A Guide to the Full-Blown Renaissance of Non-Alcoholic Spirits
In the last 5 years, we’ve seen a veritable explosion in the booze-free booze industry, with everything from calorie-free faux tequila to bitter spirits infused with magic stress-reducing compounds and other silly little ingredients that make you go oooh.
Kin Euphorics leads the pack when it comes to branding that makes you feel some type of way, lauding its botanical-packed bevvies as “euphorics for humankind.”
Made with botanicals in copper stills and meant to be served with tonic, it’s definitely akin to the “g” word, but without the crushing hangover that makes you text all of your friends asking if you “said something stupid” last night.
Its juniper-forward ingredients list is pretty on-the-nose for what you’d seen with a traditional dry gin, with an added touch of cucumber, and it’s hand-crafted in small batches in Southern California.
An alcohol-free aperitif similar to an amaro, Ghia’s signature drink starts with a base of riesling grapes and builds complexity with layers of yuzu, elderflower, lemon balm, fig, and rosemary.
“Booze-free cocktails”. If you’re wondering if they just taste sweet and syrupy, like ginger ale or something, the answer is no—they are as complex, and pack the bite, of a signature drink at a high-end cocktail bar.
Ritual Zero Proof is set on the simple goal of mimicking the flavor of traditional liquors, using water, natural flavoring, and a couple of other basic science-fair ingredients.
Lyre’s makes a whole line of non-alcoholic spirits in the style of whiskey, gin, rum, Kahlua, aperitifs, vermouth, and even absinthe. Sounds ambitious, but they’re all very highly rated, with Italian Orange being the cream of the crop.
Non-alcoholic whiskey is kind of a mindfuck, but what isn’t in 2020? (Oh right, it’s 2021 now.)
Based in the Netherlands, Fluère hopes to be the top-shelf choice when it comes to non-alcoholic spirits.
Feragaia is a unique, sugar-free spirit “made with land and sea botanicals. All of its packaging is recyclable, and the manufacturing facility sources ingredients locally whenever possible.