Booze is out and botanical, herbal elixirs and spirits are so in. Stock your nonalcoholic bar and sip on these feel-good drinks.
Taking the edge off is necessary for mental well-being. And while a glass of wine can be a nice way to relax, alcohol has some downsides. Who needs hangovers when you can drink nonalcoholic spirits and botanical elixirs that boost your mood and help you avoid the dangerous side effects of alcohol?
We’re full-on obsessed with this movement and having the best time experimenting with so many different brands and blends.
What are nonalcoholic spirits?
Going booze-free doesn’t mean sipping on sugar-laden ginger ale all night. Companies are hard at work blending botanicals that work and taste similar to their alcoholic counterparts and/or offer similar benefits by way of botanicals, vitamins, minerals, and other natural ingredients.
You’ll find a range of options from the sparkling ready-to-drink aperitifs or bases meant for blending just like you would regular spirits. Some of these even work mixed with alcohol if you want to experiment in reducing the percentage of alcohol in your cocktails.
Setting up a nonalcoholic home bar
Even if you’re omitting the alcohol, there are still universal essentials to a home bar set-up. With these essentials, you’ll be well-equipped to mix up anything from simple gin-free spirits and tonic to a more complex mocktail creation, ensuring your home bar is a place of endless enjoyment and experimentation. Here are some essentials that will help you craft a wide range of cocktails and ensure your home bar is a hit:
Shaker: A staple for mixing cocktails. A Boston shaker (a two-piece shaker consisting of a glass and a metal tin) or a Cobbler shaker (which includes a built-in strainer) are both great choices.
Strainer: Essential for pouring cocktails smoothly without ice or herbs ending up in your glass. A Hawthorne strainer is most commonly used with a Boston shaker.
Jigger: A small measuring tool to help you accurately measure liquid ingredients and ensure your cocktails are perfectly balanced.
Bar Spoon: A long spoon used for stirring ingredients in a mixing glass. It’s essential for cocktails that are stirred, not shaken.
Muddler: A tool used to mash or muddle fruits, herbs, or spices in the bottom of a glass to release their flavors.
Citrus Juicer: Freshly squeezed juice is a key ingredient in many cocktails, making a citrus juicer or press an indispensable tool.
Ice Bucket and Tongs: Keeping ice accessible and clean is crucial for any home bar. Ice tongs ensure that you can serve ice without touching it.
Cutting Board and Knife: For slicing fruits and garnishes. A sharp knife and a sturdy cutting board are essentials for preparing ingredients.
Bottle Opener and Corkscrew: For opening various types of bottles effortlessly.
Mixing Glass: Used for cocktails that require stirring instead of shaking. A good quality mixing glass can also be a decorative piece for your bar.
Glassware: Having the right glass for the right cocktail elevates the drinking experience. Include a variety: highball glasses, rocks glasses, martini glasses, and wine glasses.
Seltzer or Club Soda: A must-have for many mixed drinks, adding fizz and dilution to cocktails.
Tonic Water: Essential for gin and tonics and other cocktails requiring a bitter quinine flavor.
Simple Syrup: A basic syrup made from sugar and water, used to sweeten many cocktails.
Bitters: Concentrated flavors that add complexity to cocktails. Angostura bitters are a good starting point.
Fresh Fruits and Herbs: Lemons, limes, oranges, and mint are commonly used in a variety of cocktails for juicing and garnishing.
Cocktail Picks: For skewering garnishes like olives or cherries, adding a professional touch to your drinks.
Speed Pourers: These fit into bottle tops and help you pour spirits smoothly and accurately, great for quick serving.
Cocktail Napkins or Coasters: To keep your bar area clean and prevent rings on furniture.
Ice Molds: For creating large or uniquely shaped ice cubes that melt slowly, perfect for certain cocktails.
Zero-ABV brands
Consider these options the Impossible Burgers of the spirits world — made to look, blend, and taste just like their boozy counterparts, only better for you, and in some cases, better for the planet, too.
Free Spirits
The folks behind Northern California’s Free Spirits want you to keep drinking cocktails, just without the alcohol. These boozy stand-ins don’t skimp on mood-enhancing, though. The brand’s bourbon, gin, and tequila-inspired spirits blend B vitamins, amino acids, and botanicals to bring flavor and function to your glass.
Always vegan and gluten-free, Free Spirits uses a process called Distillate Reconstruction to create the same flavor profiles as your favorite spirits, made with clean ingredients that support mental well-being and local farmers. “Free Spirits are made for those who refuse to compromise between a great cocktail and a great time,” the company says.
