“Tea, Mummy? It’s six o’clock. How come you’re not having a G&T or glass of wine?” my nine-year-old daughter asks, slightly alarmingly.
Why indeed. My 6pm drink has become a cherished ritual, marking the end of the working day, a time when I can start to unwind. It’s something of a family tradition, in fact. My grandmother would sip chardonnay or sauvignon blanc from a beautiful Waterford crystal glass with a cigarette every evening. My mother used to enjoy a G&T for what she would call “medicinal purposes”.
I, however, have become increasingly aware of my dwindling tolerance to alcohol in midlife. If I have more than two to three glasses, I wake up with “hangxiety” in the early hours of the morning and feel rubbish the next day. Sober October feels like a good excuse for a reset – if only it weren’t so expensive.
Of course, going teetotal for a month (an autumnal challenge first conceived to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support but these days frequently undertaken for lifestyle reasons) needn’t actually cost a penny. Drink water, I hear you say, or indeed tea.
But I don’t want to just swap my evening tipple for lime and soda or other soft drinks; that would suck the joy out completely. I still want the ritual of having a “grown-up” drink, but I want to replace it with a healthier, booze-free alternative. The trouble is, many of them aren’t much cheaper than bonafide booze.
One of my favourites, for example, is Pentire Adrift, a non-alcoholic aperitif from Cornwall made from samphire, lemon citrus and Cornish sea salt, among other things. Paired with Fever Tree tonic in a G&T, it tastes almost as good as my preferred Hendrick’s. At £27.80 for a 70cl bottle, however, it costs almost the same.
When it comes to wine alternatives, some options seem just as pricey. I love sharing a bottle with my husband, Dom, over dinner a few nights a week, but when I look for a decent booze-free alternative to my favourites – rioja, sauvignon blanc, malbec – to see me through October, I find many far too sweet, not dissimilar to Granny’s favourite, Shloer.
A sober friend recommends Wednesday’s Domaine and I am impressed by Piquant, its “crisp, clean” white. But starting at £39.99 for three bottles, it’s not exactly cheap for being booze-free.
“Drinkers may be left wondering why some no- and low-alcohol options still have a premium price tag,” says Nicola Jones, the founder of Drinks Distilled, a spirits and barware company. “However, while you may be paying less tax on no-and low-ABV spirits, the same methods are often used to extract flavour.”
According to current government guidelines, Jones explains, any drink classed as “alcohol-free” must contain either no alcohol at all, or only a tiny percentage – between 0 and 0.05% ABV. In “dealcoholised” products, meanwhile, alcohol is used as a solvent and then extracted during the production process, leading to an ABVbetween 0.05 and 0.5%.
Victoria Moore, author and wine correspondent for The Telegraph, explains that when it comes to comparing the price of alcoholic drinks with their non-alcoholic equivalent, it really has to be done on a case-by-case basis.
A wine-style drink, for example, might be produced in the same way as the alcoholic version but with the added expense of having to strip the alcohol content out. “It’s hard to see what the true costs are as they depend on the size of the production, the research undertaken to develop the drink and potentially also extra ingredients or production costs,” Moore says.
Not all booze-free interpretations are successful. Wine, for example, is really hard to replicate. “They are getting better at it,” says Moore, “but it’s easier to replicate beer, for example, because it has lower alcohol content and layers of flavour from carbonation, hops (which bring bitterness) and malt.”
She believes we ought to take a fresh look at how we view no- and low-alcohol drinks. “Perhaps we shouldn’t think we have to replace our favourite alcoholic drink without noticing the difference, or that we have to get the placebo effect by replacing like with like,” she notes. Not chasing a perfect match, then, for a G&T or glass of sauvignon blanc, might yield more satisfying results.
Moore likes a sparkling pinor noir from Jukes Cordialities but is also a big fan of Mother Root, a fiery ginger switchel drink made with apple cider vinegar to be served with soda or sparkling water. I try it and am converted. She also enjoys sparkling tea, especially Real Drinks’s Dry Dragon, and Crodino, which has a similar taste to Aperol.
