I completely understand why you might be skeptical about nonalcoholic drinks: It’s hard to imagine that wine, spirits and cocktails actually taste good once you remove one of their main components. But as Dry January has expanded into people adopting sober curious lifestyles year-round, demand for these beverages has skyrocketed — and brands are responding. They’re perfecting their recipes and refining their production techniques to make nonalcoholic drinks that taste so similar to the real thing, you might have to check the label after taking your first sip.
In this episode of For What It’s Worth, NBC Select’s live podcast, NBC Select editorial director Lauren Swanson and I are talking about nonalcoholic drinks during Dry January and beyond. We’re breaking down the main trends we’re seeing across the industry, and sharing the zero-proof wines, spirits and canned mocktails we’re currently obsessing over.
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LAUREN: All right. Welcome back.
ZOE: Welcome back. We’re talking about one of my favorite topics ever today: nonalcoholic beverages.
LAUREN: Yes.
ZOE: I love it. I’m so excited about this. And I know that you also have some favorites.
LAUREN: I do have favorites. I was literally just looking at my purchase history.
ZOE: Me too. I was literally like, What did I order last? And where did I buy it from? And can I buy more right now? I love it.
LAUREN: I love the options out there. I feel like the whole industry has changed in the past couple of years.
ZOE: Dramatically. It’s so cool.
LAUREN: You’ve done a lot of research on nonalcoholic alternatives, like spirits and wines. Have you done beers? You’ve done canned mocktails.
ZOE: Mocktails. Not beers yet, but that’s the next one for sure.
LAUREN: Tell me what you’ve uncovered in your research.
ZOE: Well, one of the coolest things is, I talked to a lot of people who own manufacturing companies and retailers that sell a bunch of different brands under them, and all of them have said that almost 90% of their customers drink. It’s so cool because it’s showing that, yes, there are people who want to completely adopt Dry January every month of the year. But then there’s these groups of people who are sober curious, and so they’re kind of questioning their relationship with alcohol. They’re trying to think of when they want to intentionally drink versus when they intentionally don’t want to drink. And they’re adopting these alternatives just as much as people who are living completely sober lifestyles. It’s so cool, and it’s very encouraging because it’s causing these brands to produce more new stuff and get better at producing what they’re already making. They’re expanding to menus, restaurants, and national chains. It’s so cool to watch what’s happening right now.
LAUREN: Have they shared any of the demographic information with you? Is it younger generations? Is it older generations experimenting? Who’s really driving the boom?
ZOE: Mainly younger generations. A lot of what they’re saying is that their main customer base is younger generations, but often when they have someone in their family who tries it and is in one of those older generations, then everyone starts to jump on the bandwagon. They’re just like, Oh, have you tried this? This is really great. And then I don’t feel bad the next day. So it’s a ripple effect, which is really, really fun, too. I love it.
LAUREN: That’s so fascinating. I was recently talking with my uncle, I think he’s 70, and he was telling me he has this ritual where he goes out quite frequently. He’s a single man, but he goes out to bars with his friends, and he’ll watch games, and he’ll just hang out. All of his high school buddies still hang out. And so they’ll go out, and he told me that he almost always will now do a nonalcoholic beer because he takes care of my grandma every once in a while. And so he likes to be on call in case he needs to go and take care of my grandma. But he still wants to participate in the socialization, and a lot of the nonalcoholic alternatives that are out there taste like alcohol. I had a nonalcoholic Stella and I loved it. It still has that taste, and you still feel like you are partaking, but you don’t physically feel the effects. And it’s nice. You’re not missing out, so I love that part of it.
ZOE: That’s so big, the socialization aspect of it. I’ve talked to a couple sober coaches. They’re people who have either programs online or programs in-person, and they coach people in adopting a sober lifestyle, either completely or part time, let’s say. And something they always say is that the number one thing people come to them and are worried about is being singled out in social situations. It’s like when the waiter comes around and you’re at a nice restaurant, and everyone’s ordering wine, and then you’re like, Can I have water? Or you’re all at the bar and everyone’s ordering together, and everyone gets a cocktail, and you’re like, Can I have a Diet Coke? And I think there’s a lot of that societal pressure on people, and that’s often what puts them in an uncomfortable position. But now, because there are so many alternatives, and they’re getting there with being widely available, people are okay with opting out of having alcohol. And oftentimes one person says, Oh, I’m going to have a mocktail, and then someone else says it, too.
LAUREN: Yes. They’re like, Oh, that sounds good.
