We think non-alcoholic drinks are worth thinking about.
Andrew Paul, JoAnne Pearce and Keenan Pascal
Our story
Spilt started with a simple question: what if we treated non-alcoholic drinks with the same creativity, care and curiosity we bring to everything else we eat and drink?
JoAnne Pearce had been exploring that question for years through Mock-Ups Mocktails. Together with her partner, Andrew Paul, she developed recipes, wrote recipe books and became increasingly obsessed with the possibilities of flavour.
In 2021, Jo and Andrew met Keenan Pascal of Token Bitters, and the three began collaborating on Distemperance, a line of locally made mocktails featuring locally grown fruit. The project brought together three different strengths—and planted the seeds for what would eventually become Spilt.
With Jo's creative vision, Andrew's media skills and Keenan's business expertise, the three of them set out to build something a little different: not a cocktail bar without the alcohol, but a place where the drinks could be the main event.
A different way to gather
In 2024, Spilt became a physical place: a tiny zero-proof bar in downtown Edmonton.
We wanted to create somewhere that didn't feel like a compromise. Somewhere you could meet a friend, go on a date, celebrate something, try something you've never tasted before—or simply have a really good drink.
We approach mocktails the way a chef might approach food, working with seasonality, local ingredients, fermentation, botanicals, acidity, texture and balance. We forage from our garden, collaborate with local producers and spend a frankly unreasonable amount of time figuring out how to make a drink as interesting as the ingredients that go into it.
More than a drink
Spilt is a bar, but it's also a classroom, a gathering place, a catering company and a place to experiment. We host tasting experiences and hands-on classes, develop zero-proof menus for other businesses, bring drinks to events and keep finding new ways to explore what a beverage can be.
At the heart of it all is a pretty simple idea: you shouldn't have to drink alcohol to have an interesting drink.
Whether you're sober, sober curious, driving, taking a night off, or just here because you like delicious things, there's a place for you at our bar.
Come have a drink. Stay for a while. See what happens.
Alcohol-free drinks that are every bit as complex and exciting as the boozy counterparts, but you can have a few and wake up tomorrow feeling good.
—Phil Wilson