T.I.N.A. (This Is Not Alcohol) – Is A Luxury Non-Alcoholic Beverage
Cousins Imogen Hayes and Christina Trabucco in Australia, have succeeded in creating a complex, savoury beverage brimming with flavour for the no/low alcohol market.
11 September 2024
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In a post-pandemic, pro-wellness world, it’s unsurprising that people are beginning to consume less alcohol. As a result, the appeal of non-alcoholic and low-ABV beverages is on the rise. In a 2022 study by the International Wine and Spirits Record (IWSR) across 10 global markets, including Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom, the no/low-alcohol category value surpassed USD$11billion. It was projected to increase by a third by 2026.
Photo Credit: T.I.N.A
For the founders of T.I.N.A (This Is Not Alcohol), two cousins with roots in Australia’s boutique beverage industry, this confirms that they are in the right place at the right time. T.I.N.A. is an elevated non-alcoholic drink designed to have enough complexity to stand up to a beer or wine without tasting like one. It’s also not pretending to be one. “T.I.N.A is not a replica beverage,” explains Imogen Hayes, one-half of the founders. “It’s also not sweet and has enough acid and tannin to be sessionable*. We use a balance of tea, botanicals and fruit to build flavour and complexity.”
“Making drinks for a cafe or restaurant is very different to manufacturing a product that needs to be shelf stable for a year,” says Hayes. | Photo Credit: T.I.N.A
Hayes’ cousin Christina Trabucco opened her first coffee shop in Thornbury, Melbourne in 2013 and since then, has branched out to coffee roasting and tea importing. She also owns the coffee and tea retailer Assembly. Hayes has spent the last decade working in the Australian wine industry, predominantly bringing premium wines into Asia and the US and had previously lived in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Their inspiration to work together stemmed from a tea-buying trip in 2018 that Trabucco invited Hayes to join. This was further cemented during the pandemic when both were looking for ways to moderate their drinking but couldn’t find any non-alcoholic options that they enjoyed drinking.
Photo Credit: T.I.N.A
The duo then spent two years developing the T.I.N.A. prototype, during which they reached out to the F&B industry to get opinions on flavour and pricing. “This helped us make several key decisions as we hoped their palates would be similar to those of our potential buyers,” explains Hayes. Their focus is B2B, premium dining, and hospitality. “We felt like we had identified a gap in the market for a drink that had more complexity without sugar, that would appeal to wine or cocktail drinkers (like ourselves),” says Hayes.
With tea as its base, T.I.N.A is made up of 12 natural ingredients that change in subtle ways depending on the season | Photo Credit: T.I.N.A
Growing the business has not been without its challenges. “Making drinks for a cafe or restaurant is very different to manufacturing a product that needs to be shelf stable for a year,” says Hayes. “Australia does not have a large beverage manufacturing industry, so finding reliable places to get our drink canned and people who can work within our requirements has been a challenge.” With tea as its base, T.I.N.A is made up of 12 natural ingredients that change in subtle ways depending on the season. Trabucco handles sourcing and importing teas from China, Taiwan and Japan directly from farmers, while botanicals and fruit are sourced in Australia. “We need to taste, rebalance and tweak every time we brew a batch — unlike a soft drink, which can follow a standard recipe every time.”
Photo Credit: T.I.N.A
Through all this, T.I.N.A. has been steadily growing in popularity. It can now be found in some of the top restaurants and bars in Melbourne, including the likes of Supernormal and Embla. It is also available in Sydney’s Sixpenny and Liquor Merchants and has interest growing in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. “Luckily, a lot of our business started to come from word-of-mouth leads,” recalls Hayes. “The industry is small enough that things spread if people like them.”
Photo Credit: T.I.N.A
The brand recently received the Trailblazer Award at the Melbourne Food and Wine ‘Legends and Trailblazer’ dinner, voted by industry peers. Hayes values the recognition from the hospitality world, saying, “We love dining at wine bars and restaurants, and connecting with sommeliers and buyers feels natural to us.”
Looking ahead, Hayes hopes to expand T.I.N.A (This Is Not Alcohol) globally, although they are taking their time to perfect their launch strategy. “It’s an area I used to work in, but we want to ensure our approach is right before entering new markets,” she notes. Meanwhile, Hayes and Trabucco continue to innovate and enjoy their brand, which thrives on pushing boundaries. “We see ourselves as a non-traditional beverage brand,” says Hayes, highlighting their “tea beer” collaboration with a non-traditional brewery as an example of their creative spirit.
*Sessionable beverages are those that are designed to be enjoyed in a leisurely, extended manner throughout an evening, an event, or a party.
Photo Credit: T.I.N.A
Author: Karen Fong
Karen Fong is a Singapore-based writer and editor who has previously spent time in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Canada. She writes parenting, lifestyle and travel content and has worked with publications including The Singapore Women’s Weekly, DestinAsian, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia and Prestige Hong Kong.
