A founder's note on language, identity, and why the word debate is a sign in the right direction
If you've spent any time in the non-alcoholic beverage space, you've probably been witness to a spirited debate in the comments about the word "mocktail" or seen brands like Pathfinder take strong stands, like their "Death to Mocktail" campaign. The argument about what to call these drinks is everywhere and people have big feelings.
The name I landed on for this platform isn't "mocktail" anything. It's not "zero proof" or "spirit-free" or "alcohol-alternative" either.
It's Learning Liquids. Here's why.
It Started with The Mocktail School
Learning Liquids grew out of a co-teaching project with Chris Marshall, founder of Sans Bar, the pioneering non-alcoholic bar in Austin, Texas, called The Mocktail School. That name was deliberate. "Mocktail" is the word people actually search for, and the data backs it up. Mocktail mentions on restaurant menus have grown 233% over the past four years. The Sleepy Girl Mocktail was one of the most-searched drink recipes globally in 2024. When people want an alcohol-free drink, mocktail is the word they type first. So we used it and it worked.
But as my work evolved, the name started to feel like a ceiling rather than a door.
The Problem with Defining Things by What They're Not
"Mocktail" is built on absence — it's cocktail-but-not. And that framing shapes how people approach the entire category. The industry has pushed back. "I feel the word mocktail devalues non-alcoholic drinks," said Adam George Fournier, beverage director at Fellow in LA and Diageo World Class US Bartender of the Year. "Words have power and there has been a stigma around not drinking for far too long."
So the alternatives multiplied: zero proof, spirit-free, alcohol-free, N/A, spiritless, temperance drinks. Each carries its own baggage — clinical, narrow, or still defined by what's missing. Meanwhile, non-alcoholic beverages have grown 142% on menus over four years, projected to grow another 97% through 2028. The category has outgrown all of these frames.
Why “Liquids”?
I kept hearing a phrase in beverage professional circles: the liquid matters. Get the liquid right. Get liquid to lips. When you strip away the branding and the label design, what you have in the glass is liquid — sensory, immediate, and asking only one question: does this taste good?
Liquid is the most neutral and expansive word I could find. It describes a non-alcoholic whiskey, a functional margarita with ashwagandha and a 0.0% ABV genmaicha milk punch. None of them having to explain themselves as lesser versions of something else. And “learning”, because that's always been the point: making the fermentation nerd stuff, the herb rabbit holes, the flavor-building techniques accessible and joyful, without the gatekeeping.
I Still Use the Word "Mocktail" and I'm Not Sorry
The debate about what to call these drinks is a sign that the category is thriving, not struggling. When people care enough to argue about a name, that thing has arrived.
"Mocktail" is still the most searchable, most recognizable entry point for people new to this world — doing Dry January, newly pregnant, sober-curious, or just cutting back. I want them to find us. Language is a bridge, not a bouncer. Use whatever word gets people to the table, and let the liquid do the rest of the talking.
“Liquids” Is Bigger Than the Finished Drink
"Liquid" isn't a new word or a branded workaround, it's the most fundamental and honest term that the beverage world already uses when it talks about what actually matters. And because it's that elemental, it can hold everything.
Zero-proof cocktails are the destination, but the journey is where things get really interesting. Learning Liquids is where we go deep on the components — the non-alcoholic spirits, syrups, the vinegars, extracts— understanding how they're made, how they work, and how they harmonize to make a showstopping drink.
Learning Liquids is the container big enough to hold all of it — the finished drinks and the components that make them, the techniques, the words that stick, and the ones still being invented.
The language will keep changing. The category will keep growing. We'll be here for all of it. Learning, sipping, and savoring every liquid along the way.
