The New Bar offers a cocktail experience without the hangover – Press Telegram

There’s something new brewing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio this year when it comes to cold beverages.

Decked out with a bright red bar top and stools and with eye-catching bottles lining the back shelves, The New Bar, located within the 12 Peaks VIP area and the general admission Indio Central Market on-site, looks and pretty much feels like a regular, but higher-end bar.

On Friday, April 14 — the first day of the first weekend of Coachella, which returns April 21-23 at the Empire Polo Club in Indio — New Bar bartenders were meticulously mixing crafted cocktails like the tequila-flavored Mojave Agave, the whiskey inspired Polo Buck and the sparkling Super Bloom Spritz wine drink.

While these drinks packed in a lot of flavor, none of them packed an alcoholic punch because all of the booze at The New Bar was not really booze at all.

“It’s really unique and exciting because usually when you go somewhere and there’s a non-alcoholic option it’s usually one thing and it’s usually a beer, but in this case we have a full menu the way you would expect at a typical bar, but without a hangover,” said Brianda Gonzalez, the 28-year-old founder of the Venice-based alcohol-free bottle shop. The New Bar is making its Coachella debut in 2023, marking the first time the festival has partnered with a fully non-alcoholic bar.

“We noticed a non-alcohol trend so we wanted to have New Bar on site,” said Lizzy Curnen, culinary director for the festival. “Their cocktails are delicious; I definitely recommend hitting up The New Bar.”

Gonzalez grew up on Catalina Island and now lives in Venice three blocks from her bottle shop, which she opened in July 2022.

She was inspired to open the alcohol-free shop after her father came down with an illness.

“My father was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and he had to give up alcohol. Food and drink had always played a big role in how we gathered and bonded together and so that kind of threw me into this whole category,” she said.