Be Libre

In Mexico, every long meal ends with la sobremesa — the stretch of conversation that lingers after the plates have cleared. If there's a drink that captures that spirit, it's the Carajillo. Here's the ritual behind it, and how we rebuilt it without the alcohol.

Yes. JAS® Carajillo Tejas is a ready-to-drink non-alcoholic Carajillo — Mexican coffee, toasted pecan, vanilla and spice in an 8.4 oz nitro can. Currently sold out, with a notify-me list open. Here is what a Carajillo actually is, why a non-alcoholic one is hard to make, and how to make one at home in the meantime.

Dealcoholized drinks start as beer, wine, or spirits and have the alcohol stripped out afterward. Built-from-scratch drinks never contain alcohol at all. The difference explains why so many non-alcoholic drinks taste hollow — and why JAS doesn't.

Sober October is simply a great way to think about why and how we drink , what makes those moments special, and how we can make drinking work for us instead of against us.

Tim Burton once said that every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Not necessarily in that order. And in some cases, there are stories that begin with an end. This is the case of JAS. A story that began with the end of my time as a girl who was passionately in love with Mezcal.