about drinks kitchen
Made to mix, designed to remember!
A Brand Born From a Wake-Up Moment
Drinks Kitchen is a bold, botanical drinks company rooted in flavour, curiosity and positive change. We make non-alcoholic aperitifs for people who want more – more presence, more joy, more mornings that feel like a fresh start.
Founded by Alli Briaris, a flavour obsessive and long-time drinks industry expert, Drinks Kitchen began as a personal mission to create grown-up drinks without the alcohol – but full of complexity, ritual and character. What started as one woman’s journey away from the wine glass has turned into a national brand helping thousands of others redefine how they drink.
This is Alli’s story.
Once a glass a time
Before Drinks Kitchen, there was a girl with big dreams, shaky confidence, and a growing love of food, flavour – and, yes, booze.
I ran my first wine shop at 18, but by then I already had a few infamous binge sessions under my belt. Think: house parties, teenage insecurity, and a plastic bottle of cider doing far too much heavy lifting. I can laugh about it now, but waking up on my 17th birthday in a nightclub toilet in Bristol, penniless and alone, wasn’t exactly a high point.
Still, I fell in love with wine. Not just drinking it (though that was definitely part of it), but pairing it, learning about it, talking about it – I was already obsessed with food and drink. Alcohol was the centre of so many joyful moments, but if I’m honest, it was also my emotional crutch. Break-ups, stress, awkwardness, sadness – wine was always invited.
For a long time, I thought that was normal. And fun. And sometimes it was. But I also now know it led to dodgy flings, blurry fallouts, and more than a few unsafe situations. I never questioned it too much. Until I did.
The noticing, the shift
In my late 30s, the cracks started showing. I drank more than most of my friends. I didn’t have an off-switch. “Another wine?” was my reflex. “Anyone for coffee?” wasn’t.
I was still hitting the gym, still eating well, still doing my best – but I was tired. Foggy. Less myself. Alcohol had gone from a treat to a default. From ritual to routine.
Then I met Darren – my now-husband – who rarely drank. Suddenly my nightly glass of wine had a non-alcoholic companion on the other side of the sofa. And I noticed how different our mornings were. He sprang up; I… didn’t. He never judged. But one night he said, “Drinking Alli isn’t always as nice as non-drinking Alli.” Ouch. That one landed.
Around the same time, I was working on non-alcoholic drinks for an innovation project. I discovered ingredients like cinchona – earthy, bitter, fascinating. It planted a seed. What if I could create something delicious, grown-up, alcohol-free – and actually satisfying?
The Drinks Kitchen Begins
In June 2020 – mid-pandemic – I left my job. I stopped drinking to reset, get fitter, feel better. I tried the usual suspects: non-alc wines, spirits, pre-mixed cans. Most of them left me cold. I wanted flavour, not compromise.
Then I stumbled across Foodworks, a new food development centre near me. During a tour, I joked they should create a drinks kitchen. A lightbulb flickered.
In October 2020, I registered Drinks Kitchen. Over lockdown, I took every business course the British Library offered, started playing with botanicals in a 25-litre bucket, and eventually launched my first three non-alcoholic aperitifs in May 2021. Frome Market was my first outing – and people loved it. Orange Cinchona won 2 stars at the Great Taste Awards. Suzy Atkins reviewed us. Things were moving.
But behind the scenes? Life wasn’t always rosy. My dad became ill and passed away that November. I battled supply issues, cold markets, and days where I wanted to quit. But the drinks – and the mission – kept me going.
Friendship & the Fire That Drives Me
In September 2023, I lost my friend Jenni – one of my closest mates since we ran wine shops together in our twenties. Her liver failed. She died too young. We had laughed, danced, cried and drank a lifetime of drinks together. We’d talked often about our drinking habits. But none of us saw this coming.
I stopped drinking completely after she died. I’d already come a long way – but I still binged sometimes. Jenni’s death made it real. Too real. It cemented everything I’d been working towards.
Drinks Kitchen isn’t just a drinks brand. It’s my way of offering something better – to myself, and to others. A grown-up drink with bold botanical flavour, without the haze. A chance to change how we celebrate, relax, connect.
There needs to be a culture shift in how we see alcohol – not fear-based, but freedom-based. So people can live more, regret less, and feel proud of their choices.
Where are we now
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