It’s a nonalcoholic world, and we’re just sipping in it. Just check the menu at pretty much any bar: Across the country, they’re adding zero-proof cocktails to their menus. Google Trends shows that search interest in “non alcoholic drinks” has essentially tripled in the last five years, and a peek at any beverage aisle confirms that we’re firmly in the zero-proof era. Wading through the crowded field of nonalcoholic options, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. There are a huge variety of nonalcoholics: alternative spirits, de-alcoholized wine, zero-proof aperitifs, nonalcoholic beer, booze-free spritzes, and bottled zero-alcohol cocktails are just a few.
But funnily enough, an easy way to figure out which bev to choose is to think of alcoholic drinks themselves. We have a boozy drink to relax a bit at a party where we don’t know anyone, or to feel a little buzz with our friends, or to take the edge off and de-stress after work. We can divvy up nonalcoholic drink options in the same way—except we can choose which effects we’d like. You don’t need to know anything about nonalcoholic drinks; you just need to know what vibe you’re after. Hoping for a bit of pep to overcome your social anxiety? There’s a booze-free beverage for that. Do you just want something that tastes reasonably close to alcohol while you’re out at a bar? There’s definitely an NA drink for that.
To make sense of the mind-bendingly vast field of zero-proof drinks and spirits, think of them as falling into four categories based on your mood: The Energizers, which give you a burst of energy; the Social Lubricants that make you more sociable; the Dupes, which directly mimic alcohol; and the Chillers, which help you de-stress. Once you’ve chosen your mood, it’s just a matter of pouring yourself a drink, and looking forward to your hangover-less morning tomorrow.
And if you’re seeking a more scientific rundown of nonalcoholic drinks, my colleague Carina Finn has a helpful list of the best of each type: nonalcoholic spirits, nonalcoholic wines, premixed drinks.
The Energizers
These are the drinks that give you a boost of energy. They might take the place of vodka Red Bulls or espresso martinis, and you’ll likely want to drink them at the beginning of your night out. Spirits like Bon Buzz’s Bittersweet Citron, or Three Spirit’s Livener, are tasty over ice with soda, and flavored complexly enough to taste close to a real cocktail. They contain active ingredients like caffeine, maca, and guarana in amounts that are generally equal to about a cup of coffee. Here are a few of our favorites.
Bon Buzz’s Bittersweet Citron contains no preservatives, but what it does have is caffeine (that’s where the buzz comes from). Ingredients like maca should give you a little zap of energy as well, but aside from its effects, what we love most about Bittersweet Citron is the taste. Like the best spirits, it has an impressive balance of bitter (beets! Gentian root!) and sweet (citrus! agave!), and the ginger gives it just the right amount of burn as it goes down.
It’s the delicate dance between fiery heat and zingy berry notes that makes Three Spirit’s Livener stand out among other caffeinated nonalcoholics. Like the best spirits, each sip is a bit of a challenge to your palate before giving way to an herbal sweetness. With 50 grams of caffeine per serving, each pour is essentially like drinking a shot of espresso.
Kin Euphorics has a few different flavors of canned spritzes, but Actual Sunshine is the best by far. It calls itself “gently caffeinated,” which is a nice way to say there’s 33 milligrams of caffeine in each eight-ounce can—it might take a few cans to feel any kind of a buzz. Actual Sunshine does taste impressively sunshiny, though. Sweet pineapple weaves in and out of pleasantly bitter turmeric and ginger extracts, and the tight carbonation leaves the sides of your tongue buzzing after each sip.
The Social Lubricants
This is another distinct category of spirits-free drinks that you might drink at a chill hangout with friends. They’re meant to make you feel more sociable and connected to those around you, and they feature ingredients like Lion’s Mane, an adaptogenic mushroom, and 5-HTP, an amino acid our bodies use to make serotonin, both of which purportedly lift your mood and encourage connection. Here are some standouts in the category.
A lot of zero-proof spirits claim to taste something along the lines of an herbal tincture—in the best cases, you could compare them to amari, and in the worst case, they’re akin to sweet, syrupy teas. Kin Euphorics High Rhode is the best example of the former I’ve tasted yet. Hibiscus florals and a pithy blood orange flavor make for a complex push of acid with a bite of bitterness. Plus, Kin’s addition of ingredients like caffeine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that inhibits nerve cell’s ability to receive stress signals, intend to give you a boost of energy while reducing stress—the sweet spot for any kind of socializing.
Herbs like damiana, used traditionally as an aphrodisiac and a stimulant, and tulsi, which is good for pretty much every part of your body, as well as extracts of green tea and yerba mate, are meant to “lift spirits and reduce inhibitions,” according to Three Spirit’s website. The brand says you’ll likely need three servings to get enough of the active ingredients to feel those effects. Still, with notes like deep molasses and smoky date, you’ll be happy to pour yourself drink after drink.
The Dupes
Sometimes you really just want the taste of a real, true-blue alcoholic drink. Maybe you’re out at a bar and hoping to keep your NA drinking low-key, or you’re simply craving the taste of a real negroni without tomorrow’s hangover. Whether it’s wine, cocktails, or nonalcoholic spirits, there are some stellar options available.
Almave is a nonalcoholic spirit made with blue agave grown in Jalisco, Mexico, and it tastes so exactly like tequila that you’ll want to take another sip just to make sure it isn’t. A rich amber brown, it has a light vanilla flavor that’s cut by the same sharp metallic twang you get in real tequila, only without the burn. Ámbar is great for sipping, while Almave’s Blanco would no doubt do well in cocktails.
For a long time now, St. Agrestis has been winning the ready-to-drink nonalcoholic cocktail game. The Phony Negroni continues to delight, but its mezcal-ed up sister tastes even better. A lightly sweet Campari flavor meets an intoxicating smoky note—St. Agrestis uses many of the same botanicals in mezcal, but extracts flavor without adding alcohol. The contrasts between bitter, sweet, and smoke take Agrestis’s single-serving bottles to new heights.
There are two types of nonalcoholic wines that are generally available: a “wine alternative,” which is usually, well, some kind of juice, or de-alcoholized wine, in which wine’s alcohol is removed using processes like reverse osmosis. That means the wine is made in the traditional method, preserving the wine’s complex flavor we know and love, before the producers pluck out all the alcohol. Noughty’s Rouge is the latter, which means it’s the closest thing to real wine on the market. It isn’t too sweet, has a little bit of body, and even manages to create a long(er) finish like real wine.
The Chillers
At the end of the night (or at the end of the workday), a crisp drink can be the best way to de-stress. Zero-proof drinks that calm you down are full of ingredients that may lower stress levels, and even help you fall asleep. These aren’t the punchy, burn-forward spirits you want on a night out; rather, they’re the cozy, mellow sips you want to take before drifting off to dreamland.
The final of Three Spirit’s trio of concoctions is built to ease you to sleep, and as such, its flavors are the least flashy of them all. Smooth maple flows into a slightly chocolaty aroma, which is finished off with a mellow woody flavor. Nightcap includes valerian root, which can help you fall asleep, as well as ashwagandha and white willow bark, which help fight stress in your body.
Dreamlight is another mellow, sleepy-time nonalcoholic spirit. This one uses tryptophan (the same amino acid in turkey that makes us sleep by helping our bodies produce melatonin) and an extra nudge of melatonin to help you drift off to dreamland. The flavors here are cozy—vanilla, cinnamon, and bittersweet gentian—but end on a gentle burn thanks to the included ginger. It’s a pre-bed sipper that is as complex as it is comforting.