Building community without alcohol this Dry January

If you drink socially, January might be a tricky month to give up alcohol. Even without snow on the ground, Chicago winters tend to force us indoors, and many friend groups and social events turn to bars.

Thankfully for Chicago’s Dry January participants, this city already has a growing map of sober spaces. To learn more, we talked to Cristina Torres, the founder of alcohol-free Bendición Bottle Shop.

“I like to think of this space as a blessing for sober people,” she said. “This is a safe space in a city full of alcohol.” In addition to selling non-alcoholic beverages and mocktail supplies, Bendición hosts a Sober(ish) Book Club and other events.

In this episode, Torres and host Erin Allen talk about finding and building sober spaces in Chicago.

This episode originally aired on December 30, 2022.