I Tried 18 Nonalcoholic Drinks to Find Spirits and Cocktails I’d Unwind With Any Day

My household’s seen a shift in the last few months. The fridge space once devoted to IPAs, Riesling, and swing-top bottles of pre-batched martinis has been overtaken. In their place: nonalcoholic beers, sparkling tonics, and, okay, there’s still a bottle of wine there, too. On evenings when my partner and I would have usually uncorked a bottle of Pinot Noir, now we’re more likely to fill our wine glasses with a zero-proof spritz or soda with a squeeze of lime. It’s not that we made a conscious decision to drink less; our habits just slowly morphed as we saw changes in our well-being, communed with sober friends, and found other options to unwind with. We haven’t boxed up our martini glasses for good, but alcohol no longer feels like the obligatory choice after a long day. Looking back, I realize just how freeing it’s been.

According to Gallup, we aren’t alone; younger adults in our age range (those 35 and under) are 10% less likely to drink regularly than the same age group two decades ago. Those who do drink consume fewer drinks weekly on average and are less likely to overdrink. People have all kinds of reasons for avoiding alcohol: mental and physical health, religion, lifestyle choices, pregnancy, avoiding hangovers, or simply not liking the taste. Non-drinkers are no longer relegated to the same old soft drinks or bland, dealcoholized lagers. Now, the nonalcoholic market is booming, and the energetic growth is only expected to increase in the coming years, according to forecasters at IWSR (a global data analytics firm specializing in the beverage industry). My fellow Serious Eats reviewers have already selected their favorites from the flourishing nonalcoholic beer and wine sectors, but what innovations are there for cocktail lovers? For that, I’ve got you covered.

I tried 18 nonalcoholic drinks to find the best ones: zero-proof spirits, apéritifs, functional elixirs, and ready-to-drink cocktails. While I liked almost all of the ones I tasted, I noticed that many cost as much or more than the mid-shelf alcohols and canned drinks they’re designed to replace. Considering how easy (and affordable) it can be to make nonalcoholic drinks at home, I only chose winners that were delicious and made sober drinking feel special. I also looked for beverages I’d be proud to tote to BYOB gatherings or serve to dinner guests. Ultimately, I found six must-haves for your booze-free bar cart, plus another seven worth trying.

The Winners, at a Glance

Ghia was fruit-forward without being saccharine and had delightful notes of yuzu, ginger, and rosemary. It was complex but amiable, which made it as suitable for afternoon spritzes as for post-dinner nightcaps. 

There was no better spritz ingredient than Wilfred’s. At first glance, it seemed like a straightforward Aperol replacement, but its sophisticated combination of orange, rosemary, clove, and gentian (a root with a vegetal, bittersweet flavor) gave it a distinct profile worth savoring.

The Three Spirit Livener was the life of the party. Its flavor profile was sweet, tart, and spicy with watermelon, hibiscus, ginger, and cayenne. It also had guayusa leaf extract (from a type of Amazonian holly tree), which added an energizing dose of caffeine to each serving.

The Le Fizz was similar to a sparkling Lambrusco wine but with flavors of blackcurrant, cooked strawberries, and smoky lapsang souchong tea. It was a favorite for sipping during dinner parties or pouring on holidays.

The Phony Negroni was undeniably the closest experience to a traditional cocktail. It was citrus-forward, sweet, and boldly bitter with a touch of bubbles—an absolute must-try for sober Negroni lovers. 

Look up “crushable” in the dictionary, and there will be a picture of this spritz. It had all the lovely fruit and botanical flavors from the Ghia Original apéritif, plus an extra dose of citrus. Of all the prepared drinks in the lineup, I was most excited to have a can of the Lime & Salt Le Spritz waiting in the fridge after a long day.

The Tests

• Individual Taste Test: I prepared and tasted each drink according to the manufacturer’s serving suggestions. If the beverage was meant to be poured over ice or diluted with sparkling water, tonic, or ginger beer, I also tasted it on its own before mixing. 
• Group Taste Test (Winners Only): I prepared my favorite drinks from the lineup for five friends. I asked them to record their tasting notes and preference ratings for each one.

What We Learned

Nonalcoholic Drinks Came in Three Categories

All the zero-proof drinks I tried could be split into three classifications: nonalcoholic apéritifs, spirit alternatives, and functional beverages. The apéritifs were the biggest group and included the Ghia’s Original and Berry mixers as well as its two ready-to-drink cocktails and several Aperol- and Negroni-style substitutes (like Wilfred’s Aperitif and the St. Agrestis Phony Negroni). The apéritifs were all fruit-forward and sweetened (to various degrees). They also contained botanicals like herbs, teas, flowers, and spices for complexity. They could be sipped over ice or mixed with things like sparkling water, ginger ale, and/or fresh citrus juice for zero-proof cocktails. Many were citrus-heavy with an herbal undertone (like the Pentire Coastal Spritz Non-Alcoholic Aperitif), while some added compelling floral notes (like the Figlia Fiore Aperitivo and the De Soi canned sparkling apéritifs). Gentian root was a common and welcome addition to several of these beverages (like the Curious Elixirs No. 1 Pomegranate Negroni Sbagliato), as it added bitterness and a vegetal, licorice-y background note that leveled the apéritifs’ inherent sweetness. 

