The "sober curious" movement is gaining traction, with more people choosing non-alcoholic options for reasons, including health, wellness, and managing mental health. It represents a shift in how people in the U.S. think about alcohol use, especially college students and Gen Z.

Popular restaurants, bars, and brands are embracing the trend by offering meticulously crafted non-alcoholic cocktails, beers, wines, adaptogens, and nootropics as "better-than-alcohol alternatives."

The market for zero- and low-alcohol beverages, known as "NoLos," has grown rapidly in recent years, fueled by the sober curious movement and a desire for healthier drinking. It is projected to grow substantially by 2028.

As nonalcoholic adult beverages are becoming more mainstream, the definitions of an "adult" drink are being reevaluated, including factors like branding, bottle design, and atmosphere.

Global sales of non-alcoholic drinks are expected to grow by over 7% annually, with Western Europe leading the charge. Non-alcoholic drinks will make up nearly 4% of the overall alcohol market, valued at over $13 billion.

Sources: rollingstone.com, foxnews.com, forbes.com, theatlantic.com, and bcg.com.

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

The post Bars, restaurants adapt to "Sober curious" trend appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A 50-year-old Canadian woman from Toronto experienced symptoms of alcohol intoxication like slurred speech, extreme sleepiness, dizziness, and elevated blood alcohol levels, despite not consuming alcohol due to her religious beliefs, which her husband confirmed.

After visiting the hospital seven times over two years and being misdiagnosed with alcohol intoxication, she was eventually diagnosed with auto-brewery syndrome (ABS), a rare condition where an overgrowth of fungi in the gut ferments carbohydrates into ethanol, causing the body to produce alcohol internally.

Risk factors for ABS include diabetes, liver disease, gastrointestinal issues, and changes in gut flora, allowing fungi to overgrow and produce alcohol through the fermentation of carbohydrates. In the woman's case, recurrent UTIs over the last 5 years and treatment with various medications, including proton pump inhibitors, antibiotics, and dexlansoprazole for gastrointestinal reflux disease, likely caused an imbalance in her gut microbiome, leading to the fermenting fungi and the development of ABS.

Treatment for ABS involves antifungal medications, low-carbohydrate diets, and probiotics to manage the overgrowth of fungi in the gut. The woman's symptoms disappeared after following this regimen but recurred when she reintroduced carbohydrates, highlighting the need for proper awareness and diagnosis of this rare condition with social, legal, and medical implications.

Misdiagnosis and disbelief are common for patients with ABS, as the condition is often diagnosed with years of delay, and some individuals can function with high blood alcohol levels without realizing it, leading to legal implications and acquittals in some cases, like Ray Lewis from Belgium, who was acquitted of drunk driving charges due to his ABS diagnosis after a legal battle. Driving with the condition is risky due to elevated blood alcohol levels without drinking.

Only around 100 cases of ABS have been documented in the US, and about 20 people globally have been officially diagnosed, but experts believe there are many more unrecorded cases. The severity of symptoms can vary based on the amount of carbohydrates consumed, and researchers believe antibiotics, poor nutrition, and genetic variations may contribute to the development of auto-brewery syndrome.

Sources: news.sky.com, independent.co.uk, cnn.com, welt.de, news.yahoo.com, nypost.com, bbc.com, thesun.co.uk, newindianexpress.com, thescottishsun.co.uk, liverpoolecho.co.uk

This article was written in collaboration with Generative AI news company Alchemiq.

The post Doctors kept saying she was drunk. Turns out her stomach produces alcohol appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

With over 200,000 Israelis in quarantine due to the coronavirus variant, liquor stores report a significant increase in the sale of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

"From the time people began to worry about getting infected, and are in quarantine, we have seen a 30% increase in sales, mostly in wine," Shalev Pilo, vice president of the Hermitage wine and spirit retail chain, said. "It reminds us of the very beginning of the pandemic when people hoarded and bought more.

"When people worry about getting infected, they prepare for possible self-isolation. Consumers buy not only vodka and beer but also cocktails and cigars. Whoever enters quarantine wants to pamper himself. If he buys whiskey, he chooses a quality kind, like Glenmorangie or Macallan. In general, there is at least a 24% increase in alcohol cases compared to last year.

