murkowski’s vote could pick VP.

Most Read