Food & Drink
12 High-Flavour, Zero-Proof Drinks to Get You Through the Holidays
Swapping your martini for a mocktail never tasted better.
by : Kate Dingwall- Nov 27th, 2023
Some Good Clean Fun
Once upon a time, abstainers were exiled to saccharine sodas, juices, or at the worst of it, water. If you chose not to drink—for whatever reason and any reason is a good one—your choice of drink was seldom sophisticated.
The tides are changing for the non-alcoholic movement. Chic celebrities are making abstaining part of their image: Bella Hadid and Kate Moss have repudiated alcohol, model Constance Jablonski launched a non-alcoholic Champagne, and sans-alc spritzes like Ghia and Barbet are everywhere.
Why? Recently, our relationship with alcohol has been on the rocks. In January, the Silicon Valley Bank announced that young people aren’t drinking enough wine and the future of the industry is in danger. Earlier this year, Health Canada announced that consuming any amount of alcohol is dangerous, adding an air of uncertainty to ordering that next round. Is the sobriety movement here to stay?
“We’re in an era where health and wellness is more of a priority than ever before,” says Sarah Kate, the founder of non-alcoholic resource Some Good Clean Fun. “With all the information about how alcohol can impact you, more people are being mindful about what they’re consuming.” And shifting your drinking is easier than ever thanks to a new array of products that offer all the balance, complexity, and fun of regular-proof spirits and wines.
These drinks are designed to be malleable to the moment—wine dupes to pour at Christmas dinner, tequila replacements for cocktail parties, and sophisticated sodas for when you don’t need another martini. “It’s easier now to cut back on drinking or to choose to be alcohol-free now, because non-alcoholic options are kind of like a placebo,” says Kate. “When I’m making dinner, I can still have a glass of wine—it just doesn’t have alcohol. When I’m heading out to a girls night, I bring my own drinks so I can still feel like I’m part of the fun.”
For once, spirit-free sipping feels less like a consolation prize and more like a top pick. Here are some of our favourites.
French Bloom
Clement Bondois, the Beverage Director at 1 Hotel Toronto, likes to welcome guests with a glass of French Bloom, a new non-alcoholic sparkling from the Taittinger Champagne house. “Having chilled bottles of non-alcoholic sparkling around ensures guests can still enjoy a glass of bubbly during the festive season,” says Bondois. He’ll often amp up the presentation at holiday parties by baking biscuit batter into moulds (like snowflakes in December) and perching them on the glass.
Seedlip
Bondois recommends approaching your non-alc offerings the same way you would a standard cocktail set up. “Having the proper equipment is key: shakers, bar spoons, ice cube moulds, strainers, and of course beautiful glassware. Treat non-alcoholic drinks with the same attention to detail and creativity as you would a cocktail.” One of his essentials: Seedlip, a zero-proof spirit with soft, herbaceous flavours and a high mixability, making it a perfect swap for most cocktails.
Atypique
Newly-launched non-alcoholic cocktail brand Atypique’s cans mimic real drink flavours: red sangrias, G&Ts, rum-and-colas, and margaritas, all made without the proof. They’re canned and pre-mixed so you can toss a few in the cooler or bring these to Christmas Day brunch when you’d prefer to abstain.
Price: $27
Libra Beer
This East Coast brand focuses on beers that capture craft quality without the alcohol, including a few hyper-seasonal releases like a wintery stout, lavender-sage cream ale, pumpkin spice ale and a cherry sour. When summer rolls around, swap to a lime lager or a crispy pilsner.
NON
Instead of replicating the taste of real wines—which can often go south—NON focuses on fancifully flavoured juices with a sophisticated twist. Expect odder but excellent flavours like lemon marmalade and hibiscus, toasted cinnamon and yuzu, and caramelised pear and kombu.
Price: $25
Lyre’s
“Pay homage to the classics and craft an impressive spirit-free Negroni or Old Fashioned — it’s most likely that your guest won’t even know the difference” says Bondois. “Lyre’s Spirits has an extensive line of non-alcoholic spirits made with the finest all-natural essences, extracts and distillates that will surely impress a group.” The British brand has a full portfolio of near-spirits: rum, orange liqueurs, Scotch alternatives and coffee liqueurs (hello, espresso martinis).
Leitz Eins Zwei Zero Sparkling Riesling
“If you’ve never had a non-alcoholic wine before, invest in a higher-priced bottle of sparkling wine like Leitz Eins Zwei Zero Sparkling Riesling as a start—you won’t regret it,” says Kate. “I’m always astounded at how much care is put into these bottles!” This bubbly comes from the Rheingau region of Germany, where this producer has been making precise, zero-alcohol Rieslings for almost two decades. (It also comes in single-serving cans!)
Oddbird Low Intervention White
One of Oddbird’s newer releases is a non-alcoholic on a natural orange wine from North Alsace. Made with Auxerrois, Pinot Blanc and Riesling, it’s textured and tannic, with a flinty minerality and a lively finish. It’s a top turkey wine.
Monday Gin
If G&Ts or other easy gin drinks are part of your happy hour routine, Monday Gin smells and sips like a London Dry-style gin. Fill a glass with ice and top it with Greenhouse Juice kombucha or Fever-Tree flavoured tonics.
Price: $40
Bellwoods Brewery Non-Alcoholic Jelly King
If skipping the booze has left a large, beer-sized hole in your heart, the Ossington brewery now has a juicy, tart, tangy, no-proof take on their classic dry hopped sour. Crack this when you have a dawn spin class the next day.
Barbet
If you’d rather not crack a can of cola at the cocktail bar: this Toronto-made, female-owned brand of elegant sodas are offered in party-perfect flavours and colours. There’s blood orange-calamansi-jalapeno, grapefruit-ginger, and cucumber-ginger, each shimmering in purple, orange, or pink shades. Barbet deserves a good glass and a great garnish.
Benjamin Bridge Piquette Zero
Nova Scotia winery doesn’t just toss the grapes leftover from their winemaking process—they keep them and turn them into wine-ish sodas. The jazzed-up seltzers are light, sparkling, slightly salty and available in three flavours: a golden hue (flavoured with hops and sea salt), a rosé, and a deep ruby (flavoured with berries).
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