ZOE: Exactly. They kind of start the trend. And they start to feel so comfortable in these social situations because they have something that’s very close to what that alcoholic drink was going to offer them, either what they’re drinking, the taste of it or just the social aspect of it, but it’s not exact, and they feel better about it. I think that is a really interesting psychological part of this whole thing, the social aspect of it. It’s fascinating to me.
LAUREN: Yes, I love it.
ZOE: So one of the things all these experts have talked to me about is that the number one roadblock they’re facing is distribution and availability. People are constantly like, I just can’t get my hands on it. I want to try it. I want to have it at home. And the more and more that people are adopting these beverages, they express a desire for them, the more that these brands are trying to get into big box retailers, either online, in-person, or both, and get into grocery stores. That’s a really big one. I’m starting to see them pop up in drug stores, which I think is so cool.
LAUREN: Really?
ZOE: Yes, where you get your soda. They’ll have a Ritual case. I think that’s the coolest thing.
LAUREN: Oh, I love that.
ZOE: They’re really trying to expand beyond direct-to-consumer and beyond just one brand’s website offering all of this. And sometimes you just want to try it. You want one single bottle or one single can. You don’t want a 12-pack. There’s a lot of work to be done on the distribution side, but as we perfect the formula of what it tastes like, smells like, how it’s packaged, and there’s the desire for it on the consumer level, we’re going to just see this continuing to expand.
LAUREN: I love that in recent years, it has become, especially on the mocktail side of it, more creative and not just juice. That makes a big difference, especially as we’re talking about socialization, and not feeling like you’re missing out, and still feeling like you’re part of whatever activity is happening. Being able to order something that’s creative and interesting and cool, and it’s not just a mix of three different kinds of juices. And when you have that nonalcoholic spirit that you can throw into that mix, it also adds a different flavor complexity, which I think is really interesting.
ZOE: I think that people were so turned off by nonalcoholic beverages for so long because they thought it was just sugar and juice. It’s not juice anymore. It’s so formulaic and detail-oriented.
LAUREN: So you just tried a bunch of canned mocktails. Talk about that process.
ZOE: Yes, we just did a bunch of canned mocktail tasting, and we’ve also done some nonalcoholic spirit and some nonalcoholic wine tasting. And every time we do it, someone is like, Are you sure this is nonalcoholic? That’s how good they can be. I think that’s the coolest thing ever.
ZOE: So there’s two sides to it. There’s some nonalcoholic beverages that try to be very, very close to the original thing. Especially for wine and spirits, there’s a lot of them that are de-alcoholized.
LAUREN: Tell me the difference. That’s really interesting.
ZOE: It starts as wine, or whisky, or whatever…
LAUREN: With the alcohol?
ZOE: Yes, with the alcohol. And then it goes through a process where the producer takes the alcohol out. And that does remove some of the flavor, but not so much that you can’t distinguish it anymore. So a rosé is still going to have the tasting notes of a rosé, but it’s not going to be as intense, and that’s why they’ll add maybe some more aromatics or some other botanicals, or whatever it is. But it really does stem from the real thing. And then there’s other ones that are completely made up. They are a little bit more juice-based, some of them. You can’t help it, especially if it’s a mocktail or a wine. Sometimes you’ve got to add little juice, and that just is what it is. But it’s not just juice. They add all of these different flavor profiles, and they’re mixing spices, and somehow it ends up tasting weirdly similar to white wine, or to tequila or whatever it is. So that’s the difference on the wine and the spirit side, which I think is so cool. So if you want to try something, I would say go look at those dealcoholized versions. That’s what it usually says on the label.
LAUREN: First?
ZOE: Yes. And don’t set your expectations too high because you need to remember that it is still different. It’s the same, but different. So it’ll be a little different, and your tastebuds have to adjust, but you’ll recognize the flavor, and that eases people in a little bit. Then you can start trying those made up, creative, unique ones. And those are definitely going to be maybe something you’ve never tasted before, maybe something that’s very foreign to you or very new to you, but something you might just fall in love with. And you might want it more than the nonalcoholic white wine or whatever it is. So I think that’s really cool.
ZOE: With the mocktails, it’s a little bit different. Some of them will use one of those de-alcoholized spirits in it. But a lot of the time, they’re blending ingredients and they’re getting something as close as it possibly can be to the original thing. We tried a couple whiskey ginger, margarita mixes and mojitos.
