How to have a booze-free summer (well, for a bit)
Need a break from the bottle? There are lots of alcohol-free options – whatever your favourite tipple, writes Lucy Holden
One side effect of 2018’s long heatwave has been that alcohol sales have rocketed. It started with the Royal Wedding on a sun-drenched May day and morphed into World Cup football parties as England’s form surprised us all; with the long, balmy nights, many of us haven’t stopped drinking since. The chances are you are now quite used to cracking open a bottle after work on a Tuesday, given Majestic has reported rosé sales are up 28 per cent on this time last year, champagne up 49 per cent and sparkling wines up 53 per cent.
But our livers may be crying out for a break. Perfect timing, then, for Club Soda’s Mindful Drinking Festival, which takes place in London tomorrow.
This year, they have invited 30 drinks producers to ply the expected 10,000 festivalgoers with non-alcoholic beer, cider and spirits. Whether you make it down to the one-day celebration or not, you may still decide that you want a weekend off the booze, so here’s a guide to what to choose instead.
For wine lovers
Shrubs, or drinking vinegars, might sound revolting but they’re the perfect non-alcoholic option for wine fans, says Eder Neto, head of bars at the Hakkasan group, which launched an “orchard list” of 30 non-alcoholic drinks at its four London restaurants this year.
“Shrubs are made of fruit, herbs and apple cider vinegar, and so the acidity and the variety of flavours make them a natural swap for wine,” he says. “If you prefer white wine, try a vinegar made of white fruit, like mandarins; red fans would prefer a red fruit-based vinegar, and can match it to their preference for light or heavy bottles. If you’d choose a mature red on a wine list, try something like Uchibori’s fruit vinegar (about £12), which has a stronger taste than a strawberry or cherry vinegar by a producer like Yarty; their range would suit taste buds that prefer a younger, lighter red.” Available online is Nonsuch (£3.50), a cherry drinking vinegar produced by Borough Wines that tastes like a “young Bordeaux”.
Dilute with tonic or water to serve.
Gin guzzlers
Seedlip – the world’s first non-alcoholic spirit – now sits subtly among the stronger bottles behind most bars and can be mixed with tonic for the perfect G&T alternative. Seedlip recommends Fever-tree’s cucumber or elderflower tonic to give the drink as much flavour as its alcoholic equivalent.
You can also use it to make nonalcoholic gin martinis, says Greg Almeida, head bartender at Scarfes Bar at the Rosewood hotel in London. “People are asking for them quite regularly now,” he says, “and Seedlip makes that possible. By distilling botanicals such as hay, watermint and peas, they have created a spirit with the same botanical flavours as gin, but none of the hangover.”
If you’re not a fan, try a craft soda or tonic, such as Luscombe’s Damascene rose (four for £6 at Abel & Cole) or Square Root’s botanical spritz (£2), which have the same bitter and floral notes as gin cocktails, Neto adds.
Dark spirit sippers
The taste of rum can be recreated with “spicy, smooth, nutty flavours” and anything with a hint of coffee or almond, says Almeida. Scarfes’ new cocktail menu, which is inspired by key figures in British life, includes a non-alcoholic ode to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan – who doesn’t drink – made of pistachio barfi (a traditional Asian sweet), almond, cardamom and coffee. “Coffee and almond flavours in non-alcoholic drinks also work well for people who like cognac, and whisky drinkers would like spicy flavours,” he says.
Try making the Sadiq Khan cocktail at home by mixing 100ml of tiger nut milk (£2 at Waitrose) with 50ml of cold brew coffee and serve with crushed ice and a garnish of coconut flakes and crumbled, roasted pistachio barfi, if you can find it. If not, toffee, fudge or an Italian nut biscuit would work just as well.
Vodka lovers
Because vodka is a neutral spirit without a lot of flavour, it’s easy to find an alternative. What you switch it for depends on what you’d choose as a mixer, Neto explains. “If you’d order a vodka and tonic, craft tonics from a company like Square Root, which has a small London brewery, are a perfect alternative,” he says. “I’d go for the artemisia tonic, which has a slightly bitter taste because of the wormwood and mugwort plants in it. If you prefer vodka and lemonade, look for something sweeter, such as Akashi-tai’s ‘cider’, which isn’t cider as we know it over here, but has a sweet, fizzy taste.”
Beer drinkers
The second healthiest thing you can drink in a pub after water is nonalcoholic beer, Club Soda’s organisers say. It’s low in calories, has no added sugar and there are hundreds on the market with sales rising year-on-year as “normal” beer orders reduce; plus it looks exactly the same, so no one has to know you’re not drinking.
How about a glass of wood? Ogam, a wood water made in France from oak, chestnut and acacia, is new on the UK market this year and pours like beer into the glass, with a frothy head (it has a hint of marshmallow to the taste). It’s currently only available at Hakkasan’s restaurants, but Amazing Forest birch water is available online for about £3.
Prosecco-heads
“Sparkling juices are made using the same fermentation process as sparkling wine so make a great alternative to prosecco or champagne because they have the same bubbles,” says Neto.
Many wine producers also produce non-alcoholic bottles using the same grapes. For an alternative to prosecco, try Australian producer Patritti’s sparkling white muscatel, or its sparkling shiraz juice if you’re looking for something similar to a sparkling rosé (both are about £5 online). Serve from flutes as you would prosecco or champagne. Club Soda’s Mindful Drinking Festival takes place tomorrow at Spitalfields Market, London E1; joinclubsoda.co.uk