There’s change in the air this Dry January. Pubs are tired of the idea that the annual event needs to be miserable; one venue is even throwing a ‘death to Dry January’ party to show that alcohol free can be fun.
But there’s another movement too: producers are more keen than ever to express how their liquids taste better than ever. No longer is alcohol free just about mimicking booze; new products are showing there are whole new flavour profiles to explore.
More and more Brits continue to reduce their drinking as the health benefits become more widely understood and the idea of alcohol free becomes more culturally accepted.
To celebrate some of these new products, our Deputy Life&Style Editor is trying a different alcohol free drink every day throughout January. Here he writes his (honest) feelings about each drink, with the list being updated every day this month. Happy Dry January!
31 ways to go alcohol free but still have a great drink
1 January: Adnams Ghost Ship Pale Ale
A solid pale ale. This drink has a decent crisp finish, and is light and tasty. As ever with alcohol free beer, you could do with more body to the liquid, but this Pale has a pretty grown-up palette. I could see myself cracking through three of these before I got bored.
2 January: New London Light Aegean Sky aperitif
Really citrus-forward and with a huge, bright bouquet of floral notes. Orange, sage, habanero and ginger “open a door into new flavour,” says the bottle. This drink is best thought of as an interesting new liquid rather than a replacement for gin. The brand suggests this’d go well with a light tonic. The power of citrus to replace that alcoholic kick!
3 January: Gordon’s Premium Pink
Fizzy sweets on the nose with the sweetness carrying through to the tongue, this Gordon’s pink gin replacement won’t convince hardened drinkers if they’re looking to trick their minds into thinking they’re drinking the harder stuff. It’ll also put off anyone who doesn’t like the thought of a Haribo Tangfastic on their tongue. But fans of the alcoholic Gordon’s pink gin aren’t likely to mind that.
4 January: Tanqueray
This has a much drier flavour and is very juniper-forward, providing more of that kick you’d get from a boozy gin. I can imagine it being great with a decent tonic and a fairly large wedge of lemon. Not as complex as some of the indie brands, but a decent effort nonetheless.
5 January: Tanqueray Sevilla
Flavoured gins are naturally divisive; purists would say a good gin would have the botanicals required within it rather than needing one brash flavour to come forward. Like in the alcoholic version, the main thing here is the sevilla orange, which dominates the palette, and colour, of this liquid. That naturally has a bitterness, and there’s a fairly decent botanical body, though alcohol free connoisseurs will tire quickly.
6 January: Lyre’s American malt
A triumph! If, like me, you’ve spent far too long drinking the wonky stuff, this whisky replacement has the fire and fury of the real thing. A minute after my last sip it felt like the ethanol on the back of my throat could ignite. This drink has body and complexity and a moreish caramel-forward flavour that I’d return to. This’d sort me out after a long day in the office. Great stuff.
7 January: The Pathfinder Hemp & Root
10/10 to The Pathfinder for their bottle design. We need more alcohol free drinks with solid wooden tops (very luxe). This feels like opening an expensive bottle of booze. I also like the Pathfinders brand messaging; the bottle reads “Immediate relief for malaise and ennui, cold feet and hot tempers, weak knees and low spirits.” A strong start. With distilled hemp, you can feel a sense of calm (let’s call it that) after drinking. It’s one of a cohort of ‘mood enhancing’ drinks that suggests we can find the effects of alcohol without needing to drink booze. This is particularly sweet, but ginger, sage and saffron disrupt the cane sugar to create something like harmony. It isn’t quite harmony, but it’s close to it. A great effort.
8: January: Captain Morgan’s Spiced Gold
The nose and taste of this alcohol free version is pretty close to the alcoholic original. Captain Morgan’s has a nicely light sweetness that is rectified here. It’s not easy to note specific flavour profiles, but then again, who really ever does that when they drink Captain Morgan’s? It just tastes like Captain Morgan’s and that’s what you want: Out of the major brands, this is the best one so far.
9 January: Smiling Wolf Functional Aperitivo
“A wolf in aperitivo’s clothing” is an amazing way to sell this alcohol free aperitivo because it is absolutely giving the energy of a dominant wild animal. Hugely satisfying, this has the lip-smack and boldly bitter orange notes of any full-strength aperitivo. Bellissimo!
