Dry January doesn’t have to be a sobering prospect

GOODBYE HANGOVERS From kombucha to alt-gin, Adrian TierneyJones recommends the best new booze-free brews

G&T? Glass of claret? Pint of beer? If you’re taking part in Dry January, as three million did last year, your answer will be no. However, times are changing – you can still clink the ice in the glass or pour yourself an ale. As a nation we are consuming fewer alcoholic drinks, especially within the 16-24 age group, but the range of low (0.5% or under) and no-alcohol beverages is growing in quality and popularity. So whether out with friends or chatting at the dinner table, the old sober choice of pints of coke hosed into a glass or a sad-looking orange juice has been replaced by an elegant and flavoursome array of potations such as spritzy kombucha, fragrant alt-gin or a full-bodied non-alcoholic beer. Here are 10 drinks to try in Dry January.

CEDER’S ALT-GIN

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LEITZ EINS ZWEI ZERO ALCOHOL-FREE RIESLING

Even though the alcohol has been removed (or de-alcoholised as the jargon in the wine trade has it), a long goldenhued glass of this riesling still retains that bewitching bouquet of fresh and fruity notes of citrus and grape associated with the wine. Produced in the grapegrowing area of Rüdesheim, this is an ideal aperitif to offer to drivers or a wellmatched companion to seafood or even a spicy Thai dish.

LUCKY SAINT UNFILTERED LAGER

The company that developed this concept is based in London, but it turned to an unnamed brewery in Bavaria for this crisp, citrusy and dry lager. It is also unfiltered, so slightly hazy in the glass, while the use of

Sunday 6 January 2019

Sunday 6 January 2019