Millennials Are Juicing, Not Boozing

Some young adults prefer their beverages to be alcohol-free

Millennials set the dining and drinking trends, and that being the case, it might be time for beer and liquor companies to get nervous. As the Guardian reports, the most influential demographic is turning away from Jägerbombs in favor of juice shots.

So why are today's young adults passing on the hooch? It seems there are a variety of reasons, but they all relate to the idea of being clear-headed — and maybe establishing differences from their parents. "I want to wake up each morning with a fresh mind so I can write," Ryan Fischer, a 35-year-old dog walker and writer told the Guardian. "At night my dad has a couple of whiskeys and my mom has a pinot grigio, and they lull into the night. I just don't want to do that."

Eschewing alcohol in order to write: Obviously Fischer isn't aiming to be the next Ernest Hemingway. Clinical psychologist Goal Auzeen Saedi tells the Guardian the rising popularity of sobriety may relate to "anxiety about the future" and "financial uncertainty" — which used to be the kinds of things that would drive people to reach for the bottle. Like young people of all generations before and surely all generations to come, they're influenced by their famous idols.

"Right now there are all these yogi Instagram celebrities with millions of followers ... and they're not drinking beer, they're drinking juice," Saedi said. "Mindfulness, in a way, is the new church."

Teetotaling millennials may be an especially significant problem for mass-market beer companies, considering those 20- and 30-somethings who do drink tend to indulge in craft brews. Big beer has been attempting to draw younger customers with hard sodas and non-traditional advertising. But, some industry analysts have said the sustainability of that plan is open for debate.

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