Our Founder's Story
The dinner was at a restaurant in Midtown Manhattan — the kind of place with dim lighting, leather banquettes, and a wine list that arrives before the menu. The deal had just closed. Everyone at the table was celebrating.
The sommelier moved around the table, pouring. A Barolo for one client. A California Cabernet for another. When he reached Mohit Chowdhury, there was a brief, familiar pause. "Just sparkling water, thank you."
No one said anything. No one had to. The glasses went up. The toast was made. And Mohit raised his water — again — and smiled — again — and felt what any Muslim professional in corporate America knows too well: the quiet, unremarkable exclusion of that moment. Not hostile. Not dramatic. Just a small, regular reminder that the rituals of professional life were built around something he doesn't drink.
That was not the last time it happened. It happened at project toasts. At industry galas. At holiday parties and rooftop happy hours and every client dinner that ended with someone saying, "Let's open something special." For years building a career in New York's construction industry — one of the most relationship-driven businesses in the world — Mohit navigated every one of those moments with sparkling water and a gracious smile.
Paris Changed Everything
The revelation came unexpectedly, on a work trip to Europe. A dinner in Paris. A bistro with the kind of unhurried confidence that French restaurants have — white tablecloths, candlelight, a server who treated the wine list like a serious document.
When Mohit mentioned he didn't drink, the server didn't skip a beat. He returned with a separate menu. Non-alcoholic wines. Not soda. Not juice. Wines — with producers, regions, tasting notes, vintage years. The server described them the way he described everything else on the list: with care and without condescension.
That first sip was not what I expected. It was complex. It was layered. It tasted like something worth drinking — not something you settled for. I sat there thinking: where has this been my whole life?
The answer, he would learn, was Europe. A growing movement of winemakers and distillers producing 0.0% ABV beverages at the same quality standard as traditional alcohol — using dealcoholization techniques that preserved every note of complexity. The craft was real. The product was exceptional. And almost none of it had made its way to American consumers in any serious, curated form.
The Engineer Sees the Gap
Mohit spent his career as an electrical estimator — a discipline that is, at its core, about identifying what's missing and building what needs to exist. You look at the plans. You assess the scope. You price the solution.
He looked at the American non-alcoholic market and saw what he'd been trained to see: a real problem, a proven solution, and no one building the bridge.
The domestic options were limited, inconsistent, and treated as afterthoughts — low-quality alternatives for people assumed not to care about what they were drinking. Meanwhile, European producers had cracked something genuinely excellent. The gap wasn't a product gap. It was a curation and access gap.
He also noticed something the broader market had missed. The 0.5% ABV standard that most "non-alcoholic" products used — the industry benchmark that allowed trace fermentation — was not good enough. Not for practicing Muslims. Not for pregnant women. Not for people in recovery. Not for anyone for whom "almost none" was indistinguishable from "some." The obsession would be 0.0%. Completely. Non-negotiably.
Building It Anyway
Drink Point Zero launched while Mohit was still running a demanding career as Lead Electrical Estimator at one of New York's largest construction management firms. There were early mornings spent sourcing European producers, late evenings building the store, weekends devoted to tastings and logistics and brand decisions that most founders make full-time.
The name came from the commitment: Point Zero. 0.0%. Not close. Not close enough. Zero.
The tagline came from the conviction that you should never have to prove your choices to anyone: Zero Proof. Zero Doubt.
Every product in the Drink Point Zero collection is sourced for flavor first — because the only way this works is if the drink is worth having for its own sake, not merely as a substitute. The European producers we partner with treat dealcoholization as a craft. The result tastes like it.
This Brand Is for You
Drink Point Zero was built for the Muslim professional raising sparkling water at the client dinner. For the health-conscious executive who wants to be present and sharp. For the sober-curious person who loves the ritual of a great glass of wine but doesn't want what comes with it. For the expecting mother who shouldn't have to choose between a soda and a sacrifice. For anyone who has ever felt the low-grade friction of being the one person at the table without a glass.
You deserve a drink that commands the same respect as everything else on that table. You deserve a pour that says something about who you are and what you value — not just what you avoid.
Drink Point Zero exists because that dinner in Paris showed what was possible. And because years of sparkling water at Midtown client dinners told Mohit exactly who needed it.
You should never have to compromise your values to belong in the room. That's what we're here for.
Welcome to Drink Point Zero.
— Mohit Chowdhury, Founder & CEO, Drink Point Zero