An ambitious startup is stunning the alcohol-free bev market. Arkay Zero Proof is a Canadian / Amer-ican company which bills itself as “The Pioneer of Alcohol-Free Spirits Since 2011”. Now it’s breaking new ground with zero-percent alcohol whisky…
“Drink Differently. Drink Happily,” the Arkay home page exclaims. It claims its products deliver: “Real Flavor – Real Burn – Zero Alcohol – No Hangover”
How to they do it?
Arkay Beverages was founded by Reynald Vito Grattagliano (pictured top of page), a perfume million-aire who is the great-grandson of Eugene Richelmi, the first […] in the world to distill alcohol-free vermouth ‘PASQUALI’ back in 1906..”
Not Star Trek Synthehol. But…
It’s not Star Trek (TNG) Synthehol. But it’s at least half way there! The secret to Arkay’s success is a synthesized molecule that tricks your senses into thinking you’re drinking alcohol when you’re not:
“In a state-of-the-art Swiss lab, Reynald’s team of scientists successfully engineered an entirely new molecule, paving the way for the birth of Arkay Beverages,” the website explains. “The core concept behind Arkay’s alcohol-free beverages lies in a small molecule that interacts with the tongue, stimu-lating the brain’s [regions] of smell and taste. This process tricks the mind into believing that it is consuming alcohol, providing a comparable experience to drinking traditional liquor without the harmful effects.”
If what Arkay claims is true… Then it’s made a real breakthrough in de-alcoholizing the global drink-ing culture. And that would truly be a huge advance for humankind.
But they have to get people switching from the real stuff to their product first. And that is probably going to be much harder than it sounds.
Addictive drug
Alcohol is a certified addictive drug. It takes just as much effort, pain and anguish to detox from booze as it does to kick opiates. The world’s oldest and most successful alcohol detox organization, Alcoholics Anonymous, maintains: once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.
You’re never really ‘cured’. You’re eternally ‘recovering’. Which constantly reminds for alcoholics that addiction makes permanent changes to your brain, and just one sip of booze will totally knock you off the wagon. It’s the same with opiates nicotine and, presumably, caffeine.
A world of benefits…
So first and foremost, Arkay’s products could be adopted as primary booze substitutes to ease the stresses involved in detoxing. But they wouldn’t address the basic addictive functions in the brain.
Then, again, Arkay’s broad range of non-alcohol beverages would be a safe way for people to exper-iment with drinking without courting addiction, or any of the other associated health risks.
And what about the scourge of drunk driving? universal adoption of Arkay’s magic molecule would mean the problem would cease to exist. Along with all of the death, destruction and other associated tgragi9c consequences. Add to that the closely related issue of operating heavy machinery while drunk. or occupying a position of high authority (where momentous decisions are made) while impaired.
Needs more promotion
For some reason that escapes me – Arkay has not enjoyed very much coverage in the mainstream media. Or online. But they are now advertising on television, on CNN, the FOX network, The Food Network and HBO. Maybe that will raise awareness of their remarkable products more quickly.
Arkay’s Zero-Alcohol products definitely need more promotion. And with something as personal as an an addictive substance involved, it needs celebrity endorsements. But the latter will be a problem for obvious reasons.
My take
Imagine a world with no alcohol abuse, and much less addiction. A world with less crime, fewer catastrophic accidents and less chronic disease. A world which could save hundreds of billions of dollars a year in the current costs to deal with alcohol-related issues.
It may be some time in coming. But at least, there’s now hope that ideal can be achieved…
~ Maggie J.