Dry Always - Liquors
Sharing my favorite liquor alternatives
(Thanks for your patience with me as I take a few extra days to get this post up. I was distracted with preparations for a trip and actually being on that trip and wanting to do just about anything that wasn’t using my laptop.)
I’m finally here to share my favorite non-alcoholic alternatives to standard liquors. You’ll notice a huge hole in my lists: vodka. Thing is, why would we want an alternative given the ideal vodka is tasteless and colorless? You’re not going to be able to easily replicate the “burn” of vodka so no one’s really tried to do so.
Please keep in mind that alcoholic alternatives don’t have alcohol. (Well, duh, Angela!) Alcohol, in addition to the effects we all know of, also has two properties you’ll not have when it’s removed from your drinks: 1) they’ll freeze SOLID, and 2) they won’t last very long. Most N/A liquors only last 3 months after they’ve been opened and are highly recommended to be kept in the fridge, never the freezer.
One-for-One Replacements
When people first switch to non-alcoholic drinks, they often are looking for direct replacements of their favorite liquors. While the big brands are slowly creating N/A replacements, they are pretty few and far between. Thankfully, several companies make them.
Here’s my favorites:
Tequila: Ritual Agave Spirit Alternative
White rum: Lyre’s White Can Spirit
Dark/spiced rum: Caleno Dark and Spicy
Bourbon/whiskey: Lyre’s American Malt and Spiritless Kentucky 74
Orange liquor: Dhos Orange
I haven’t listed a few things (apertif for a spritz, gin, coffee liquor) as I just don’t care for any version of those but, don’t worry, mocktails subreddit has some thoughts, I’m sure.
Alternatives and Mixers
There are also a number of liquor-like beverages and mixers that are great for making mocktails. If you’re setting up a mocktail bar, you’ll want to have these on hand.
Bitters: Most bitters contain a small amount of alcohol but All the Bitter sells a variety of bitters which contain none at all but still have great flavor.
Seedlip: I don’t even know how to describe these, as they’re not a direct replacement for anything nor are they a mixer, really. I love the Grove and Spice flavors the best.
Grenadine: Yes, your local grocery store will sell Rose’s for $5 but there are many fancy alternatives. Look for either grenadine or pomegranate syrup (NOT pomegranate molasses which is pomegranate juice boiled and thickened so has no additional sugars).
Verjus: You may see this listed as non-alcoholic wine but it’s actually the grape juice used to make wine BEFORE it’s been fermented (rather than made into wine then has the alcohol removed).