Alcohol-free Aberdeen bar inspired by owner's two kidney transplants to open on Thistle Street
After a lifetime of health issues due to kidney failure at just three years old, owner Kate Kenyon is keen to bring an alcohol-free space to Aberdeen.
The new bar, called Sobr, will offer 'functional' health-boosting mocktails, and other alcohol-free drinks, including coffee.
Kate told The Press and Journal she's had two kidney transplants in her life because of kidney failure at a young age.
Just before her third birthday, she contracted a strain of E. coli that led to septicaemia and chronic kidney disease.
At seven, she had a kidney transplant from her mum — but 12 years later, at the age of 19, the transplant failed.
'It failed partly because of alcohol,' explains Kate.
'I was just a normal teenager: I was a student, I went out and partied like everybody else.
'A lot of other kids that age, their bodies can handle going out four days a week and drinking, and not having a lot of water.
'However, because of my kidney, I couldn't do that.
'After a year and a half of being a normal student, it took its toll.'
Kate was on dialysis for four years before she got her second transplant.
'Then my health took a nosedive again last August,' she continues.
'I got really, really poorly with two strains of the flu and a chest infection at the same time.
'The doctors were talking about the surgery I'm going to need, talking about putting me on the transplant list, and back on dialysis.
'Now I want to live every day as though it's my first and don't have any regrets.
'I knew if someone did this before me, I would so regret it — it would haunt me.
'So I had to just go for it.'
The sober Aberdeen bar — the first of its kind in Scotland — will open this October on 39 Thistle Street.
It will seat around 22 people, with a cosy 'lover's nook' for two set along one wall.
There will also be a large table near the window for groups of seven to eight, and a bar is being built for the venue.
Sobr will be open Wednesday-Saturday 2-10pm, led by general manager Hayden Geraghty.
'It will be quite an intimate space, but it will give that cosy, welcoming, homely vibe,' adds Kate.
When asked if she is worried the bar won't succeed, Kate says 'no'.
'The vision we have is that if the bar doesn't work, there is such a huge market in Aberdeen for this kind of business.
'Even if the bar doesn't necessarily take off, that doesn't mean that it's not successful.
'We will be doing so many other things: corporate and private events, festivals and things like that.'
Kate, who currently volunteers with Aberdeen Inspired, says she hopes to open a second Sobr bar in Aberdeen in time.
The Scots, says Kate, have a 'stereotype as drunken redheads wearing kilts'.
'That's not who we are,' she says, 'but we do have a little bit of a drinking issue.
'I think there is definitely a social shift that needs to happen, and it's great that the younger generation are thinking more about their health and stepping away from the binge drinking that my generation did.'
Inspired by sober events and pop-ups in other locations, Kate, 33, wanted to bring an entirely alcohol-free space to Aberdeen.
She's also seen the benefits going sober has had on her close friend, Isla Nicoll.
'I'd seen sober events in LA, New York and London, and I really thought Aberdeen could use a place like this,' continues Kate.
'I want to give something back to Aberdeen.
'I want to create something that is inclusive for all, where people can come and not feel pressured into drinking.'
So why is Aberdeen the best place for a sober bar?
Kate, originally from Turriff, admits 'I really used to hate Aberdeen'.
She moved away from the Granite City at 18, and during the pandemic she settled in Edinburgh. However, she returned to Aberdeen due to her ill health.
'When I came back, I realised how many amazing independent businesses we have in the city,' she adds.
'You have to look a little bit harder than you do in Edinburgh, but there are some absolutely phenomenal places in Aberdeen.
'Aberdeen is a really thriving city on the brink of something incredible, and I think Thistle Street is the perfect place for something new and exciting.'
The 33-year-old — who says she is sober the majority of the time — says she has experienced a limited alcohol-free offering when out for drinks with her friends.
'It's an afterthought,' says Kate.
'It is either juice, or there isn't a huge variety.
'I've always enjoyed the aesthetic of going out and the theatre that comes with cocktails.
'At Sobr people will have these amazing, nice, aesthetic drinks that taste good and have a benefit to them as well.'
The menu at the sober bar in Aberdeen, which will feature alcohol-free wine, beer and gin, will also include a range of what Kate calls 'functional' mocktails.
'These will boost you up, calm you down, or detox you,' she adds.
'It will have a health benefit as well.
'You will wake up the next morning feeling a lot better than you would have if you'd gone out drinking.'
These health drinks could include ingredients such as lion's mane and activated charcoal.
Sobr will also offer a menu of rotating snacks for customers to enjoy with their drinks, including treats from nearby patisserie Almondine.
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