Pilo said, "the price ranges, and not all products have become more expensive." Nevertheless, "prices are expected to rise soon. Israeli wines have already become 12% more costly, which is why Israelis buy them less, but the price of imported beverages has not increased."

The Bana Beverage wine and liquor chain also reported an increase in sales.

"There was an increase in in-store purchases of whiskey and cognac as well as deliveries," Penny Bachar, the chain's marketing director, said.

According to Bachar, customers also send "quarantine baskets" to friends and acquaintances in self-isolation.

"People spend more time at home, and as such, sales have increased dozens of percents," she said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Israelis in quarantine seek comfort in alcohol, smoking appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A joint team of researchers from Israel and the United States say they have uncovered evidence of ancient social beer consumption after examining cereal grains at a 7,000-year-old archeological site.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The study, led by Professor Danny Rosenberg from the University of Haifa and Professor Li Liu of Stanford University analyzed grain remnants from pottery strainers and concluded the clay tools were used in the production of beer.

Researchers looked into the strainers at two Copper Age sites – 7,000-year-old Tel Tsaf, an ancient settlement in the Jordan Valley that was home to several hundred people in the Chalcolithic Age, and Peki'in Cave, a burial site located in the Upper Galilee which dates back to 4,500 –3,900 BCE.

Tel Tsaf is one of the only sites in Israel that dates back to this period of history, when humans began to transition from small agricultural societies to communities that bore traces of early urbanization.

"The microfossils (phytoliths, starch granules, yeast cells, and fibers) indicate that both strainers once contained fermented beverages made from Triticeae (wheat/barley), Panicoideae, and Cyperus tubers," the scientists explain in an article in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

They said that "these results suggest that beer production and consumption using strainers may have been regularly practiced" during this period of time.

"You can imagine how the nascent society at Tel Tsaf held large events at which they would consume large amounts of food and beer in a social context, and not only for ritual rites," Rosenberg said.

The finding marks the earliest instance of evidence on the social consumption of beer in the Levant before the Bronze Age, according to The Times of Israel.

Additionally, the researchers reported that the alcoholic beverage was significant to gatherings in ancient Israel, and indicated a higher level of social complexity.

"Beer appears to have played an important role in various social settings for communication among social groups as well as between the living and the deceased," the experts concluded.

i24NEWS contributed to this report

The post Copper Age residents of Jordan Valley were 'social drinkers,' research reveals appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Iranian police uncovered Wednesday bootleg wine hidden in a dry village well in the country's west, according to state television.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The TV broadcast said the incident happened in a village near the city of Khoramabad, some 235 miles southwest of the capital, Tehran. It did not say how much wine was found in the incident and whether any suspects were arrested.

Media outlets often carry reports about confiscations of bootleg booze in Iran, where alcoholic beverages are illegal, and Muslims are banned from drinking alcohol. A Muslim found drinking alcohol in Iran can be punished with 80 lashes and a cash fine. However, minority Christians, Jews and Zoroastrians are allowed to drink alcoholic beverages in private.

In recent years, hundreds of Iranians have died from methanol poisoning after they drank toxic homemade brews. With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, dozens have died from ingesting industrial alcohol amid mistaken beliefs that it protects against the virus.

The post Iranian police find illegal wine hidden in village well appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Israel Epstein, a well-established grain merchant from Bialystok, fled from Poland with his family and moved to Israel (then, under British mandate) to avoid persecution, with nothing but a silver spoon engraved with the family's initials, the only family heirloom to survive robberies and lootings by the Poles. 

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

In 1921, he and his son Meir went to a local bank to open an account, where the clerk, after making sure that Epstein was indeed the grain merchant from Bialystok, informed him that he was sought after throughout the entire British Empire to be given back the money he had previously paid for merchandise that never arrived. 

That sum allowed Epstein to go to Egypt and purchase barrels to start a business. What started out as a small family business that sold beer to British soldiers became Hacarem Spirits, Israel's leading importer of wine and spirits, with multiple warehouses, filled top to bottom with the most diverse collection of alcoholic beverages the company imports. 

Israel Hayom met with Epstein's descendants to celebrate its 100th anniversary and numerous achievements. 

