Oregon is famous for wine regions and craft brewing, but if you’re a nondrinker like me who’s traveling around Oregon, don’t worry. Makers here have been busy crafting delicious and interesting drinks for everyone to be included in the fun and warmth of gatherings. Here are some of my tips from researching my Sober Travel Handbook and from adventuring without drinking in Oregon for more than a quarter of a century.
How to Find a Zero-Proof Drink in Oregon
How do you find a good nonalcoholic drink in Oregon? Portlanders Olivia and Sarah Sears created the free BuzzCutt app so that sober people like Sarah could easily find a good drink when going out. “I wanted to make sure we could go somewhere she felt included instead of isolated,” Olivia says of her wife. So an app was born. BuzzCutt helps you find delicious mocktails in Oregon and the rest of the U.S.
Some areas, like Hood River, really shine as sober destinations in Oregon. Visitors can check out the city’s Mocktrail to find the town’s best nonalcoholic drinks.
Fun stops include tasting at the Wilderton Aperitivo Co. distillery and tasting room on Hood River’s waterfront. Try the bittersweet and citrus aperitivos in a cocktail and ask about new flavors in development like coffee amaro.
On the trail, you’ll also find several kombucha makers and warm cups of healthy infusions at Good Medicine Tea. Don’t forget to visit the Hood River Fruit Loop farms that make nonalcoholic apple cider out of freshly pressed fruit. Restaurants with creative mocktail menus include Ferment Brewing Company, where you can try a white-peach sangria made with alcohol-free sauvignon blanc. Solstice Wood Fire Pizza offers options like a strawberry lemon drop with orange bitters and fresh basil.
Visit a Specialty Bottle Shop or Order From a Mocktail Menu
Throughout the state, there are a growing number of specialty bottle shops and dedicated mocktail menus.
After 20 years of dry Januarys, sparkling water bored Cheri Hammons. So she started making oxymel, a honey-vinegar-based ancient Greek herbal remedy. She opened High Street Tonics nonalcoholic bottle shop in Eugene in 2023. The shop now carries more than 70 different brands of zero-proof drinks, plus house-made bitters and tonics. Hammons hosts craft nights, mixology workshops and yoga brunches. On Saturday mornings, High Street sells nonalcoholic Bloody Marys and mimosas at the farmers market.
In late 2024, Anna Blazevich opened Hummingbird Heart Non-Alcoholic & Dry Elixir Bar in Ashland, the city’s first of its kind. She invites people to come in for free tastings and has hosted events like book clubs and wine tastings with chocolates.
Portland’s fledgling NA bottle shop Ever AFter has been doing pop-ups and events around the city. Owner Ariel Dunitz-Johnson is crowdfunding for a permanent bottle shop, tasting room and community gathering space.
Nonalcoholic drinks show up in surprising places these days. Clyde’s Corner Wood-Fired Pizza in Phoenix, a small town northwest of Ashland, has a mocktail menu. In Eastern Oregon you can stop off for a nonalcoholic beer at M. Crow in Lostine or Swedin’s Secret Escape Room in Wallowa.
Top Oregon Brands for Celebratory Libations
Whether it’s the holidays or a special occasion or Dry January, you can toast with Oregon-made nonalcoholic wine, beer or spirits. In addition to Wilderton, there’s Dhos Spirits — a division of Ransom Spirits in Sheridan, west of McMinnville — makes zero-proof versions of gin, tequila and vodka, as well as its own aperitivo and a monkfruit-sweetened orange elixir.
In Portland Andy McMillan founded nonalcoholic, independent craft brewery Heck Brewing in 2021. He now sells his Silver Linings IPA and a lager-type brew, Gentle Persuasion Golden, across the state. McMillan gets especially excited when he sees people swilling Heck at his neighborhood bar. “It’s so cool to see people out in the world enjoying it.”
As for other zero-proof brews, McMillan raves about Deschutes Brewery’s nonalcoholic beers; he recommends stopping by the taproom in Bend. And while you’re in Bend, visit Crux Fermentation Project and try its nonalcoholic IPAs and other varieties.
In 2024 Varnum Vintners in Amity launched its first nonalcoholic pinot noir. The winery offers a five-pour, alcohol-free tasting of the new release as well as its four additional nonalcoholic varieties to support welcoming more visitors to Willamette Valley wine country.
Special NA Events in Portland
McMillan of Heck and Dunitz-Johnson of Ever AFter staffed a nonalcoholic bar at The Sports Bra’s Pride party in 2025 and hope to do it again in 2026. “So many people said they felt safe and considered, being able to come to an event like that and finding dedicated nonalcoholic options,” McMillan says.
BuzzCutt also sponsors an annual party in July to coincide with Portland Pride. “We want people walking by the event to think that everyone in there is hammered and partying, but they’re all completely sober,” says Sears. “Because that’s the energy of the event.” This might be your only chance to see sober people Jello wrestling.
More Tips for a Perfect Day in Oregon Without Alcohol
Most Oregon nondrinkers I’ve talked to are like me — they love peaceful nature activities that don’t involve alcohol. Blazevich likes driving through the Applegate Valley in Southern Oregon, stopping at Pennington Farms for baked goods. McMillan visits the Oregon Coast or hikes in the Wallowas, a cooler full of Heck in the car. I swim in the Willamette River and lead Airbnb guided hikes up Portland’s Mt. Tabor, with a nonalcoholic tasting at the top.
Nondrinkers should also keep in mind that terminology might dictate what they choose. The industry term “nonalcoholic” is surprisingly confusing. The United States Food and Drug Administration deems a drink nonalcoholic if it contains less than 0.5% alcohol by volume. This is considered a negligible amount, akin to the alcohol level sometimes found in bread, vinegar or ripe bananas. If you’re very sensitive to alcohol, you can stick to products labeled “alcohol-free,” where no alcohol is detectable.
