I walked into Maya Moon Collective, a cacao cafe located in Normal Heights, on a busy Saturday night in December. The band outside had drawn a crowd, and the overflow of people inside were chatting over the music with friends.
I pushed through the crowd to a tiny table in the back where my friend and I could balance our laptops. It was finals week, and we thought a coffee shop would be a quiet place to study.
However, we found that Maya Moon is a social hub where the community gathers to practice spiritual healing, try vegan coffees and experience local artists sharing their work.
Founder and CEO of Maya Moon, Kathryn Rogers, said that she started their zero-proof menu in 2023.
“We started kind of early in what I would say the trend was in San Diego… we had a lot of people tell us that they were looking for sober spaces or places that they could come at night that didn’t have alcohol at all,” said Rogers.
Rogers stated that she saw more young people coming in asking specifically for non-alcoholic options after adding zero-proof cocktails to the menu.
“It’s very evident that, you know, the younger generations are looking for alternatives, or are very present to the non alcoholic or zero-proof culture, and seeking that specifically,” Rogers said.
College students are starting to drink less for a multitude of reasons. At SDSU, students are choosing a healthier lifestyle that does not include alcohol.
Janhavi Shah, a Marriage and Family Therapy master’s student, has never had an alcoholic beverage.
“I am not a fan of the effects it can leave on cognitive functioning. My senses are pretty strong and the smell of alcohol makes me nauseous,” Shah said.
Some students say they avoid alcohol because they are comfortable with the way their mind and body already function.
“I like where my head is right now,” said David Madrigal, an SDSU student.
Madrigal said that drinking is not his style, and it is not his place to meet people as well.
Other students choose to drink as part of the college experience, but said that once they graduate, they plan to cut back on drinking or stop drinking entirely.
“I feel comfortable and confident when I drink. I do it socially, when at parties or when I have friends over,” said Nicole Natividad, an SDSU student.
Brianna Crawford, a friend of Natividad, drinks socially as well, but experiences hesitation toward it occasionally.
“Sometimes I feel out of control, but it depends on how much I drink,” Crawford said.
Zero-proof cocktail bars are on the rise in San Diego. In 2023, San Diego only had two zero-proof bars. That number has since risen, with a lot of coffee shops now offering zero-proof cocktails to their customers.
According to the SDSU Counseling and Psychological Services substance use webpage, 61% of students in 2024 have about 2 drinks a week, and 30% of SDSU students do not drink at all.
The 2025 edition of the California Health Care Almanac also shows a decrease in alcohol use in young adults. In a chart showing substance use disorder by age group from 2022-2023, 28% of young adults 18 to 25 reported having a substance use disorder in 2022, with that number decreasing to 16.4% in 2023.
