5 Best Non-Alcoholic Gins, According to a Spirits Expert
Including the best for a martini and gin & tonic!
ahirao_photo/Getty Images
Our Top Non-Alcoholic Gin Picks
- Best Overall: Amass Riverine
- Best for Gin and Tonic: DHOS Gin-Free
- Best for Gin Fizz: Tenneyson Black Ginger
- Best for Martini: Monday Gin
- Best for French 75: Bax Botanics Sea Buckthorn
How Is Non-Alcoholic Gin Made?
When the craft beverage industry started getting serious about non-alcoholic drinks in the mid 2010s, some of the first products to come on the market resembled gin. And it’s for good reason: most of the flavor of any given gin is not provided by alcohol itself but instead from the process of infusing the liquid with various strongly flavored botanicals like juniper, cardamom and citrus — to name a few. To replicate the experience of drinking gin in a non-alcoholic format, a producer needs to find a way to incorporate the same botanical profile in a base of something besides alcohol, which, in the case of non-alcoholic spirits, is usually water. Some producers distill botanicals in the same equipment used to make alcoholic spirits while others use a base of de-alcoholized spirits. However, the botanical presence without alcohol’s bite will feel a bit underwhelming due to the “heat” that alcohol provides, so many producers use chili in some form to give it that kick.
How to Drink Non-Alcoholic Gin
There is also another reason why gin substitutes are so common in non-alcoholic spirits, they almost always are enjoyed mixed. If you love drinking straight gin, do you — but the vast majority of people usually throw in at least a bit of tonic water to their gin before enjoying it. Most non-alcoholic spirits are designed to really shine when mixed into a cocktail, and some producers go so far as to actively discourage people from drinking it straight. Cocktail making is a great showcase for a spirit by highlighting the favorable elements of any given ingredient while smoothing out possible shortcomings, and gin is one of the most widely mixed spirits in the world, so it is entirely unsurprising that gin is the largest category within non-alcoholic spirits right now.
So if you’re curious about the world of non-alcoholic spirits for whatever reason: dry January (dry life), culture, religion, health or if you’re simply just looking to expand your horizons, these picks are a great place to start your voyage.
While the team at AMASS goes to great lengths to underscore that it is *not* a gin replacement, the botanical profile, which includes juniper, mint, coriander, and orris (i.e. iris flower root) are a pretty close proxy to your traditional London Dry gins. I find this works in all manner of cocktails (even try subbing this for vermouth in your next low-ABV Martini) and I’ve even found myself sipping this on the rocks on more than one occasion.
As a judge for the L.A. Spirits Awards, I taste dozens of spirits each year, and 2022 was the year we had a strong showing from the non-alcoholic spirits category. This bottle took home a gold medal for its bright citrus character, supported by steam-distilled juniper oil and other botanicals like pine and mint. A perfect match for your favorite tonic water in a zero-proof G&T.
This one is a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. Nowhere in their marketing does Tenneyson claim that their Black Ginger is a gin replacement, but when I want to put together a non-alcoholic gin fizz, this is a go-to bottle. As the name implies, Black Ginger delivers a robust hit of ginger along with more unconventional botanicals like dandelion root, lemon balm and gentian. Beyond mixing, this bottle is great as a neat pour — a perfect non-alc night cap.
This UK-based distilled, non-alcoholic spirit is not quite a dead ringer for gin but works wonderfully in drinks that call for gin’s bright, citrussy profile. It’s flavored with sea buckthorn berries to give the liquid a bright, tart, fruity and gently sweet profile, along with rosemary, thyme and citrus. I find it’s a great base spirit for a no- or low-alcohol French 75, the classic concoction of gin, lemon and sparkling wine.
John deBary is the author of Drink What You Want: The Subjective Guide to Making Objectively Delicious Cocktails; CEO and Founder of Proteau, a zero-proof drinks company; and is also the Co-Founder and Board President of Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation.
Related Content:
.jpg.rend.hgtvcom.231.174.suffix/1681446888993.jpeg "1349414215")
