Sèchey Offers Non-Alcoholic Spirits With a Kick! | FOX 24 News Now

Charleston, like many cities across the country, is known for its festive spirit. Spirit being the operative word here. Well, who says you need to drink alcohol to have fun? Here to share how she's serving up a tasty alternative is Emily Heintz, founder of Sashay, a new pop-up offering non-alcoholic beverages. It's great to have you.

Great to be here.

I'm so glad that you're offering something that I think we personally need in this town because we get a little carried away, like in many towns. I mean, We, we love life here, but this is a little bit of a healthier alternative, isn't it?

It is, and they are designed to be paired with food, consumed on their own like traditional spirits, or even mixed with a traditional spirit.

So tell us the inspiration behind Secher.

Well, during the pandemic, I think we all maybe indulged a little bit too much, and I found myself really thinking and examining my own relationship with alcohol and trying all these new brands that came out that either had adaptogens or nootropics included to make you feel good or relax you. And once I realized there were so many different brands, I didn't see a space where I could buy all of them.

That's interesting because until you've brought and amassed all these bottles here, I didn't know that there were so many non-alcoholic alternatives and things that are alternative to gin and some of the other commonly used alcohol bases for cocktails.

Yes. Some of them are designed to be alternative spirits. Some of them stand alone in their own category, like a functional beverage, where they've introduced proprietary blends of nootropics to make you feel good. And then there's alternative beers that taste like beer, and even alcohol-removed wine that is a rosé that's been slowly boiled off with the alcohol. So you think you're drinking a rosé, but there's no alcohol.

And I've heard that. And, you know, I think part of it too is a lot of people are social drinkers. So if you're having a cocktail, well, I want to have a cocktail too. We're talking, we're enjoying ourselves, but this— you don't have to sit there with a glass of water necessarily while the other person is drinking. You can also be part of the party.

Yeah, it's a social connection, right? That's really what we're doing when we're drinking. So we have a lot of customers where maybe one partner does drink and the other doesn't, so we work with them to come up with cocktails that work for both. So you can use a distilled non-alcoholic, gin-like drink, and then your partner can actually have his favorite Hendrick's, right?

Yes.

But you're still having the same cocktail.

Exactly. And let's talk about that one because this you've poured for me and I want to taste it. So explain what's in this.

Yeah, this is a distilled non-alcoholic spirit, distilled in British Columbia. So you're gonna taste it and taste flavors of the Northwest, Pacific Northwest. So coriander, cucumber. It's designed to be consumed like a traditional spirit over ice. But you can also mix it with your favorite club soda, lime, kind of give it its own twist.

It's very herbaceous. It's a very herbaceous drink. But just like gin is, it's really tasty. I can imagine this chilled over ice with some tonic. And you've actually brought a few tonics.

I did bring a few tonics.

Because those are kind of good to have on hand at home, like juices and things like that, that you can mix with these things and just create a—

You don't have to have a complex recipe to make an alcohol-free cocktail. We carry a variety of Fever Tree. We also always like to keep citrus on hand, so you can kind of mix it up. 2 parts of a distilled spirit or alcohol and add your favorite soda water.

My eyes are constantly looking at this one because of the brown color. So remind us what this is made out of.

Yes, this is an alchemy spirit. This is designed to give you a little bit of a caffeine buzz, so love this for happy hour. And they include other ingredients that do make you relax and mimic that feel-good feeling of drinking an alcoholic beverage.

Interesting.

This one I love to mix with, like, more of a pink grapefruit to almost have a margarita, like a mockarita.

It's spicy.

It is a little spicy. It's got a little bit of a kick.

I like the spicy, but it's brown because it's made out of—

it's got mushroom extract.

Mushroom extract. So, but you do feel like you're drinking something that is a little bit healthier, better for you. And you say the— what is it?

It's better for you.

This is all focused on What was it?

Nootropics and adaptogens.

Nootropics. Yes. So there's actually kind of a vitamin base to it.

But a lot of these are plant-based. Plant-based. Right. So our focus is really on overall mental health and wellness. It's not about you are drinking or you're not drinking, right? Like, you own your relationship with alcohol. We're here to support you with alternatives. So if you want to take a day off, a week off, a month, or forever off, you have fun social alternatives.

So tell us where you're set up and how it's working right now. Yes.

We are just north of Marion Square. We are on King at 420. Right now we're appointments only, but we open to the public on the 14th, on Valentine's Day. It's my Valentine's Day present to myself.

Yes. Happy Valentine's Day to you.

Yes.

And happy Valentine's Day to everybody else. You need to go to King Street, check this place out, and you're actually going to be establishing, once this has kind of been introduced to all of us, a brick-and-mortar place.

We're looking for a permanent flagship location. We're testing and learning with a bar and beverage concept, so you can come in and order cocktails and mocktails.

Fantastic. Emily, thank you so much for sharing with us.

Thank you.

Everybody, drink up. We're back after this.