Sober Bartender's Non-Alcoholic Creations Become Permanent Menu Fixture At Topside
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A local bartender is working to provide alcohol-free drink options for people who are sober.
Anna Welker has been slinging bottles in Baltimore for the past decade.
"For me, my intentions behind bartending, what I love about it is that it creates a community," Welker said.
But constantly being around alcohol and working odd hours led to an unhealthy lifestyle.
"My personal relationship with alcohol got to become unhealthy, so I had to make the decision for myself to get sober," Welker said. "It was just the right time."
But that didn't mean she had to give up bartending. Shortly after becoming sober, she landed a new job at Topside.
"I came in here and was like, 'Well, I don't drink. I know what everything behind here tastes like because I've been doing this long enough. This is just my option right now,'" Welker said.
Recently, the restaurant was putting together a menu for "Dry January."
"Being a bartender that doesn't drink, being able to create something for that kind of menu as opposed to the very alcoholic creations I've done over the past decade was really exciting," Welker said.
Those special cocktails would eventually land on the permanent menu.
"We have 16 cocktails on the menu, and five of those are non-alcoholic, so you have something with ginger beer or you have something with hibiscus and lemon that's really refreshing, you've got this really nice smoky Chinese tea that's in a couple of them," Welker said. "So you have all these different options and flavor profiles to play with, and that was really important to me."
Welker's goal is to help provide an alternative to those who, for whatever reason, choose not to drink.
"Everything has been so wonderful," Welker said. "Some people flip right past it like, 'I don't need this.' It's like, 'Maybe you don't need it, but somebody else does, and that's what it's for."
Welker is now working to start a support group for people in the service industry who are struggling with addiction.