10 January: Tea Saaicho Darjeeling
Tea is absolutely the ingredient we should be using more of in alcohol free drinks moving forward. High quality tea leaves like the ones procured by Saicho, in this case grown in the foothills of the Himalayas, have a naturally dry complexity that just sings as an alcohol alternative. There’s the tannic quality (tea has tannins like red wine) and a sweetness that is never cloying. A brilliant product and a sign of what’s to come more broadly from across the industry.
11 January: Sandford’s Orchards Red Zero
This has the pleasant tang of apple you’ll recognise from the original Sandford’s cider, and tastes like the sort of thing you could sink five or six of over a long summer’s night. I’m a big fan of Sandford’s alcoholic products and this is an encouraging sign of how the cider market is thoughtfully evolving alongside the non-alc movement.
12 January: Bolle Rose
Congratulations to Bolle for somehow getting the rights to ‘bolle’, the term du jour of the Ab Fab ladies and an abbrevation of Bollinger, the lauded champagne brand. It’s a fun kick-off point to this red-berry-forward rose that’ll put off fans of a drier fizz. If you’re into strawberry and red fruits, here’s a decent bouquet that’s veering very much towards the sweet side of things.
13 January: Lyre’s Classico
This is a lovely bottle of fizz. Very fruit forward, with elderflower and grape on the nose and tongue, it has a champagne-consistency to its bubbles that makes this bottle totally luxurious to drink. A proper celebration drink – and one of the best alcohol free fizzes.
14 January: Not Guilty Pinot Grigio
Wine is the hardest alcoholic product to make alcohol free and also taste great. This white takes like a fermented drink like kombucha, with a similar fizzy tartness. Let’s be clear: this isn’t going to serve you a glass of pinot grigio like you’d expect. It is more a pleasantly tart white liquid that shows our alcohol free repertoire is far more interesting than just mimicking booze. But is it white wine? Hmm. Maybe, but just a little bit.
15 January: Spencer Matthews’ Clean Co Smoother Caramel, Apricot & Vanilla Rum
Spencer Matthews was relatively early to the alcohol free party when he launched Clean Co in 2019. This rum replacement has aged remarkably well given the industry has come on such a long way since then. It has a long-last to the mouthfeel, with a nice burn on the back of the mouth that gives a pleasingly spicy finish. The apricot isn’t cloyingly sweet. This is a grown up drink and would be great with a lighter mixer like a tonic.
16 January – Guinness 0.0
This is controversial: I don’t think the Guinness 0.0 is quite as good as everyone makes it out to be. I can sink a couple and have a pretty nice time doing so, and it does have that bitter Guinnessy vibe, but this doesn’t convincingly trick my mind into thinking I’ve had alcohol in the way other stouts do. It’s good that Guinness 0.0 is (very) occasionally on tap, though.
17 January – Nirvana IPA
A very decent pale ale. The liquid loses its fizziness quickly when poured, so be careful to pour gently, but other than that, this has a weightiness to the body the brand describes as “resinous”, which seems about right. My editor – firmly on the sauce – was convinced this was proper poison: surely the ultimate sign of success.
18 January – Mash Gang Stout
Mash Gang promotes the ‘fuck the system’ narrative popular particularly with beer brewers. Their products come emblazoned with the slogan “contains liquid rebellion”. I’m convinced that means absolutely nothing, though the rise of stouts taking Guinness on is exciting. This combination chocolate and cherries won’t be for everyone, and certainly not for devoted stout drinkers: it’s a little sickly-sweet and the taste lingers.
19 January – Nirvana Brewery Stout
Another stout taking Guinness 0.0 on, this Nirvana Brewery attempt goes completely the other way: it’s incredibly bitter, but I quite like the intensity of the hops here. It’s got a tasty biscuit note too, another layer of savoury to add a little more complexity. It’s not an easy drinker, but it’s interesting for a one-and-done.
20 – Almave Blue Agave Spirit
Almave – backed by Lewis Hamilton – doesn’t claim to be tequila, though it is made with the agave plant used in tequila harvested and distilled in Mexico. This absolutely isn’t tequila – but it does have a nicely warm and fiery mouthfeel after you drink, and an interesting sweetness of flavour that isn’t a million miles from the spirit that inspired it. You struggle to think how you’d drink it, but it’d probably go nicely over a light tonic or with a soda water and lime.
