CLEVELAND — Right off Detroit Avenue on West 29th Street, a new business is opening its doors in Ohio City’s Hingetown neighborhood. Verbena Free Spirited Shoppe is offering a cafe and bar experience, minus the alcohol. Its owner, Molly Cheraso, says her business is the first of its kind in the city.
“We really just want to be very open and inclusive and inviting and welcoming for everybody in the community,” Cheraso said.
The business, which will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, will start off as a coffee shop and cafe, transforming in the mid-afternoon into a bar that sells hand-crafted cocktails without any alcohol involved. Inside, there is also a wall of different drinks and mixers, all of which are non-alcoholic, which people can buy and take home.
“I think people really need to see all the products lined up to really understand the breadth of the products that are available now,” she said. “I think when it comes to non-alcoholic products, there's unfortunately a stigma of really bad tasting beer, or really overly sweet wine, and that may have used to have been the case, but there’s a lot better options now. I think once people try and experience how good these new products are, they'll be really impressed.”
The store’s craft cocktails, which Cheraso calls “free-spirited,” feature ingredients that mimic alcoholic beverages, such as tequila and rum substitutes, as well as ingredients called functional spirits, which do not aim to taste like alcohol. Those use ingredients, like certain roots or herbs, to give you a type of feeling that may be similar to one you can experience from alcohol.
For example, Cheraso pointed out one specific bottle that is meant to give the consumer a bit of a boost using caffeine and a spicy watermelon flavor, while another, meant to serve as a nightcap, could give the consumer a calming feeling.
“We want all of our free spirited cocktails to be presented beautifully,” she said. “We want them to be adult, complex, deep, flavorful drinks,” she said.
The idea for the business, Cheraso’s first foray into the food and beverage industry, was initially born in 2021, when her husband, who was training for a marathon and participating in “Dry January,” decided not to drink for a month. Cheraso said her husband was impressed at his improved quality of sleep and overall feeling of wellness, and continued the trend, opting not to consume alcohol.
From there, Cheraso began researching the topic, finding different non-alcoholic options for him to try, and learning about the growing trend seen nationwide.
“I read about shops in New York City that were dedicated to selling these products, and I was like, ‘oh, I wish I could talk to somebody or try something, but I'd have to go to New York to do that.’ That was kind of the ‘aha’ moment, I could bring that here to Cleveland.”
Chersao began hosting pop-ups throughout the area, gauging interest in her idea, and learning more about the sober and sober-curious space. From those events, she said she learned there’s a desire and interest in this type of model right here in Cleveland.
“As diverse as these products are, there's that many different reasons that people aren't drinking,” Cheraso said, citing sobriety, religion or health and wellness reasons, as well as people who simply want to enjoy a beverage without feeling hungover the next day.
When the space in Hingetown opened up, formerly the home of Cleveland Tea Revival, Cheraso seized the opportunity. Chersao said Cleveland Tea Revival’s owner, Amber Pompeii, brought her up to speed on everything she needed to know about working in the restaurant industry, a space very different from her previous role in banking.
Cheraso even kept some of the former business’ items, such as a signature rice bowl and sandwich, on her menu, in addition to new bar snacks and sweets. She said her hope is that the shoppe can become a safe space for community members to gather and partake in not only her menu items, including small snacks, but also in the activities she plans to host, such as book clubs.
“What I found out is there's definitely a market for it. There's a lot of people who don't drink, and they face a lot of stigma for that. And they're just really happy that someone's finally focusing on them and giving them really beautiful alternatives so that can be included in the celebrations,” she said.