Dhos
Handcrafted on an organic farm in Oregon, Dhōs is about as clean as you can get — both as an alternative to alcohol and a pesticide-free product. It’s received certifications from the Clean Label Project and was tested to be clear of more than 400 contaminants.
You’ll be obsessed with the Bittersweet blend that features traditional flavors of bitter rhubarb, brulée of oranges, cinchona, gentian root, and bitter herbs. It’s part cocktail, part digestif all in one. Try it with your favorite soda water and a fresh squeeze of orange for a perfect cocktail.
Lyre’s
Lyre’s is out to prove that alcohol-free doesn’t mean flavor-free or effect-free. It took years to craft its range of non-alcoholic spirits with the goal of tasting just like the alcohol-based options they’re replacing. A commitment to quality, the brand sources all-natural essences, extracts, and distillates from around the world.
“At the risk of blowing our own bugle, this is quite simply the finest range of non-alcoholic classic spirits the world has ever seen,” the company says.
A commitment to vegan ingredients, the only animals featured in Lyre’s are the “beloved social animals depicted on our labels,” the company says. You, of course, can still be the party animal you always were, just without the hangover.
Kin Euphorics
Kin Euphorics was a pioneer in the elixir non-alcoholic drink space and even got the attention of supermodel Bella Hadid, who is now a co-founder of the brand. Kin set out to transform the world’s oldest social ritual of drinking by providing consumers with a better alternative. The drinks are made to help bring balance and elevate a sense of self. The products’ profound impact on Hadid’s mental wellness led to her joining the company.
The two signature drinks are the Kin Spritz and Lightwave. The Kin Spritz has wonderful notes of ginger, bitters, and citrus mixed with mood-boosting ingredients. The Lightwave has notes of lavender, vanilla, smoked sea salt, and passionflower with mind-calming ingredients to help you mellow out.
Three Spirit
Three Spirit believes that alcohol-free shouldn’t mean pleasure-free. The plant-based alternatives to alcohol celebrate what is put into the beverage—not what was taken out. The mixtures were created by plant scientists, bartenders, hedonists, herbalists, and artists. In a day and age where we are looking at self-driving cars and meatless meat they felt it was high time to create a delicious cocktail that didn’t ruin Monday.
They have three distinct spirits, hence the name Three Spirit. Livener, which is described as exotic, fiery, and fun, is great with a splash of tonic water or mixture as a faux Cosmopolitan with cranberry juice, lime juice, and orange. The Social Elixir is dark and bittersweet, which pairs well with ginger beer. And lastly, the Nightcap is decadent, wood, and smooth and is great as an Old Fashioned alternative.
Monday
Monday has a delicious non-alcoholic gin and whiskey that mixes into your favorite cocktail combinations. Their spirits are sugar-free, gluten-free, and vegan. The whiskey and gin are both handcrafted in small batches in Southern California with all-natural ingredients.
The gin is excellent mixed with a fruity juice, like cranberry, or with a splash of lemon and simple syrup. As for the whiskey, try it with ginger beer!
De Soi
Katy Perry’s De Soi brings adaptogens and botanicals to an accessible range of apéritifs so tasty and mood-impacting, you won’t miss the booze a bit. De Soi offers four apéritifs: Golden Hour, Champignon Dreams, Purple Lune, and its newest, Trés Rosé — that screams summer in a can.
Drink the De Soi beverages on their own or get creative and mix them with your favorite alcohol, or sparkling water, or try pairing with a lighter botanical like Optimist.
Seedlip
Seedlip is a category leader in the zero-ABV market for good reason. It uses a bespoke maceration, distillation, and blending process for its unique botanical blends, which are meant to be the base of your non-alcoholic cocktails (never neat). Mix with ice, sodas, juices, and fresh herbs.
You’ll enjoy each sip of Seedlip even more knowing that the company uses all-natural ingredients and went fully carbon-neutral in 2022.
Optimist
This Southern California-based spirits brand is bringing fun and function to its world-class botanicals. Created with a master distiller, these blends: Smokey, Bright, Fresh, and its new Cali Amaro bring complex flavors and a good bit of plant magic. The flavors are reminiscent of tequila, vodka, and gin, but there’s no alcohol involved. All you get is smooth sipping and a gentle, elevated afterglow.
The gorgeous glass bottles look great on any counter, and the emphasis on cultivating mental wellness is making the world a better place for us all. Don’t mix with cheap tonic water here; check out recipes on the site or experiment with your own favorites. Hint: you can’t go wrong with a big splash of ginger kombucha mixed with any of the blends.
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