When Stephanie Styll stopped drinking, she wasn’t thrilled with the nonalcoholic options available to a person who still wanted to go out and have fun. Particularly if that person didn’t want a mocktail loaded with sugar and calories. So, like any good, creative Nashvillian, she decided to do something about it.
With the help of her husband Elisha Caldwell and her brother-in-law John Caldwell, Styll launched Killjoy, a series of pop-up nonalcoholic parties and, coming March 1, a retail shop specializing in nonalcoholic beers, wines and spirits.
“We want to normalize sobriety and going out with your friends,” she says. While there are many great nonalcoholic products available, such as Surely wines and Seedlip spirits, the place to buy them locally is liquor stores, which is not necessarily somewhere people who are newly sober want to spend their time. And not everything is available everywhere, meaning you might have to wander the aisles of multiple liquor stores. Products can be ordered online, but typically only in multiple quantities, which can make it expensive to experiment with something you may or may not like.
On Jan. 28, Killjoy will host a Dry January nonalcoholic pop-up party at The Loading Dock from 6 to 8 p.m. “All of the party, none of the booze,” they promise. Tickets, which can be purchased online, are $23 and include two nonalcoholic beverages of your choice, plus a glass of Champagne, music, photo booths and other festivities. The event is scheduled to follow folks to socialize and sample and still be home in bed by 9 p.m., Styll laughs. The pop-up they hosted earlier this month included vendors with products to sample, including Delta-8 (for people who are “California sober,” she jokes). They plan to have vendors at this pop-up, too.
Styll and the Caldwell brothers were meeting at The Loading Dock, talking about scheduling their pop-ups, when they learned about permanent space for rent there (near the art gallery). That was the sign they needed to expand the occasional pop-up party into a regular retail space. The Loading Dock space isn’t huge, but Styll hopes it will help people looking for nonalcoholic drinks to have somewhere to do one-stop shopping. Eventually, she hopes, they’ll move to a larger space. They’ll continue the pop-up model, too, by hosting private nonalcoholic parties for conferences, reunions and more.
In addition to Killjoy, Styll started a Facebook group, NashvilleAF, for people looking for alcohol-free resources in town. The tongue-in-cheek Killjoy name is part of Styll’s desire to take some of the sterile nature out of sobriety and underscore the fun she’s having and wants others to have.
“We want to grow the community,” she says. "For a long time, it has been underground, and we want people to feel proud and celebrate.”
The Loading Dock, home to this weekend’s popup and the future Killjoy retail space, is located at 2028A Lindell Ave. in Wedgewood-Houston.