LAUREN: Ones that have classic tastes, recognizable tastes.
ZOE: Yes, you know immediately what it is. And they did not have the de-alcoholized spirit in it, yet, somehow, it still tasted so similar that we all looked at each other and we were like, I think we should check the website because this can’t be. So they’re out there. And a lot of this is trial-and-error, which I’m sure you’ve experienced, too.
LAUREN: Well, I was going to say, I have a couple of favorites and I’ve had many of those similar experiences where I’m sniffing it, being like, Am I sure? I’m going to have to check the website. I love sours, so I have a six pack of Go Brewing’s sours that are nonalcoholic, and every single time I have one of them, I check the sugar content. I’m like, Why am I drinking this much sugar? Because I feel like it has a lot of sugar, but every time I check it, it’s three grams of sugar. And I’m like, Oh, this isn’t that bad. And then I check and I’m like, Am I sure that this doesn’t have alcohol in it? Every single time I crack it open.
ZOE: It’s wild.
LAUREN: Even my husband is into them now. To him, it’s like juice a little bit, but I love it because I love that flavor profile of the sour. So I have a lot of experiences with that. Or, I was out at a bachelorette party this weekend, and I had nonalcoholic drinks the entire time. There were several times where we all ordered the same cocktail, but I got the mocktail version, and I had to sniff it a million times and be like, Am I sure? Because they use nonalcoholic spirits.
ZOE: Yes, I’ve had to ask waiters. It’s crazy what you can do. I love that. I do think with the nonalcoholic space in general, mocktails are usually the easiest way in for two reasons. A, because it’s just so easy to pour or to sip straight out of a can. That is often why experts say if you’re going to try something and you’re not sure if you like it, or you don’t have a ton of experience with it, try the canned mocktails first. They come in that single-serve container, rather than a wine or a spirit, which, once you crack it open, you might love it, or you might hate it and then it goes to waste. That sucks. The other reason why is because canned mocktails are often a lower cost for one can versus an entire bottle of wine. So if you’re trying it, and you don’t know if you like it and you don’t want to spend a ton of money on it, that’s where you can have that moment of experimentation, which I think is really cool. And then once you’re understanding what the vibe is, you’re understanding your taste profile and what you should expect, then you can expand your horizons into the wine and the spirits. But all the experts I’ve talked to say the most opportunities are in beer.
LAUREN: Really?
ZOE: Isn’t that interesting?
LAUREN: Yes.
ZOE: They say it’s because it’s the easiest flavor to replicate. Because when you take a beer and then you de-alcoholize it, you really can’t tell.
LAUREN: Because it still has that barley and those hops and stuff?
ZOE: Yes, because it still has all the flavor notes that hit you first. I think that’s really, really cool. And then the other thing — and this goes for wine, too, because there’s plenty of bubbly wines out there, and tons of the canned mocktails we tested were bubbly — oftentimes when they have some sort of bubbliness to it, it actually enhances the flavor and makes it more similar to the real thing because bubbles carry flavor notes.
LAUREN: Oh, interesting.
ZOE: There’s a lot of development with that in mind. How do we get this flavor profile across in the easiest, least expensive way to consumers? And a lot of them are bubbly.
LAUREN: That’s really interesting. What are your favorite brands?
ZOE: Okay, I wrote them down. I’m so excited.
LAUREN: Wait, let’s see if there’s any similarities. I’m sure that there is actually some overlap between at least the brands, but maybe not the specific thing.
ZOE: All right, so my favorite nonalcoholic wine of late is Oddbird.
LAUREN: Yes, it’s on my list. The sparkling rosè.
ZOE: It is delectable. I love it. I serve it at all of my watch parties with my friends for TV award shows. I just have to have it in my apartment at all times.
LAUREN: Which one?
ZOE: I do the rosè, and I also really, really like the red, which I’m not normally someone who would gravitate toward nonalcoholic red. I typically like a nonalcoholic rosè or white. But this one, I don’t know what it is, it’s just so good.
LAUREN: I’ve tried a lot of nonalcoholic reds. It’s polarizing for me and my husband. There’s one where we’d be like, This one sucks. Then we’d have another and we’re like, This is amazing. We literally had a bottle of it and watched the Addams Family the other night.
ZOE: Best night ever. Oddbird is the bomb, and they’re newer to the U.S.
LAUREN: Where is it from?
ZOE: I love Oddbird. It’s from Sweden. I had seen it on TikTok so many times, and I was so upset that I couldn’t get it myself. And then they launched in the U.S. and I went to their welcome party downtown, and we got to try every flavor, every variety.
