WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—A new cocktail bar has sprung up on the iconic Sunset Strip, a section of Sunset Blvd packed with bars and nightclubs. But this one has a twist—it’s a bar with no alcohol.
You can still order a margarita or other mixed drinks, but it’s safe to say anyone leaving this bar can safely drive themselves home.
The owners of Twins Coffee and Virgin Cocktails, two women who both love Los Angeles and wanted to open a business, said they went for something a bit different.
“I told her, I can do 90 percent of all the cocktails I know without liquor, so let’s do a virgin cocktail bar,” said Francisca Roth, co-owner of Twins Coffee and Virgin Cocktails.
She said even children would enjoy her mixed drinks.
“You have a lot of people that like cocktails, but they don’t like the alcohol inside, because of many reasons,” Roth said.
Her friend agreed.
“You have so many bars over here, and especially I have a lot of friends in the music scene, they are sober now,” said co-owner Jaci Popp.
Soul Sisters
Popp is a pastry chef and barista from Germany, but has worked as a café manager in Zurich, Switzerland. Roth is a bartender and a Zurich native, but they never knew each other in Switzerland. They met just one year ago in Los Angeles.
A mutual friend introduced them because their hair was dyed the exact same color—a traffic-stopping, bright, reddish-pink. Popp has dyed her hair this color for 18 years, and Roth for five years. They say it was destiny.
“We are like soul mates, like sisters in the head, in the mind, in the heart,” said Popp.
Twins Coffee and Virgin Cocktails offers a European-style coffee shop atmosphere with pastries, coffee, tea, and a variety of virgin cocktails.
They hope the business will attract tourists as well as locals.
