Fin Soda’s zero-proof cocktails and the Montreal hospitality behind them

Mélanie Aumais and Pierre-Hugues (aka Pete) Marois went into a creative spin in their Petite Patrie apartment in mid-2020, and emerged with a business. With no bars or restaurants open for drinking or dining then, the couple had time on their hands and thought it would be fun to try making a non-alcoholic, Campari-ish drink.

The result was their company Fin Soda and its classic “Aperitivo,” the first of what is now a line of eight non-alcoholic cocktails using all fresh ingredients.

Comprised of a dizzying blend of fresh fruits and spices—orange, raspberries, grapefruit, gentian, dandelion root, angelica root, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, pink peppercorn and cane sugar—Aperitivo is a bright alternative to the “real” thing, and that’s just what Aumais and Marois were aiming for.