8 non-alcoholic drinks for any occasion

Around 20% of the UK population don’t drink alcohol – and this figure is on the increase, especially among the young.¹ If non-alcoholic drinks are here to stay, then it’s time you familiarised yourself with what’s out there.

Just because you’re not drinking, that doesn’t mean you need to choose a childish fizzy pop, or worse – bow out of grown-up gatherings. Whether you’re out and about, or fancy an alcohol free tipple at home, our list should give you some ideas.

Perhaps you don’t fancy a drink that imitates alcohol – but want something a little more interesting than fruit juice or pop. That’s where kombucha comes in.

Kombucha is a sweet, fermented tea drink with its origins in China.⁴ Kombucha contains B vitamins, beneficial probiotic bacteria and antioxidants.⁵

Non-alcoholic cocktails are fun to make at home – they photograph well too if you’re setting a table for a special occasion. A virgin version of the classic mojito is easy to whip up.

You don’t need us to tell you how damaging drinking too much alcohol can be to the body. After all, alcohol is a toxin, in the form of ethanol.

Alcohol passes easily through cell membranes and is metabolised by all tissues in the body.⁶ This means that there isn’t anywhere in your body which isn’t negatively affected by alcohol consumption – this includes the liver, heart, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract and even your skin.

Alcohol is a leading risk factor in many different diseases – and giving it up completely will lower your chance of dying from a disease such as cancer.⁷ An area of research which has attracted attention in recent years is the psychological toll that alcohol takes on people. Heavy alcohol use directly affects brain function and can be a contributing factor in the development of many common psychological problems.⁸

Any bar that serves cocktails can make virgin cocktails. The best cocktails to order sans booze are those which don’t contain more than two types of alcohol to begin with.

For example, a negroni is out as the only liquid it contains are gin, vermouth and Campari – ask for a virgin version and you might get served an empty glass! More and more establishments are catering to non-drinkers, so are likely to offer alcohol free beer or even alcohol free wine or non alcoholic champagne.

According to the UK government Low Alcohol Descriptors Guidance 201818:

So, if so-called alcohol free beverages can still contain traces of alcohol – will they still make you drunk?

The scientific answer is no – a 2012 German study measured the maximum blood alcohol concentration of 67 people after consuming of 1.5 litres non-alcoholic beer in an hour.

Their blood alcohol level was still far below what would be considered drunk, with a maximum of 0.0056‰.¹⁹ To put this into perspective, the alcohol limit for drivers in UK countries ranged from 0.05% to 0.08%, far higher than could be achieved even with excessive drinking of non-alcoholic beer.²⁰