Three Reasons to Try Dry January

Back for the fourth year in a row, the Edible Memphis ChampionSip: Mocktails competition has become a New Year’s tradition for many Memphians. Edible Memphis has curated a list of sixteen mocktails for you to try at sixteen hot spots. Join in the fun and spend Dry January hopping from one favorite drink spot to another—without a hangover! 

Here are three reasons to participate:

1) Support Local: January is typically a very slow time for restaurants. The ChampionSip gives you sixteen good reasons to get out and try something new. 

2) Re-think That Drink: When the ChampionSip started in 2022, mocktails were non-existent – or an afterthought – on menus. Now many bars and restaurants are crafting them as conscientiously as they do cocktails with some pretty delicious results. Who knows, maybe after trying a few, you’ll find yourself reaching for a mocktail in February too…. 

3) Judge All You Want: Sample all sixteen mocktails and you can cast a vote as an official judge at the end of the month.

A hand holds a cocktail glass filled with an amber-colored drink, garnished with a citrus peel and sage leaf, against a backdrop of a forest-themed mural.
Andrew Michael: Better with Sage
The bartender expertly shakes a cocktail shaker behind the bar, with shelves of bottles in the background and a glass with ice in the foreground. If you're observing Dry January, there are delicious non-alcoholic options to try that will still make your evening feel special.

Whether you’re sober, sober-ish, sticking to a New Year’s resolution, or just wanting to support local businesses during the January slump, ChampionSip: Mocktails is for you. Readers are encouraged to tag photos of their mocktails on Instagram throughout the month to be entered to win a $150 gift card to the participating restaurant/bar of their choice. 

Readers who sample all 16 mocktails before January 31 will be invited to cast a vote as an official judge. 

The bracket-style competition begins on January 17. Voting for each individual matchup will take place exclusively in an Edible Memphis Instagram Story poll over an assigned 24-hour period.

Here’s what to expect: 

January 1-16: Competitors introduced one by one on Edible Memphis social media

January 12: Bracket announced 

January 17-24: Sippin’ on Sixteen 

January 25-28: Icy Eight 

January 29-30: Pour of Four (Semi-finals) 

January 31: ChampionSipper (Finals)

There are three ways for restaurants to win: Overall Bracket Winner, Most Tagged Mocktail, and Judges’ Choice. 

A person hands a mason jar filled with an iced coffee drink topped with cream, positioned on a wooden counter.
The Second Line: Royal Roast
Bartender smiling while shaking a cocktail shaker behind a bar, with shelves of bottles in the background.

Stacey Greenberg is the editor in chief of Edible Memphis magazine. @nancy_jew.

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