For a long time, going out for drinks came with a pretty simple assumption: you were drinking alcohol, or you weren't.
That line is getting considerably blurrier.
More people are experimenting with drinking less without necessarily giving up alcohol completely. Maybe that means skipping alcohol during the week, ordering one cocktail instead of three, participating in Dry January, or realizing halfway through a Saturday night that they would actually like to wake up on Sunday feeling like a functioning human being.
And one of the drinking trends emerging from that shift has a delightfully strange name: zebra striping.
No, it has nothing to do with actual zebras.
Zebra striping simply means alternating alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks throughout an occasion. One cocktail, then one NA drink. A glass of wine, then something alcohol-free. The "stripes" are the alternating beverages.
It's part of the much larger sober-curious and mindful drinking movement, and we think tea deserves a much bigger place in it.
Because once you stop thinking of tea as something that only belongs in a mug, it turns out to be a pretty spectacular foundation for a grown-up drink.
What Is Zebra Striping?
Zebra striping isn't necessarily about sobriety. It's about moderation.
Someone might still want a really good cocktail with dinner but not want every drink that evening to contain alcohol. Instead of ordering water between rounds, they alternate alcoholic beverages with drinks that are alcohol-free.
The idea fits neatly into the changing relationship many people have with alcohol. Rather than choosing between "drinking" and "not drinking," there's a growing middle ground where people are simply drinking less.
Maybe you have one cocktail because you genuinely want that cocktail, then switch to a mocktail.
Maybe you alternate throughout the night.
Maybe you decide after your first drink that you're done with alcohol but you're definitely not done sitting on the patio with your friends.
There are no zebra police.
The interesting part isn't really the terminology. It's what the trend says about the way we're beginning to think about drinking.
The Sober-Curious Movement Isn't Just About Being Sober
The rise of sober-curious culture has helped normalize a question that probably should have been normal all along:
Do I actually want a drink right now?
Not "Am I drinking tonight?"
Not "Do I drink?"
Just: Do I want this particular drink?
That's a subtle distinction, but it's a meaningful one.
For generations, alcohol has been woven into celebrations, dinners, dates, vacations, weddings, happy hours, networking events, and approximately every gathering involving a patio. Choosing not to drink could sometimes feel like opting out of part of the experience.
That's changing.
The explosion of non-alcoholic cocktails, NA spirits, alcohol-free beer, sparkling tea, and sophisticated zero-proof drinks means ordering something without alcohol doesn't have to mean ordering a soda while everyone else gets the interesting glassware.
And that is where tea has a very interesting opportunity.
Why Tea Works So Well in Mocktails
One of the hardest things about making a genuinely good mocktail is creating complexity.
Take the alcohol out of a traditional cocktail and you're not just removing the booze. You're removing bitterness, tannin, aroma, body, and some of the structure that keeps a drink from tasting like juice and sparkling water.
Tea already has many of those qualities.
Black tea can be bold and tannic. Green tea can be grassy, vegetal, or slightly astringent. White tea can be delicate and floral. Herbal blends can bring tart hibiscus, cooling mint, aromatic lavender, fruit, spice, citrus, and practically an entire garden into the glass.
That gives you something to build a drink around.
Add citrus for acidity. Add fruit or simple syrup for sweetness. Add sparkling water or tonic for bubbles. Bring in fresh herbs, ginger, spices, or a beautiful garnish.
Now you're not making a lesser version of a cocktail.
You're making a tea drink that happens to contain no alcohol.
And we think that's much more interesting.
Tea Doesn't Have to Pretend to Be Alcohol
This is probably our favorite thing about using tea in NA drinks.
There's an enormous market for products designed to replicate gin, whiskey, tequila, wine, and other alcoholic beverages without the alcohol. Some of them are genuinely fantastic.
But tea doesn't have to imitate anything.
A hibiscus and lavender mockarita isn't trying desperately to convince you there's tequila hiding somewhere in the glass. A strawberry white tea mule doesn't need vodka to make sense. A sparkling Earl Grey-style tea with citrus and tonic has enough botanical flavor to stand on its own.
Tea brings its own identity to the drink.
And for people who aren't looking for an alcohol substitute so much as something genuinely delicious that doesn't happen to contain alcohol, that's a pretty compelling proposition.
Zebra Striping Makes Hosting More Interesting, Too
This trend isn't just useful when you're ordering at a bar. It's a fantastic approach to entertaining at home.
Instead of dividing your drink station into "cocktails" and the sad little cooler containing sparkling water, make the non-alcoholic options part of the actual menu.
Put out a pitcher of cold-brew tea.
Add a couple of mixers like tonic, ginger beer, lemonade, or sparkling water. Set out citrus wedges, fresh berries, herbs, and a flavored simple syrup. Make some tea ice cubes. Put tea-infused sugar or salt out for the rims.
Now everyone can make something interesting, whether they're drinking alcohol or not.
You can even create one base drink that works both ways. A blackberry iced tea with lemon and bubbles can be served exactly as it is or paired with a spirit for guests who want one.
Nobody has to announce which category they're in.
They're just making themselves a drink.
You Also Don't Have to Identify as "Sober Curious"
This is worth saying because drinking trends have acquired a remarkable number of labels.
Sober.
Sober curious.
Mindful drinking.
Dry-ish.
Damp lifestyle.
Zebra striping.
At some point it starts sounding like we're selecting a laundry cycle.
You don't need to identify with any of them.
You are completely allowed to drink a cocktail on Friday, have a tea mocktail on Saturday, order wine with dinner next week, and then spend the following Sunday drinking iced tea because that's what sounds good.
The larger cultural shift isn't necessarily about everyone becoming sober.
It's about having better choices when you don't want alcohol.
That part we're very into.
Start With Cold-Brew Tea
If you want to start making tea mocktails at home, cold brew is probably the easiest entry point.
Add loose leaf tea to cold water, refrigerate it for several hours, strain it, and you've got a ready-to-use mocktail base waiting in your refrigerator.
From there, you really only need a simple formula:
Tea + something tart + something sweet + bubbles + garnish.
Try white tea with strawberries, lime, and ginger beer. Black tea with blackberry, lemon, and sparkling water. Hibiscus tea with grapefruit and tonic. Mint tea with blueberry and lime. Green tea with peach and sparkling water.
You don't need a mixology degree or seventeen bottles of specialty ingredients.
The tea is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
A Better Kind of "What Are You Drinking?"
Maybe that's ultimately why trends like zebra striping are interesting.
They're evidence of a bigger shift away from treating alcohol as the default.
We're starting to care more about the drink itself.
Is it delicious? Is it interesting? Does it feel special? Do I actually want it? How do I want to feel tonight and tomorrow morning?
Sometimes the answer will be a cocktail.
Sometimes it'll be a glass of wine.
And sometimes it'll be a fizzy blackberry black tea with a lemon wheel and an unnecessarily beautiful sprig of thyme.
We strongly support all three.
The Future of Drinking Might Just Have More Tea in It
Tea has been part of social rituals for thousands of years, so there's something kind of wonderful about watching it find a place in this new version of drinking culture.
It can be caffeinated or caffeine-free. Bold or delicate. Fruity, floral, smoky, spicy, tart, creamy, or sparkling. It plays beautifully with citrus, herbs, fruit, syrups, bitters, tonic, and bubbles.
Most importantly, tea doesn't feel like the thing you're drinking because you can't have something else.
It can be the thing you actually wanted.
So whether you're sober, sober curious, zebra striping, drinking less, or just trying to make it through August without turning every patio beverage into an event you'll feel tomorrow, put some tea on ice.
The mocktail era is getting much more interesting.
