Until now, I hadn't tasted any sort of alcohol-free beer, wine, cider or gin.
Every January when people try to incorporate “dry Jan” into their lives for various reasons, I have often wondered what they choose to drink as an alternative.
Personally, it’s something I’ve never really thought about because I’m not a huge drinker, so I’m fortunate I’ve never felt the need to cut down.
However, this year, I wanted to see what kind of 0% alcohol drinks exist as I see more and more being advertised on TV and social media.
Do they taste like the real thing, all without the dreaded side effects of a hangover and so much more to our vital organs? This is what I found out.
Which drink is considered to be alcohol-free?
Disaronno is my ultimate “naughty beverage”, however, I’m yet to come across an alcohol-free version.
But other than that, I like to drink pretty much anything, from red wine to white, passion fruit martini to Long Island iced tea, Desperados to Rekorderlig and more (this doesn’t paint a healthy picture for me).
So I thought it was only fair to choose a wide selection of no-real-booze drinks to see if there could be a new go-to for whatever I fancy.
I decided to try the alcohol-free alternatives to Gordon’s gin and tonic (pack of four cans), Kopperberg, Kylie Minogue’s rosé wine, Corona Extra and Freixenet.
All of the above came to just under £20 at Tesco as were in the famous Clubcard deal, which I thought was pretty impressive as ideally, this would probably last me around a month.
Gordon's Alcohol-Free Spirit & Tonic with Lime Can (pack of 4) - £4.50 Tesco Clubcard
This was the first one I tried and I was surprised at how much it tasted like the real thing.
It certainly had hints of botanicals including notes of juniper berries, mixed with lime and tonic (which was very present).
Overall, keeping it chilled in the fridge was a great idea as this made it more refreshing and fizzy.
If you like a “boujee” flavoured fizzy water, this could be for you.
Kopparberg Alcohol-Free Pear Cider (500ml) - £1.25 Tesco Clubcard
Usually, I wouldn’t say I like pear cider but this was the only alcohol-free one I could get hold of when doing my weekly shop.
However, I was shocked at how much I liked this, it tastes like a very sweet pear fizzy drink, just as strong as the likes of Fanta or 7-UP, and a lot more than just a fizzy flavoured water.
@georgescarmedia “ I’ve only had two beers I’ll be fine “ But what is actually allowed? Personally we would always recommend to not drive at all after consuming any alcohol, however there is a rule for a reason! But what are the specific ins and outs? #drinkdriving #drinking #alcohol #roadsafety #police #carscene #driving #overthelimit #drunk #breathalyzer #pulledover #undertheinfluence ♬ original sound - GCM
This is something I’m going to make sure I have in for the late warm summer nights when I'm sitting outside and I don’t want to drink.
Corona Cero Alcohol-Free Beer (pack of four) - £4 Tesco Clubcard
Out of all the drinks I tried, this was the one that tasted the most like its alcoholic version, and the colour and fizz was spot on.
The only thing I noticed it didn’t have compared to the original Corona Extra was the heavy kind of feeling you get when drinking beer (which I think is usually a downside, so this was a pleasant surprise).
Kylie Minogue Alcohol-Free Sparkling Rose (75cl) - £4.50 Tesco Clubcard
This was the worst-tasting drink for me and I was gutted because the alcoholic version of Kylie Minogue’s rosé wine has been raved about by friends, so I was hopeful this would be just as good.
Although it had a good fizz, it tasted like sparkling water with a subtle hint of raspberry – it didn’t remind me of any rosé wine I had tried in the past.
Five Tips for Overcoming Blue Monday
Freixenet 0.0% Alcohol-Free Sparkling (75cl) - £4.75
Similar to Corona in terms of tasting just like its alcohol version, this also hit the spot and was very similar to its original, especially comparing it to the disappointment of the Kylie Minogue rosé.
It still had the crisp and fermented grape elements you can expect from a white wine, along with balanced fruitiness and fizz.
Recommended reading:
- How to complete Dry January in 2024 (even if you've tried and failed before)
- Which supermarket sells the best £5 bottle of red wine? I happily found out
When it comes to deciding whether or not I would swap out any of my usual beer, cider, gin or wine alternatives, I don’t think I’ll be doing so in a rush.
Whilst some were packed with flavour, others lacked it and, in all honesty, I don’t really understand the point of it.
For me, the flavour of drinking alcohol isn’t the number one reason why I drink it, I suppose it’s more for the effect.
But it was nice to drink alcohol-inspired drinks without the heaviness or acidic elements for the first time.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here