Our favourite alcohol-free tipples and where to find them
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Participating in Dry July? To give you some inspiration, Emma Macdonald has made some new discoveries on her alcohol-free journey and wants to share them with you in our guide to alcohol-free options in Canberra.
For a few years now, some of us at HerCanberra have been taking part in Dry July. Namely me and Sammy who both don’t drink, and sometimes Amanda–who drinks less than she used to.
As many of you may have already read, I stopped drinking back in October 2021 and outlined the reasons here. While I never put a date on how long I would stay off alcohol, it has now been nearly fours years and I would definitely call it a lifestyle change rather than a temporary break. Our founder Amanda still enjoys the occasional glass, but has significantly cut back on her consumption and says it’s been great for body and mind.
So in the spirit of collaborative journalism, and in celebration of all our local barmen and women who are diversifying their cocktail menus to offer low Alcohol by Volume and Alcohol-Free drinks, not to mention some inventive Australian producers also making taking a break from alcohol easier for all of us (including some stellar local ones) here’s a list of what we like:*
*This is by no means an exhaustive or even slightly scientific list! It is based entirely on personal taste and a good couple of months trying to sip as many non-alcoholic cocktails as we can. You are welcome. Hopefully you can enjoy a dry month yourself, or even just swap a couple of alcohol-free days into your existing routine.
Canberra cocktails with all the excitement but none of the headache
Award-winning barman Soumi Tannous from Bar Beruit is the man to see if you are gagging for a cocktail but trying to stay sober. His mastery of flavour profiles and botanicals means he produces amazing alcohol-free concoctions, including a brilliant espresso martini and a mango mojito worth getting excited over. He’s also up for a challenge, so if you tell him what you like, he can whip up the alcohol-free version or as close to as you can get.
Soumi Tannous at Bar Beirut. Photo credit: Zachary Griffith
Similarly, another internationally-recognised barman with a genius for making things taste divine with or without alcohol is Volstead Repeal’s Stu Inger. Just ask him to mix you something special, sans the alcohol and you may be surprised at how good it tastes. We love the Boston Tea Party, using a tea base, verjuice, strawberry and vanilla–think a soft, fruity martini.
Stu Inger’s Boston Tea Party at Volstead Repeal. Photo by Pew Pew Studio
Trust the QT Capitol Bar and Grill to deliver the best AF mojito in the city. Honestly, it’s hard to pinpoint where the alcohol has gone in this tangy take on the classic. It tastes disconcertingly close to the real thing.
Capitol Bar and Grill’s alcohol-free Mojito.
Monster unsurprisingly creates botanically complex cocktails that come out look picture-perfect and make the drinker feel part of the party.
Keeping spirits high at home
Tomas the fabulous barman at Shaw Estate introduced us to Crodino earlier in the year and it shot to the top of our list as favourite mocktail material. The only problem is it is so popular it is very difficult to procure! Developed in Italy in 1965, this is an Aperol spritz without the alcohol but with all the summery, orange bitter vibes. Truly the closest you can come and perfect with a slice of orange and an ice cube. You can find this for sale at DeVINO in Woden or online at Dan Murphy when they have stock! Worth the hassle to track it down (she writes, knowing full well that it’s only going to be harder to get her hands on it once the word is out!).
Crodino is so delicious, it’s hard to stop at one. But then again, why would you?
In terms of grabbing a can out of the fridge for a pre-dinner drink, we cannot go past Notting Hill Stroll’s G&T, premixed and ready to go. This doesn’t taste exactly like a gin and tonic, but it has a lovely citrus flavour and enough bitterness to make it interesting. We have it in a large glass with crushed ice and a slice of lemon.
Started by two Aussies based in the UK, Lyre’s is a popular pick for providing the sort of complex spirit experience with none of the alcohol. We love the summery vibes of the Italian Spritz, the London Pink Spirit and the Aperitif Rosso. They also have lots of pre-mixed can options available.
Fizz without the Fuzz
HerCanberra resident TikTok queen Georgie introduced us to the most fabulous AF champagne alternative last year and many, many bottles of the Beechworth Sparkling Honey Nectar drink have been consumed in our household as a consequence. This is my favourite “bubbly” for its fine bead and not overpowering fragrance of honey. Also it is not too sweet despite the honey base. Even committed alcohol drinkers (ie my husband) finds it pleasant to drink over lunch if it feels too early to crack out the real stuff. Serve extra cold! And at $51 for six bottles, this is a virtual steal (please tell us why so many non-alcoholic drinks are priced around the same mark as their alcoholic counterparts???)
Lyre’s is so good you may need to sip twice to make sure you haven’t picked up someone else’s Aperol Spritz.
Amanda is partial to Polka Sparkling and De Bertoli Fizzero which both come in Sparkling Rosé. Plus Minus Prosecco is also fun and great to mix with your faux spirits. Look, it’s not the same as uncorking a bottle of Veuve, but it is refreshingly indulgent in a temperate way, if you get our drift.
Wine without Whining (the next morning)
We have to be brutally honest from the outset and admit that not all wine or champagne substitutes work and it really has been a hit-and-miss affair as we have experimented our way through a number of brands. But just as alcohol tasting is subjective, so too is sampling non-alcoholic wine. Here’s what does pass the taste test for us.
Sometimes you want to sit down with a beautiful wine glass and sip on something cold and dry. Paradox is one of a number of worthy zero alcohol wines on the market.
Established in Canberra in 2018, we have relied on Altina’s pre-mixed cans over summer and the La Vie en Rose is a lovely floral experience either in its own or used as mixer with a splash of Lyre’s if you want to make a cocktail. We also enjoy the Sangria in the colder months which gives more of a complex red wine substitute feel if you like the idea of sipping something from a wine glass.
Edenvale has also proven to be a fairly reliable brand, and its Shiraz is a reasonable accompaniment to a cheese platter on a chilly night.
We have also enjoyed Paradox’s Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc despite those varieties not being our usual choice in an alcoholic version. Sadly, neither of us has come across a beautiful buttery chardonnay that doesn’t contain alcohol and which would really be the holy grail. But we will keep searching.
Finally, while none of us at HerCanberra are too into beer, Heaps Normal really does have a good reputation for providing that refreshing beer experience with none of the after-effects, and Capital Brewing has just released its first full flavoured non-alcoholic beer: ALC-LESS.
Meanwhile, Out Here Beer, from the Southern Highlands, gets the thumbs up from resident beer drinkers in our household for being the most authentic tasting beer without the grog in it!
Keen (as AF) to go dry?
Hopefully some of the above provides inspiration for you to consider a long or short break from alcohol. No judgement either way, but it has been really heartening to see some of our top restaurants embrace zero alcohol cocktail lists as a matter of course while more grog shops are opting to provide non-alcoholic wines, spirits and beers, among their shelves.
If this article raises any issues for you, you can contact the National Alcohol and Other Drugs Hotline, or find free support online, such as at Hello Sunday Morning and counselling online, or join support groups in your area, such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
