Best non-alcoholic bottles for 2023

Wilfred’s Bittersweet Non-Alcoholic Spritz

If your favourite alcoholic tipple is an Aperol spritz, then Wilfred’s is the one for you. The taste is deceptively like the real thing, with notes of rosemary, bitter orange, rhubarb and cloves – it reminded us of Cynar. This would be delightful served as your Friday night knock-off, an aperitif, or as your Sunday afternoon pick-me-up. Wilfred’s is not only free from alcohol, but also allergens, artificial colours, and it’s vegan and naturally low-calorie. It’s three yeses from us. Available from Wilfred’s Drinks (£19/500ml).

Serve with: ice, tonic and a slice of orange. Simply heaven!

Wednesday’s Domaine

Finally, a tee-total, bubble-free wine we can get behind! We were impressed by Wednesday’s Domaine, a wine based drink with natural flavours, with plenty of body to keep it interesting. Both drinks went particularly well with food. The white, made with Airen Blanco grapes is on the sweeter side, but if you’re a fan of a Sauvignon Blanc then you’ll enjoy its clean and balanced profile. The red is made from Tempranillo grapes, and has a noticeable complexity, with hints of red fruit. Both offer the mouthfeel you’d expect form a glass of the proper stuff, and we’d definitely go back for a second glass. Available from Wednesday’s Domaine, £25.99 for a twin pack.

Serve with: ice, if you like. Or enjoy straight from the fridge.

Three Spirit 

Whether you like to drink to get you in the mood for going out or as a relaxing end to an evening, Three Spirit drinks have something to please. For an aperitif, try their ‘Livener’ with tonic, which offers sweetness from unexpected watermelon, beet sugar, pomegranate molasses, and a spicy ginger-like kick. The ‘Social Elixir’ might sound like a spell and smell like one too, but ingredients such as agave nectar, caraway seed, yerba mate, passion flower, cacao bean combine for a bitter-sweet drink that’s reminiscent of vermouth and lovely with ginger ale. Before bed, their ‘Nightcap’ with maple syrup, lemon balm, white willow bark, valerian, and liquorice root is a non-alcoholic solution to help you unwind in time for hitting the sack, and it almost feels good-for-you. Please note: Three Spirits don’t recommend drinking their products if you are pregnant as some contain caffeine. Available from Three Spirit Drinks (£24.99/50cl).

Serve with: tonic or ginger beer.

Pentire

Pentire’s range of non-alcoholic spirits is made in Cornwall with coastal botanicals. The drinks are plant-based, distilled naturally, and are free from artificial flavourings and sweeteners – so far, so good. There are two flavours: Seaward which is bright, zesty and includes local sea buckthorn and rosemary. Then there’s Adrift, with green notes from samphire and sage, it has a distinctly pleasing herby aftertaste. We like both served with a little tonic, ice and a sprig of rosemary, but the team also now have 2 ready-mix cocktails made with the drinks, a margarita and a spritz. Available from Pentire, £27.80 for a 70cl bottle.

GIMBER 

GIMBER is an alcohol-free ginger concentrate that really impressed us. Ingredients are simply organic ginger, citrus fruit and herbs, so this aromatic cordial is still one to go for if you’re on a health kick. It can be used as the base for many a mocktail – think a mojito, dark ‘n’ stormy or margarita – but is also a great in a morning pick-me-up or tea, or even a chai latte. It’s a little on the pricier side, but is unique in being suitable to drink at any time of day. Available from GIMBER (£27.50/50cl).

Serve with: sparkling water and the garnish of your choice. Or try one of GIMBER’s recipes here.

Everleaf

Everleaf was launched by conservation biologist and bar owner Paul Matthew who truly knows his stuff when it comes to botanicals. With ingredients such as vetiver, cassia bark and gentian (don’t worry – the delicious. team were stumped too), the long list of (natural) flavourings used in the three Everleaf expressions certainly amount to complex-tasting drinks. Everleaf Forest is bittersweet in flavour, sunshine yellow in colour and has an overarching dryness that tastes almost alcoholic. Everleaf Marine has a savoury salinity from dulse and kelp seaweeds, with a piney juniper and bergamot base. Everleaf Mountain is the sweetest of the three, with fragrant cherry blossom, rosehip and wild strawberries – try it with tonic and fresh strawberry for a simple cocktail. Available from Everleaf Drinks (£18/50cl).

We loved Everleaf Marine for its crispness, served with tonic and lime.

Serve with: a good tonic water or use it as a base to a cocktail.

Seedlip 

There’s a reason we go back to this bottle time and time again. The first in a long line of non-alcoholic spirits, Seedlip paved the way for booze-free drinks. In fact, they made not drinking cool. Garden is our favourite of their three flavours, with notes of spearmint, rosemary and thyme. Available from Seedlip (£26/70cl).

Serve with: your favourite tonic.

CEDER’S

Calling all gin drinkers! As ‘fake’ gins go, CEDER’S is one of our absolute favourites. It’s the perfect swap to get you through a dry spell. Fragrant, subtle and slightly sweet, this takes the title for making the first non-alcoholic cocktail we’ve downed in seconds. Classic gin botanicals such as juniper and coriander are combined with hints of geranium and Cape floral fynbos (us neither!). The classic is hard to beat, but CEDER’S comes in 3 other varieties: Crisp, Wild and Pink Rose. Available from CEDER’S (£25/70cl).

Serve with: try in a cocktail with kombucha, elderflower cordial and agave syrup! Otherwise it’s also wonderful with simply some tonic and fresh lime.

Fluère

If it wasn’t virtuous enough going alcohol-free for a month, now you can do so while still drinking the cocktails you know and love. Fluère’s range of four 0% spirits includes Fluère original, Fluère raspberry (wonderful in a gimlet), Fluère spiced cane (great in a dark and stormy – or simply with cola), and Fluère smoked agave (lovely in a mock-margarita). With ingredients such as smoked agave nectar, fresh raspberries, and sugar cane molasses, we were really impressed with these spirits which are made with the same steam distillation techniques used to produce spirits like gin, mezcal and rum. Available from Fluère (£19.50, 70cl).

Serve with: tonic, soda, or check out their recipes here.

Alcohol-Free Passion Fruit Martini

Unusual, sophisticated and full of flavour, Belvoir’s Passion Fruit Martini has a light, cloudy orange colour and is gently sparkling, with some sediment. The taste was unexpected – a fresh, fragrant true passion fruit flavour, with just a hint of vanilla that made us think of sugar cookies. This would be delightful served as an apertif or even as a substitute for dessert wine with pavlova or trifle. Available from Sainsbury’s (£2.70/750ml).

Serve with: a slice of orange and a cinnamon stick to stir.

Oddbird sparkling wines

Is sparkling wine your typical drink of choice? Let Oddbird stand in its stead at your next dinner party or gathering. We’re huge fans of the tall and sleek bottle, which gives it a proper wine feel. The spumante was our favourite: the drink itself looks like any other sparkling – fizzy and straw coloured – and tastes a little on the tart side so is perfect for those who prefer a bright wine. If you love a glass of fizz but hate the headaches – get on board with the brand’s tagline ‘liberated from alcohol’ and give this a go! Available from 31dover (from £8.95/75cl).

Serve: chilled on its own.

Check out our collection of non-alcoholic drink recipes, from mocktails to smoothies and a proper ginger beer recipe.