Dry Humor

Dry Humor sells nothing but non-alcoholic drinks. That sounds like a small distinction until you have stood in an ordinary bottle shop trying to find the two shelves that apply to you, and it is the whole reason this business exists. The stock runs from canned craft mocktails through de-alcoholised wine and beer to zero-proof spirits and functional beverages, everything under 0.5% ABV, sourced through the same regional wholesalers that supply the valley's liquor stores.

Elizabeth Mutti, who goes by CJ, built it out of her own experience and her family's. She has spoken publicly about growing up with two alcoholic parents and losing her brother at 37 to alcoholism, and about deciding she wanted somewhere that celebrated drinking culture without the alcohol in it rather than somewhere that treated not drinking as an absence. Dry Humor started in May 2023 as an online shop and a pop-up, running deliveries around Hampshire County and Holyoke and setting up at events, and it took until January 2025 to become a room you could walk into at 79 Union Street.

What the shop is good for, practically. It is the only place in the Pioneer Valley where the whole selection is relevant, so it works for stocking up before hosting rather than for a single bottle on the way somewhere. Prices sit close to the alcoholic equivalents, which surprises people — the de-alcoholisation step (reverse osmosis, vacuum distillation or controlled fermentation, depending on the producer) is an added cost rather than a saving, and Mutti has been upfront about explaining that rather than pretending it away. Free local delivery covers Easthampton addresses.

The hours are the thing to plan around: afternoons Tuesday to Friday, late mornings at weekends, closed Mondays, with the occasional seasonal break posted to Instagram. It is a small independent shop rather than a chain, and it keeps small-shop hours. Worth checking the day before rather than driving over on spec.