The Glass That Cheers: Waris Ahluwalia Introduces New Non-Alcoholic Elixir

Following his success with adaptogenic tea blends, Indian-American actor and designer Waris Ahluwalia is now launching a sparkling non-alcoholic elixir.

From starring alongside Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Cate Blanchett in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou to designing collaborations between his House of Waris brand and fashion labels such as Kenzo, Tory Burch and Gucci, it’s clear that one central tenet permeates through all of Waris Ahluwalia’s endeavours: love. 

This passion of his for greater connection with oneself as well as others led him to establish House of Waris Botanicals shortly after founding his company, and following a widely successful run of adaptogenic tea blends, Ahluwalia is now introducing his latest brainchild, what he calls a “sparkling non-alcoholic elixir” named Love Conquers All, which blends myriad health-centric ingredients that include pomegranate juice, fermented ashwagandha, cardamom, cinnamon and rose extract, saffron, orange blossom, bourbon vanilla, bitter orange, damiana, hibiscus and shatavari.

“I first used the phrase, ‘Love conquers all,’ in a jewellery collection,” Ahluwalia says. “It was at the Hotel Raphael in Paris, where I found beautiful birds on the tiles of my bathroom suite. I sketched out a few more birds – characters in my story – and enameled some and covered others with diamonds and sapphires. Except at the time I used the original Latin, omnia vincit amor. 

“These words are a simple, undying belief that if you step forward with love, you have the power to change your day and the world around you. If we all stepped forward with love, what a different world we’d be living in. It’s all possible – love of thyself, love of your family, love of your neighbours, love of others, love of nature.”

It’s no coincidence that Love Conquers All – designed to be consumed in all kinds of celebratory events – arrives on the market as trends of alcohol consumption are steadily dropping, especially among the younger generation. Research suggests that the total drinking population has dropped from 65 percent to 60 percent, and 45 percent
of those in Gen Z who are aged above 21 years of age aren’t consuming alcohol at all. Of course, it also helps that Love Conquers All is both zero-sugar and zero-calorie. 

“For me, zero-proof is not just a trend we’re jumping into. Personally, I’ve never drank and managed to party all over the world – and quite successfully too,” Ahluwalia says. “As of late, I noticed a wave of non-alcoholic drinks flooding the market, but none of them spoke to me or my friends that were increasingly looking to drink less. Everything on the market felt like it was an afterthought. Take an alcoholic drink and remove said alcohol and voila! 

“What if, instead, we started from scratch? We’re not interested in just creating another non-alcoholic drink. We’re interested in a new category – one that appeals to both drinkers and non-drinkers. We’re looking to reset and raise the bar, for a world where you’re not defined by what’s in your glass but rather how you define yourself.”

Although living a healthier lifestyle is definitely the motto here, Ahluwalia explains that achieving it doesn’t have
to be restrictive. In fact, there’s plenty of fun to be had on that journey.

“Our mission isn’t dogmatic. We’re not pushing sobriety. You do you,” he tells me emphatically. “You can drink one day and not the next. But up until now, your choices have been limited: sugary drinks and bad-tasting drinks. Why can’t we have the level of connoisseurship that exists in the alcohol space? Well, now we do. We’re creating a choice – an elevated, award-winning level of choice. We’d like people to know that you don’t have to be drunk to dance on tables.”