LAUREN: Are they de-alcoholized?
ZOE: I’m pretty sure they are de-alcoholized, which would make sense to me because of how fantastic their flavor profiles are.
LAUREN: What else do you have on your list?
ZOE: My other favorite nonalcoholic wine, and this is not a de-alcoholized one, this is totally from scratch, is Proxies. LAUREN: I haven’t tried that one.
ZOE: Proxies is phenomenal, and Proxies is one of the OGs. The wines have a unique flavor profile. They’re like, We’re not going to try to replicate a rosè. We’re really trying to build something from the ground up. Is it juicy? Yes, it is a little bit juicy and fruity, but there are plenty of them that are a little more herbal, a little more bitter, and I don’t feel like I’m drinking juice. I really evaluate any nonalcoholic beverage by whether I can sip it. If I’m feeling like I’m going to chug this, that’s not good to me. I want the slow sip. The slow burn. I love that. This is my favorite one that’s a little fruity, but also spicy, and it has some bitters in it. It’s so good. You have to try it. I love it.
LAUREN: I want to try that one. On my list for nonalcoholic wines, I have Leitz’s 0.5 nonalcoholic Pinot Noir.
ZOE: I’ve never tried that.
LAUREN: Because I love red wine. I think that was one that we liked. I think that was actually the one that we had for our Adams Family night.
ZOE: I love it.
LAUREN: I also talked about the Go Brewing New School Sour Berry nonalcoholic beer. I love it. I think they’re a brewing company that doesn’t specialize in nonalcoholic.
ZOE: We’re seeing that. That’s a huge trend.
LAUREN: They have this as an option, and I think that they do a great job with it. I want 12 more flavors.
ZOE: That’s a huge trend we’re seeing. Originally, a lot of the brands that were coming out with nonalcoholic drinks were their own institutions. They were bootstrapping, they were getting investors and funders, and they were advertising on the Internet, and they were totally building themselves from the ground up. Now, those have absolutely exploded and are taking up shelf space in grocery stores, and in pharmacies, and in gourmet food stores and online. Legacy alcohol companies are now like, Hold on, we have some competition, and we need to catch up.
LAUREN: Well, they’re recognizing a huge opportunity in the market.
ZOE: Huge. So they are starting to come out with their own nonalcoholic versions. I think we’re going to start seeing that much more in the next year or two, because they really, really do want to compete in this whole new space. And they totally have an ability to. If you can offer someone a very similar flavor profile that they’ve known and loved for years, but in a nonalcoholic version, they can buy both and have one on the weekdays and one on the weekends.
LAUREN: I mean, I feel like that’s what my uncle does. He’s a big Heineken fan, and he does the nonalcoholic Heineken and it tastes the same.
ZOE: Exactly. I think that’s a huge opportunity for sure. I love that. What else do you love for nonalcoholic spirits?
LAUREN: I have a list. I love Seedlip.
ZOE: Me too, that was mine. Obsessed.
LAUREN: All I wanted was a Bloody Mary or a dirty martini, and so I got Seedlip to make it. And I love it. When you go to a restaurant, Seedlip tends to be on the menu for mocktails.
ZOE: So often.
LAUREN: Mocktails that are not just a combination of juice, mocktails that actually have a nonalcoholic spirit in there, I’ve noticed it tends to be Seedlip.
ZOE: It’s almost always Seedlip. I’ve seen that too. They were one of the first, I think, to really break into the bar scene. They did such a great job getting into bars across the country. They’re doing it more and more. I think it’s the coolest thing.
LAUREN: And they’re not de-alcoholized. It’s totally different, totally new. It’s aromatics and stuff.
ZOE: It’s just so good, and it adds a complexity to these, like you said, mainly, usually, juices, and now it’s so interesting. I love drinking Seedlip. I think it’s one of my favorites. Do you ever have Ritual?
LAUREN: I haven’t tried Ritual.
ZOE: I like Ritual.
LAUREN: Aren’t they huge?
ZOE: Huge. I really like Ritual, especially their darker spirits. Those are harder to replicate, I think, than lighter spirits.
LAUREN: They have whiskey?