The business was later taken over by Epstein's grandson, Amiel. He became one of the most influential people in the country's alcohol industry.

Amiel was a marketing genius. In a world where importers were trying to get movie stars to market their products, he did not wait around for James Bond. He created PR events before they were even called that.

When he took over the Swedish Absolut vodka company, he discovered that no one wanted to buy it, because the bottle reminded clients of medical infusion bottles. Amiel then had the idea of inviting them to a fancy clubhouse in Tel Aviv, with waitresses dressed as nurses who poured vodka through pipes that were dangling from inverted bottles.

Overnight, the vodka that was previously rejected by society became everyone's favorite.

In the years where the premise was that the road to a man's pocket lies through his wife, he handed out pearl necklaces, watches and Persian rugs to esteemed customers, and invited his clients to gala dinners together with their spouses. Whichever client placed the largest order at the event won a luxury coat modeled by Amiel's wife, Hannah.

Both Amiel and Hannah were born in Tel Aviv. The two married in their early 20s. Shortly after the birth of their son, Amiel's father, Meir, passed away.

"His passing was a severe blow for us. Amiel was 25 at the time, and there were a lot of debts," Hannah said and recalled how they were forced to sell their house and lay off their workers. The two worked frantically to keep the business afloat, praying to God for success.

Then came the 1967 Six-Day War, which was followed by post-war prosperity.

"Since then, our business has only flourished," Hanna said, with her daughters quickly knocking on wood.

Amiel and Hannah had three children. Ariel, the eldest, served as the company's CEO for 30 years, until a year ago, his younger sister, Nurit, a lawyer and an accountant, took over. The middle daughter, Ronit, has been the company's vice president of marketing for 25 years. Ariel became the chairman of the board.

The three siblings learned the complexities of running a family business, how to create and respect hierarchy and be open to each other's ideas.

They shared stories about Amiel, who passed away in 2016 – how he used to take them in his truck to Jaffa - and the stories he told them – about the Absolut vodka bottle and the grand piano in the family's living room that no one actually played.

All three have a truck driving license because "Dad insisted," in order to be ready for any situation, be it a refusal to accept a product or a drivers' riot.

Ariel went to London a year after his army service to improve his English. That is when he received a phone call from his father that he must return, for his parents were going to Japan for a month.

"Father [Amiel] said that I should arrive two days before they left, to have time to prepare," he said. "There were only two employees in the business at the time. They thought that was a good time to ask for a raise. Instead, my father fired them to make an example of it. Although, there was no one else that could learn from this example."

That is how Ariel came to be in charge.

Like any other company, HaCarem owes its success to hard work as well as occasional luck, especially because it imported whiskey and cognac to a country that mostly preferred vodka.

One such lucky success happened with the sparkling Bosca wine. In 1980, Chana was on the phone with several wine manufacturers in Italy, looking to buy Vermouth. One of them suggested the company also try a sweet sparkling wine made from muscat grapes. When the samples arrived, the Epsteins took several bottles to a party they were invited to, as an experiment.

Bosca was a hit, with customers showing up at the company's door the next day, asking to purchase more. Israel fell in love with the sparkling wine, and the company ordered such large quantities of the product, the manufacturer even traveled to Israel.

Unfortunately, the success was short-lived, for a law was approved banning free wine import that raised taxes from 20% to 200%, said Ariel without any hints of anger, not even when he said the law was promoted by a rival winery that ended up releasing a sparkling wine of its own at the time.

Nevertheless, HaCarem walked away from the experience having learned a valuable lesson - not to be afraid of experimenting and learning to let go of popular products, especially since with time manufacturers abroad became large corporations, binding all importers into one company, raising risks, sabotaging flexibility, and in some cases, even destroying established importers. 

The Epsteins know that a company that wishes to remain successful, must avoid such scenarios, which is why it parted with Absolut and began to import Stolichnya, a Polish vodka no one knew at the time, which became popular, because it was affordable. 

Since then, the company has also begun importing coffee. It currently employs 180 employees with an annual sales turnover of about 300 million shekels ($92 million). 

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Family-owned winery celebrates 100 years of sparkling success appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.