21 – Impossibrew Lager
This can markets itself as a “social blend,” though the brand keeps the messaging vague over exactly what makes this lager social (as with other alcohol free drinks with supposed ‘mood enhancers,’ Impossibrew contains plant fibres and root extracts that may or may not make you feel different, depending on how you feel and what you believe). This has the mouthfeel of a commercial lager like a Stella or Fosters, with the mouth-filling fizz and accessible lightness.
22 – Innis & Gunn Lager Beer
There’s an intriguing lightness to this Innis & Gunn lager – it manages to find depth as a 0.0, without needing to venture close to that relatively hedonistic (at least in alcohol free terms) 0.5 per cent mark. With a satisfying frothiness, this is a decent lager – I could imagine having two or three.
23 – Smiling Wolf Functional Rum
Described as “a wolf in rum’s clothing,” this is too mouthwashy for me, with an overpowering minty-fresh kick that doesn’t taste particularly like rum. They’ve really put their foot on the pedal – but this ‘more is more’ vibe is a misfire – for me, at least.
24 – Everleaf Forest
This is an absolute hit – with a nose and flavour profile that develops on the tongue. Saffron, vanilla and orange blossom open out into a lovely blend. I could see myself drinking this straight over ice. An exciting complexity and a sign of where the alcohol free aperitif market is destined to go.
25 – Three Spirit Extra Spicy
Ironically, my colleagues who’re drinking reckon this’d be lovely with a big glug of vodka. I don’t disagree. Yet, it doesn’t need it: this rich, spicy and fiery drink has all the kick of a bloody mary, with none of the poison. It’s grown up and moreish, but fun and conversation-starting too. Not try hard, the design just looks cool. I’m a big fan of Three Spirit and this is a bold step-up from their base range of liquids.
26 – Three Spirit Nightcap
I’m trying to keep this list to only featuring each brand once, but Three Spirit do such a good job that they get two slots. Their liquids range features Nightcap, Livener and Social liquids – each claiming to have mood enhancing ingredients depending on your vibe. I’m enjoying the Nightcap, described as a “calm, woody and mellow” drink that is good before bed. It’s got lemon balm, hops and valerian in it to help you nod off. A wonderful replacement for a little dram of whisky in the later part of the night.
27 – LA Brewery
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: tea is the ultimate ingredient to replace alcohol in sparkling liquids. This fizz comes equipped with white rose petals, elderflower extract and tea leaves. It’s nice. A gentle, unchallenging flavour palette, it would go nicely on a sunny afternoon to cool off.
29 – Mirror Margarita alcohol free
The Mirror Margarita is one of the must-try cocktails to buy online – it’s a “crystal clear” twist on the classic marg. This isn’t going to knock your head off, but it is a a gently exciting expression of what can be done with agave spirit in the booze-free realm: it is the world’s first non-alcoholic blue agave spirit distilled to be distilled in Jalisco, Mexico – and comes ripe with the sweetness of cane syrup and grapefruit essence. It’s a lovely little travel-sized bottle too. There’s more to be done to make this lip-smacking, but it’s a nice sign to the future of agave production.
30 – Sylva
Ben Branson invented the low-and-no booze scene when he launched Seedlip ten years ago. Things have moved on somewhat since then, and after Branson sold his majority share of the brand to Diageo in 2019, he moved to the Essex countryside to spend five years researching his next move. That next move is Sylva, and in an exclusive interview with City AM, Branson told us all about it. It’s without a doubt a smart product: made with a process called sonic maturation, that involves shaking pieces of padauk wood from the States to extract flavour. That flavour is then turned into this brown liquid. The downside is it isn’t much like rum or whisky – it stands alone – but for connoisseurs, that might be its greatest asset. There’s a weightiness to this subtly sweet, rich liquid that doesn’t so much as burn but smoulder in the mouth. Coming in a nice slip case – hello, apple – and with your own piece of padauk wood, it’s a nice product to gift to a non-drinker in your life (scratch that: Branson hates the term ‘non drinker’, reminding that people who go alcohol free like to drink too: just not alcohol!
Read more: Seedlip revolutionised alcohol free drinking. Now its founder has a new product: We tried it first
This list is being updated every day throughout January