Stirring Things Up

Aberdeen's SOBR bar is proving you don't need booze to have a good time, offering an inclusive night out without the hangover

- by JOANNA BREMNER

SEVERAL months on from opening her alcohol-free bar on Aberdeen's Thistle Street, things still feel a little surreal for founder Kate Kenyon. SOBR – thought to be the very first sober bar in Scotland – inspired a lot of conversation in the Granite City, with voices raised both for and against it.

In a city where whisky flows like water and boozy nights out are commonplace, many saw it as a gamble to open a bar that's entirely alcohol-free. But Kate had faith in SOBR from the start.

SOBR fits in with a growing trend of people who are experimenting with sobriety. The sober-curious movement is especially common among Gen Z, and Kate sees it as an achievement for Aberdeen to be leading the way with an alcohol-free bar.

“Aberdeen's ready for it,” she says. “People here are social and up for trying something different. We're not usually the ones to be at the forefront of something new, so it's really cool to bring a business like SOBR to the city and make it the first in Scotland.

“There's a growing appetite for mindful drinking, daytime socials and inclusive spaces in Aberdeen, and SOBR fits very naturally into that,” she adds.

Since the bar opened in October, the response has been really encouraging.

“Things are going even better than we could have hoped,” Kate says, “Busy nights, lots of new faces and a great mix of regulars already. It's been brilliant seeing people genuinely get what SOBR is about.