"Experience"... Marketing?

I grew up in a boarding school. For twelve years, where the rhythm of eating and drinking was actually very simple. In the morning, coffee or tea. In the afternoon, coffee or tea again. And at lunch or dinner… water. ...Flat. ...Straight from the tap 😅

On weekends, I was home, but it didn’t look much different there either. Soft drinks were not served at the table. Either because they weren’t considered necessary, or — if I’m being honest — because they were simply too expensive. What we did have, felt almost natural. Homemade iced tea. Water. Coffee… with milk and sugar 😋 (more milk than coffee, to be fair 😂) The options were limited, but you didn’t really question it back then. It was just the way things were.

The soft drinks I knew were Coca-Cola, Fanta, Tonic and Almdudler. That was it. But even those didn’t really appeal to me. As a teenager, I found them too sweet. I didn’t like beer, and I wasn’t yet in an environment where strong alcohol was present. After all, from Sunday evening to Friday evening, I was at the boarding school…

So there was very little in between.

Between coffee and alcohol… there was just water.

Until, somewhere around graduation — and the moment I was finally “set free” from the boarding school 😂 — I discovered white Martini. Through that, I also learned to appreciate white wine. I experimented a bit with sweeter cocktails like Pisang Ambon, Batida de Coco and Gin Fizz. Not because I was suddenly looking for alcohol, but because it fit the context. The moment. The sense of belonging.

And then something new appeared…

Appletiser. 🍸

Not too sweet. Lightly sparkling. And above all… served in a beautiful glass.

That glass made all the difference for me.

For the first time, I felt like I didn’t have to choose between fitting in and staying true to myself. While others were drinking wine or beer, I had something in my hand that felt right for me. Something that allowed me to be part of the moment, without giving in to something that didn’t suit me. That may have been the first time I truly felt what “experience” means.

Not the product itself. But what it does to you.

Later, I realized this was no coincidence. What lead to drinking the Appeltiser wasn’t so much the drink itself, but the feeling around it. The moment. The glass. The setting. The fact that I felt comfortable in my choice.

And that is perhaps exactly where everything is evolving today.

Where drinking used to be more functional, we now see a clear shift. Some people no longer drink just to drink, but to experience something.

For some, that experience lies in the glass and its contents. For others, it’s about drinking something created by someone they know or admire. And for others, it’s simply about belonging.

Experience is not a superficial concept. It unfolds on different levels. It lives in what you taste, in how your body responds, in how you feel during and after the moment, and perhaps most importantly in how well it aligns with who you are.

In the drinks industry, this shift is becoming increasingly visible. Where the focus used to be on taste, alcohol percentage or price, attention is now moving towards something much more personal. People are not only asking whether they like something — which is still important — but also what it does to them. Whether it gives them energy or takes it away, and whether it fits the way they want to live.

The experience doesn’t stop at the glass — sometimes it is the glass. But more often, it continues. In how you feel when you get home. In how present you are in a conversation. In the clarity of your mind the next morning.

And that is probably why so many people today are looking for alternatives. Not because they want to miss out, but because they want to experience something different. Something that allows them to stay present, to enjoy without compromising, and to make choices that feel right not only in the moment, but afterwards as well.

Maybe that is the real shift.

That we no longer drink to escape, but to experience more consciously.

That a drink is no longer an automatic habit, but a choice.

And that this choice increasingly starts with one simple question:

How do I want to feel?

“We no longer drink to escape the moment… we drink to experience it more consciously."