The Zero Co.

The Zero Co. was Atlanta's first dedicated non-alcoholic bottle shop when it opened in December 2022 at 626 North Highland Avenue in Poncey-Highland. It came from Cory and Malory Atkinson, the husband-and-wife team behind Elemental Spirits Co. a short walk away, and it exists because of what happened at that other shop: the zero-proof shelf kept outgrowing the space allotted to it until the obvious move was to give it a building of its own.

The range runs past 500 products and is organised the way a good liquor store is — by what you would actually do with the bottle. Spirit alternatives, de-alcoholized wines, non-alcoholic beer, ready-to-drink cans, aperitifs, adaptogens, and mixers, alongside locally made shrubs, vinegars and bitters for anyone building drinks at home. Ghia, Seedlip, Lyre's, Wilderton, Ritual Zero Proof, De Soi, Three Spirit, Free Spirits and Athletic Brewing are all stocked. A bar-cart sample station is the detail that matters most: non-alcoholic spirits are expensive and wildly variable, and being able to taste before committing to a bottle solves the single biggest problem in the category.

Malory Atkinson described the intent to Atlanta Magazine as a small space meant to feel warm and welcoming for all kinds of drinkers — which is the useful framing, because the shop is not aimed only at people who have quit. It sells to hosts buying for a mixed table as readily as to anyone else.

The shop also carries hemp-derived THC and CBD products and runs a subscription for them called the Cann Club. Worth knowing before you walk in: those are intoxicating and sit on the same shelves as the non-alcoholic drinks. If you are avoiding all intoxicants, the distinction is not obvious from the storefront, and it is worth asking.

Open Tuesday to Saturday from 11am to 8pm and Sunday from noon to 6pm, with local delivery and private events.