ZOE: Yes, a rum, a whiskey. They’re great. I always think having one of those at home is so good because you always have someone who wants that versus the nonalcoholic tequila or whatever it is. It is fantastic. And the other thing that I love about these is that they’re gorgeous. Whether they’re on your bar cart or in your fridge, they have beautiful packaging. And then my favorite nonalcoholic mocktails are from Free AF, which is also a brand that originated somewhere in Europe and now is in the U.S. Every single type of canned mocktail from this brand that we tried, and we tried probably seven or eight, we had to look at every single label to make sure there wasn’t alcohol. We were stunned. My favorites are the whiskey ginger and the margaritas. They have a chili Margarita.
LAUREN: Oh, I have to try that.
ZOE: Oh, my gosh, you’re going to love it.
LAUREN: If you can’t tell by literally everything I’ve said, I don’t like sweet flavors and I don’t like juice. I love a little spice. I love a little sour. I love a little brine. That’s what I need out of my mocktail.
ZOE: They have a spicy margarita and they also have a mango margarita that’s not sweet.
LAUREN: It’s tart?
ZOE: It’s a little tart, and it has a spice in it. There’s no chili in it, but there’s something. Oh, my God, it’s addicting. So I always have those in my fridge. I also love Naked Life. I’m sorry, Naked Life is one that originated overseas. They’re brand new. For that one, I love the mojito. It is so good. When you sip it, you’re suddenly like, Wait, did I pick up the right thing? You really have to stop yourself and think about it for a minute. I am so impressed by all of them. And the other really impressive thing about these is that they’re not heavy. They’re really light, and they’re so crisp and refreshing. And we tried a bunch of theirs, too. Definitely the two favorites from our whole team were the gin and tonic and the mojito. Those were our favorite from Naked Life. We loved them. They were so delicious. And I love when I give them to people who are like, I’m not going to like this. What’s the point?
LAUREN: And then they’re like, This is actually great.
ZOE: Exactly. They’re like, I shouldn’t have said that because I’m buying this. I think it’s so fun, and we’re seeing it more and more on shelves. It’s so present at big gatherings of friends and family. People are starting to be really, really conscious to not just offer soda, to have something else that’s fun and funky.
LAUREN: For sure.
ZOE: It’s also an awesome host gift. If the host is like, Bring something, a nice nonalcoholic wine is a great choice. I love it. I think we’re going to see so many more things in this area start to pop up, and I really feel like it’s just going to be this snowball effect. I’m really excited about it.
LAUREN: I love it, too.
ZOE: I also love trying them.
LAUREN: I love being able to have a day out with friends and then still feel good at the end of the night. You’re not missing out on that community or that socialization that maybe you would have in the past had drinking been part of it. You’re not missing out on that. And you still get to do that. You still get to go home and be like, I have the wherewithal to take all my makeup off, do a full nighttime routine and wake up wired tomorrow. It feels amazing.
ZOE: Do you want to know my favorite phrase in the nonalcoholic space?
LAUREN: Yes, I do.
ZOE: Zebra striping. Have you heard that?
LAUREN: What’s that? Please tell me.
ZOE: I love this phrase. Zebra striping is the phrase that people have adopted when they go out, or they’re indoors, they’re in their home, and they alternate one alcoholic drink for a nonalcoholic drink. So if you normally were to order four drinks in a night, you actually only have two alcoholic drinks and two nonalcoholic drinks. You’re still getting a little bit of both, but less alcohol than you would. I think that’s the most genius phrase ever. I love it. Someone taught it to me and I was like, How easy is that to understand and to teach people? I think it’s so cool.
LAUREN: It’s great to have a healthy relationship with it and be like, I’m still getting all of the pieces and parts that I want out of this. That’s great.
ZOE: I thought that was the best phrase ever. And I just love being like, I’m zebra striping.
LAUREN: I’m zebra striping tonight.
ZOE: How fun is that?
LAUREN: What is that? Figure it out.
ZOE: Google it. I love it. I’m obsessed. So that’s my favorite phrase.
LAUREN: All right — final thoughts?
ZOE: Try it. If you haven’t tried it, just get something.
LAUREN: Give it a chance.
ZOE: Get anything that looks appealing.
LAUREN: Do a small bottle or can. Try it out. Give it a chance. And let us know.
ZOE: Yes, we really do want to hear your thoughts.
LAUREN: All right — bye.
ZOE: Bye.
I’m a reporter at NBC Select and I co-host our live podcast, For What It’s Worth, with editorial director Lauren Swanson. In this article, I summarize Episode 10: Nonalcoholic Options for the Sober Curious. I included a summary of the episode, a transcript, products we recommend during the podcast and related articles.
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