Dry January used to be something to endure rather than look forward to, but these days there are so many good alternatives to alcohol that it’s hard to claim you have nothing enjoyable to drink. And if there is one clear trend for 2024, it’s nolo, or no- and low-alcohol drinks.
According to a recent report by the hospitality research organisation KAM, it’s not just that people are giving up, they’re also cutting down – KAM found that 5.2 million fewer UK adults drank weekly in 2023 than in 2021, while John Lewis claims that 47% of UK adults are switching between alcohol and low- and alcohol-free drinks on the same occasion (a practice apparently known as zebra striping, should you wish to keep up with the jargon).
To get a measure of just how big this trend is, call in at the Club Soda tasting room in Covent Garden, central London – it’s a shop and bar where you can buy and try different alcohol-free products and cocktails: they stock around 400 at any one time. In a rather extraordinary move, the Wine Society is, as part of its “sustainability and social impact strategy”, offering to subsidise any of its members who want to take one of Club Soda’s £50 “mindful drinking” courses, one of which, How to Stop Drinking, hardly seems to be in the Society’s best interests. Though maybe it is: its sales of alcohol-free products have risen 33.3% in the past year. One of the products the Society is now stocking is a 1% dark lager from the Small Beer Co, which suggests a trend towards not just alcohol-free but also very low alcohol for those who don’t want to boycott the stuff altogether.
A fly in the ointment, however, is the cost, which many regard as unreasonably high given that alcohol-free products do not incur duty. The answer that’s always trotted out is that, without alcohol, it’s hard to create flavour and texture in a drink, but Roddy Nicoll of Spirits of Virtue, which recently collaborated with Asda on its new Extra Special range, is not convinced: “I’ve always thought a lot of the products are overpriced.” He puts that down to the need to make a margin on what are still small volumes and high levels of promotional spend, but at just £10, Spirits of Virtue’s own drinks, developed in collaboration with former supermarket wine buyer Angela Mount, are impressively good. In addition to the rhubarb drink in today’s pick, I rated the rum-like Dark Spiced, which, judging by the others I’ve tried, is possibly the hardest category to nail. That said, I won’t be giving up the occasional late-night dram just yet.
Five nolo drinks to help you through dry January
The Original Small Beer Dark Lager £3.25 (350ml) The Wine Society, £21.95 for six Good Sixty, 1%. Low rather than no, but a terrific ultra-light beer with rich, dark roasted coffee and chocolate flavours.
Asda Extra Special Non Alcoholic Rhubarb & Ginger Flavour Botanical Drink £10. Impressive rhubarb gin substitute, with a good natural rhubarb flavour. Dilute with ginger ale.
Jukes Sparkling Pinot Noir £9.95 (4 x 250ml cans) The Wine Society, £10.25 selected Waitrose Stores, and Waitrose Cellar. Not pinot as you normally think of it, but a really attractive, dry, sparkling rosé-style drink that would make a great aperitif.
Twisst Non-Alcoholic Irish Cream £2.19 (235ml) wisebartender.co.uk, £2.75 alcoholfreedrinks.co.uk, £17.40 for 8 cartons drydrinker.com. Really convincing Baileys substitute: ultra-creamy and not excessively sweet. (Well, it is a bit, but it’s wickedly good.)
Vera Aperitivo £24 from the Club Soda tasting room. Sophisticated, off-dry aperitivo with a touch of strawberry and orange. Drink with soda or tonic, or make a great, alcohol-free negroni with an AF gin. A good gift for someone who’s doing dry January.
For more by Fiona Beckett, go to fionabeckett.substack.com
This article was amended on 8 January 2024 to replace the main image; an earlier version showed non-alcoholic cocktails at Redemption, a group of London restaurant/bars that closed permanently following the Covid-19 pandemic.
