Katy Perry Gets in on the Non-Alcoholic Game
Add Katy Perry to the growing list of high profile celebs who’ve decided to enter growing non-alcoholic drinks field. The entry? A nifty line of neat aperitifs called De Soi. Word is they’re also apparently wickedly delicious!
So say folks like Pat Saperstein and Anna Tingley at Variety anyway. Why else would they place De Soi atop their Dry January hit list? The brand new brand has already amassed a chorus of social media cheerleaders too. Then again, everything this celebrity wunderkind does amasses a roar of resounding cheers.
Speaking of amassing, for De Soi Katy Perry has teamed up with AMASS, the L.A. botanical products company founded and run by Morgan McLachlan. That means De Soi is superbly put together, in every aspect. It also means De Soi is made from the kind of rare and unusual botanicals that are as good for you as they are good to use. In fact, McLachlan insists upon it. So does Perry.
The way Vogue‘s Kat Odell tells it, De Soi truly is a tag-team effort. Both McLachlan and Perry are very serious about wellness. They’re also very serious about creating a healthy libation. More, they wanted a healthy beverage that met the demands of career-tracking young parents who want to kick back at the end of the day without suffering alcohol’s consequences. In Odell’s words, they wanted to create “a drink that would mellow the mind, minus the buzz.”
In Enter De Soi
With De Soi, the charmed partners have indeed created a libation that mimics the joys of sophisticated drinking. There isn’t an ounce of its inherent detriment either. Not one ounce. Even better, they’ve created this new throwback sensation in the most healthful way possible.
“It ultimately comes back to being able to have the mood and feeling of a drink, but getting adaptogens instead of alcohol and high sugar content,” explains Perry.
Just what are adaptogens? Well, TIME Health Correspondent Jamie Ducharme says adaptogens are non-toxic herbs and roots that are marketed as helping the body resist physical, chemical or biological stressors. Chinese and Ayurvedic healing traditions have employed such roots and herbs for centuries, she adds.
That extensive history hasn’t however prevented adaptogens from becoming a bit suspect. The European Medicines Agency forbids the term’s marketing use across the EU. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration isn’t too pleased with some adaptogenic practices either. In fact, Wiki says the FDA has sent numerous warning letters to dietary supplement companies over making illegal advertising and false health claims.
Since we’re neither scientists nor medical practitioners, we don’t know just what’s what. We suspect though that alarms were raised over some “flawed” pre-1980s studies conducted by China and the former Soviet Union. We also suspect that the Ancients wouldn’t have spent centuries using particular herbs and roots if they didn’t deliver positive results.
The Best of Both Possible Worlds
More importantly perhaps, at least so far as De Soi is concerned, we suspect Team Perry and McLachlan have done their homework, as well as their research. In fact, we’re sure of it. Especially since the two drafted Ethnofarm’s renowned ethnobotanist Kerry Hughes to ensure De Soi came up on the right side of the botanical equation.
According to Perry (and Odell), the three culled dozens of clinical studies in order gauge adaptogens’ respective effectiveness. They also made sure that De Soi’s chosen levels were “consistent with the findings of those clinical studies.”
McLachlan says they even created their own water-based botanical extracts rather than using the standard alcohol process. They then blended the extracts with adaptogens, juices, vinegars and sweeteners.
De Soi wound up with three initial flavors — Golden Hour, Purple Lune and Champignon Dreams. The trio is respectively inspired by white wine, red wine and rosé. And while each begins by undergoing the same rigorous practices and procedures, the line concludes with three distinct tastes.
As for the name, well, Perry explains that De Soi was “inspired by the French ethos of pleasure with restraint.” The moniker itself comes from the French phrase maîtrise de soi, which translates to self-control. That leaves De Soi loosely translating to ‘of the self.’
And boy do people now need to look after their self.
Katy Perry Can Do No Wrong
De Soi may be a new venture for Katy Perry, but it’s far from her first foray into the wellness field. Odell says she’s already backed both plant-based meat company Impossible Foods and sustainable farming outfit Apeel Sciences. Back in 2020 she and two other partners also acquired Bragg, the longstanding popular health food company behind that ubiquitous apple cider vinegar.
“I think wellness is taking care of yourself the way you see fit without sacrificing the little joys in life,” says Perry. De Soi would seem to do just that — and then some.
If Katy Perry has one fault it would be that she can do no wrong. None. In fact, she’s such a perfect example of best life ever that the world almost doesn’t even need another. If everyone just followed along, things would be fine. Even when Perry slips, she rights herself with grace and style. Just look at how she handled her drinking and depression. Rather than wallow, Perry faced facts. She was juggling time bombs, and if the two exploded she could easily be buried forever. So she kicked alcohol to the curb and sought out a therapist. The rest is history. A history that Perry herself ensured she’d be around to write.
Five years later Perry continues to go above and beyond. Doing the right thing at the right time for all the right reasons. If there’s a better example of clear, keen being, we don’t know it. Sure, she’s a megastar. And yes, she has all the resources in the world. But that’s all the more reason to salute her rightness. After all, all the resources in the world could very easily lead someone wrong. Way wrong.
So Healing Properties wholeheartedly salutes Katy Perry. We also wish her and McLachlan all the best with De Soi. Mostly though, we wish everyone the best, on this day and all the days to come. Just as we’re sure Katy Perry wishes for everyone’s best, each and every day of her marvelous life. People aren’t gifted such wonderful lives otherwise.
