If you’re exhausted from partying too much with your friends and sick of feeling like garbage in the morning, then you’re going to love this new bar concept that promises all of the social fun of drinking with none of the negative effects on your body.
Gem Life + Bar is a relatively new concept from NJ entrepreneur Drew Davis. Established in Pitman, NJ in 2020, Drew set out to create a new space for revelers exhausted by the constant pressure to consume alcohol. When she was younger, Davis always enjoyed drinking socially with her friends, but as she grew up she soon began to discover that drinking was having severe consequences on her physical health.
When she quit drinking alcohol, Davis quickly discovered that many of the symptoms she had been experiencing – anxiety, neuropathy, and inflammation – began to subside. As she began to explore sobriety, she realized that there were so many other people out there just like her, sick of suffering the negative effects of alcohol consumption but desperate for a social venue where they can spend time with friends without being pressured into drinking.
After quite a bit of planning and research, Gem Life + Bar was born. Offering over 150 different non-alcoholic beverages like beer, wine, spirits, and cocktail mixers, Gem Life’s products have been carefully curated and tested to ensure optimal results. Gem Life’s unforgettable wellness experience begins with empathy, providing a space for guests in which they can safely explore their healing and wellness journey with bold, booze-free craft cocktails.
The bottle shop and bar is part of a much larger vision that Davis has to change the narrative around drinking. She wants to do whatever she can to help normalize sobriety in America by creating fun alternatives that don’t destroy the body like alcohol does. She doesn’t believe that anybody needs to have a problem with alcohol in order to justify living a sober lifestyle – a common trope that often makes it difficult for people to quit drinking without drawing attention to themselves. In fact, she wants to erase the stigma altogether by creating inviting opportunities for locals to enjoy themselves without the pressures of alcohol, offering delightful alternatives with CBD, caffeine, and other adaptogens that are far more beneficial for a person’s health.
The operation has been growing steadily over the past two years, and now Davis is preparing to open her first ever expansion. The new Gem Life + Bar will be opening up later in the Summer in Collingswood at 557 Haddon Avenue. The space will begin with a soft retail opening, enabling guests to purchase some of Gem Life’s most popular concoctions. By the Fall though, Davis is planning on constructing a full bar and alcohol-free tasting lounge, where guests can “sip and shop” and relax with their friends in a warm and inviting space.
The new venture is an exciting step-forward for a growing movement that advocates for safe and sober living. By creating more and more spaces that cater to customers who choose not to drink, Davis hopes to make sober living less contentious in America, hoping to one day eliminate the pressure and awkward looks sober people receive when they order sparkling water at the bar with their friends. With more and more alcohol-free options available to people in this country Davis hopes that a shift in consciousness will help change the narrative about alcohol in America. While you wait for the new location, you can stop by Pitman and pay the store a visit, or you can purchase a bottle online to try it out for yourself in the comfort of your own home. For more information, you can follow Gem Life on Instagram as the story progresses.