I found something to appreciate about almost all the drinks in this category, though my least favorite was Lyre's Italian Orange Spirit. While the rest were nuanced and balanced with bitterness, Lyre’s attempted Campari dupe was maraschino cherry-sweet and reminded me of strawberry soda when combined with sparkling water. It wasn’t necessarily bad, but I expected more sophistication for almost $40 a bottle (at the time of writing).

Spirit alternatives were similar to liquors you might find on a bar shelf—just without the booze. They were also flavored with botanicals like citrus, oak, herbs, vegetables, and spices, often in the form of distillates and natural flavorings. Unlike the apéritifs, they had little or no sweetness. While dealcoholized versions of traditional liquors do exist (made via reverse distillation, where the alcohol is evaporated out after standard fermentation), all the spirit alternatives I tried for this review were made of water infused with natural flavorings. Unfortunately, they were mellow and underwhelming. The gin-like Lyre's Italian Dry London Spirit was mild on its own and near-impossible to detect when mixed with tonic. The spirit claimed to contain juniper, but I missed any note of it. Seedlip’s vegetal Garden 108 had a touch more flavor and was refreshing when mixed with a splash of sparkling water, but both it and Seedlip’s Spice 94 were overshadowed when combined with ginger ale (the manufacturer’s suggested mixer). Considering they cost about the same as a mid-shelf liquor and lent just a hint of flavor, I’d suggest skipping them and adding a drop of nonalcoholic aromatic bitters or muddling fresh herbs into mocktails instead.

The last category was functional beverages. These were drinks with ingredients designed to elicit energizing, calming, or other effects in the drinker. For example, the damiana shrub extract in the Curious Elixirs No. 2 Spicy Pineapple Ginger Margarita was meant to promote relaxation, and the L‑theanine in the Recess Zero Proof Mocktails was there to “ease tension and lighten the mood.” I liked all the beverages in this group, but I can’t say I noticed a big difference in my mood or general state after drinking any of them. Several (including Recess, De Soi, and the Curious Elixir Negroni Sbagliato) touted their functionality thanks to adaptogenic ingredients like schisandra berries. Now, you may be thinking, what in the world are these “adaptogens?” And what functions do they serve? Good question! Let’s get into it.

What Are Adaptogens, Anyway?

Before we dive in, here’s a reminder that I am not a medical professional, and you should talk to your doctor if you have concerns before you consume any adaptogenic products. That said, I waded through countless studies and wellness-coded articles, only to conclude that it's all a bit…murky.

Adaptogens refer to specific plants that contain various active compounds thought to help the body deal with stress and maintain homeostasis. Lists of adaptogenic plants vary by source (one review named over a hundred examples), but most include things like ginseng, ashwagandha, and reishi mushrooms. By definition, these adaptogenic compounds work “nonspecifically,” meaning they normalize and balance bodily functions in general (affecting multiple systems at once) rather than through one specific mechanism. Different adaptogens also have different effects and work along different pathways. If that sounds vague, it’s because it is. Certain adaptogens have also been associated with more defined impacts like mood improvement, reduced inflammation, and caffeine moderation, but most recent studies involving adaptogens are industry-sponsored or conducted in animals or test tubes. We don’t have enough high-quality, human-based data to determine their usefulness and, if they do work, at what doses. Adaptogenic plants have been used in several medicine systems (including that of China, Japan, and India) for centuries. However, some adaptogens can still have side effects like gastrointestinal distress and cause problems for people who have diabetes, blood pressure issues, stomach ulcers, and autoimmune disorders, as well as those who are pregnant or breastfeeding. They’re considered supplements by the FDA, and thus they aren’t regulated.

Even with the hazy claims, I still think some adaptogenic drinks are worth trying if the vibe appeals to you (and you’ve talked to your doctor about relevant health issues). I didn’t add or subtract points specifically for drinks containing adaptogens, though some were docked for the medicinal undertones in their flavor. It was relatively mild in fruitier drinks like my favorite Three Spirit Livener Functional Spirit Alternative, which had a sweet and spicy profile alongside a bold serving of caffeine-containing adaptogenic guayusa. The Aplós Calme Functional Non-Alcoholic Spirit, on the other hand, leaned heavily on broad-spectrum hemp as its functional ingredient. The hemp didn’t produce a high (since it was THC-free) but was aimed at helping the drinker unwind and “quiet the mind.” It tasted too intense and verged on soapy for some of my taste-testers, al

Author Of article : Ashlee Redger

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