Susy Atkins, drinks expert for The Telegraph, admits that many non-alcoholic interpretations of spirits are costly, especially as they aren’t taxed at the same rate as their boozy counterparts.That’s not to say she doesn’t appreciate a no- or low-alcohol G&T, though.
Atkins recommends Wavelength Ruby Aperitif, a fermented spirit to serve with tonic; New London Light non-alcoholic spirit from Salcombe Distilling Co.; and Sea Arch Drinks, which are made from natural botanicals.
For wine lovers she also tips Torres Natureo Muscat, which captures the essence of traditional muscat but removes the alcohol content after fermentation, helping to preserve the flavour. Belle & Co.’s sparkling wines, meanwhile, combine fermented grape juice with green tea.
However, Atkins says, “If I’m having a dry day, I would probably opt for a fiery ginger beer from Luscombe Drinks, a really good cordial, or Fentimans tonic over lots of ice. That still gives the same sort of sense of having a treat and helps hit the spot.”
The best approach, then, is to find a drink that feels affordable and also impresses in its own right. I wonder what my daughter will say when I tell her that I’m drinking sparkling tea and 0% gin? With all the taste but no hangover, I’ll raise a glass to that.
Four splash-out options
Pentire Adrift
0%, £27.80 for 70cl, pentiredrinks.com
There are lots of decent botanical booze-free gins on the market but Adrift, a plant-based aperitif that draws on rock samphire, sage, lemon citrus and Cornish Sea Salt really hits the spot. A taste of Cornwall in a bottle.
New London Light First Light
0%, £25 for 70cl, newlondonlight.co.uk
Made by the same distillery as Susy Atkins’s favourite Salcombe Gin, this is one of the best 0% spirits ones I’ve tasted. First Light, aimed at lovers of classic gin, has undertones of juniper, citrus and zesty ginger. Outstanding.
Wednesday’s Domaine Piquant
0.5%, £29.99 for a twin pack, wednesdaysdomaine.com
So many people have recommended these wines, which taste almost as good as the real thing. The white Piquant is clean and crisp and the red, Sanguine, is like a lighter malbec.
Saicho Darjeeling Sparkling Tea
0%, £17.99 for 750ml, saichodrinks.com
I was a little cynical about sparkling tea at first, but Saicho’s Darjeeling has gorgeous nuances of mandarin, ginger and wood spice and gentle tannins. Quite simply delicious and pairs well with roast chicken.
Four scrimping options
CleanCo Clean G
0.5%, £16 for 70cl, clean.co
For G&Ts on a tighter budget there’s CleanCo, which was set up by Made in Chelsea’s former bad boy, Spencer Matthews. Its Clean G is a juicy, juniper-filled gin alternative that tastes almost as good as the real thing.
Thomson & Scott Noughty Dealcoholised Sparkling Chardonnay
0%, £9.95 for 75cl, noughtyaf.com
Thomson & Scott’s Noughty Sparkling uses 100% organic chardonnay grapes and costs a few pounds less than I would usually spend on a bottle of fizz. It’s a little bit acerbic but tastes pretty much as good as my favourite crémant. I’m sold.
Mother Root Ginger Switchel
0%, £27.95 for 480ml, motherroot.london
Recommended by Victoria Moore, this Ginger Switchel is one of the best 0% drinks I’ve ever had. It’s a bit like one of those ginger shots you get at upmarket health food stores, but punchier, with a lick of chilli heat. Served chilled over lots of ice with soda or sparkling water, the half-sized bottle makes 10 drinks.
Bristol Beer Factory Clear Head Alcohol-Free IPA
0.5%, £30 for 12 x 440ml cans, bristolbeerfactory.co.uk
The sharp, citrusy undertones shine through this beer, giving it a fresh, lemony finish. The brewery promotes five per cent of its sales to Talk Club, a mental health charity for men.
This article was first published in October 2023
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