The appeal of non-alcoholic beer or wine is understandable: they taste delicious regardless. But spirits? That’s a little more complex. Naomi Kaplan explores the latest drinks industry buzzword.
This week, a Danish drinks company launched the world’s first non-alcoholic gin - Herbie Virgin.
Made by Anders Skotlander and Herbie CEO Anders Bilgram, the ‘gin’ is distilled with juniper, Danish apples, lavender and orange peel.
Virgin Herbie is created using the same production methods and equipment as the company's alcoholic version – which has been one of the best-selling gins on the Danish market since its launch in December 2016.
“It has been very interesting to develop a product with the taste of gin, but without the alcohol,” Bilgram told The Spirits Business. “We believe there is a big market for alcohol free alternatives for people who don’t drink or just want to drink less alcohol.”
The Herbie Gin team intitially focussed on its Danish launch, but is now preparing to export the product globally.
"Today: Enjoying and celebrating launch of Herbie Virgin (non alcohol)". Source: Instagram @herbiegin
Non-alcoholic spirits: what’s the appeal?
Herbie is just one of a slew of non-alcoholic spirits that has been launched in the last two years.
The growth in craft spirits is opening possibilities for creativity; prompting distillers to push the boundaries even further.
Seedlip, founded by UK-based Ben Branson, launched two years ago and was coined as the world’s first distilled non-alcoholic spirit made to “solve the dilemma of what to drink when you’re not drinking".
The drink sounds rather delicious: sugar free, sweetener free, no calories, no artificial flavours and award winning, with two flavours: GARDEN 108: leaf - herb - pod or SPICE 94: wood - spice - citrus.
In fact, the drink was so tempting that industry heavyweight Diageo invested in it back in 2016.
Diageo took a minority stake in Seedlip to target the shift in drinking habits towards non-alcoholic options. The UK Office for National Statistics has reported that the proportion of teetotal 16- to 24-year olds increased by 40% between 2005 to 2014, with 25% of young adults shunning alcohol altogether.
It's a similar story in Australia - the 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey report showed that Australians under 30 were drinking less than in previous generations, and that just under a quarter (22.9%) abstain altogether.
Moreover, a recently article by The Sydney Morning Herald argues that there's a new wave of 'sober socialising' among millennials, driven by a shift towards feeling better physically and mentally.
Helen Michels, director of global innovation at Diageo told the Financial Times that Seedlip offers a ‘sophisticated alternative to alcoholic drinks’.
“We recognise the opportunity of non-alcoholic drinks [and] we continue to explore and invest in this area,” Michels said.
Moreover, Diageo has previously invested in non-alcoholic versions of some of its own brands, such as Guinness Zero, a non-alcoholic beer launched in Indonesia in 2014 and Orijin Zero, a soft drink variant of its bittersweet spirit in Nigeria.
BMI research states Diageo’s reason to invest in Seedlip was “to capture an entirely new segment of consumers, who desire the same ingredients and intensity of flavour as botanical gin or vodka without the alcohol”.
So perhaps that’s the answer: consumers who genuinely enjoy the taste of their preferred alcoholic beverage, even if it’s a harsh spirit, will opt for the similar tasting non-alcoholic options to satisfy their urges.
Seedlip home-made non-alcoholic drink. Source: Instagram @annabelbeeforth
Capturing the alcohol-free millennial market
Chris Raine, founder and chief executive of Hello Sunday Morning, an Australian charity helping people change their relationship with alcohol, told Sydney Morning Herald that non-alcoholic drinks are definitely on trend right now, with creative mocktails and non-alcoholic options more available than ever before.
Aside from Seedlip and Herbie Virgin, here are some of other non-alcoholic spirits that have been developed overseas:
UK-based non-alcoholic spirit coined as “a uniquely sophisticated beverage for the moments when you choose not to drink alcohol", crafted with over 20 ingredients including green fruit juices, apple, elderflower, citrus peel and more.
US-based Whissin is a non-alcoholic flavoured whisky, said to be a favourite among its customers. It’s sweet and delicious tasting.
Non-alcoholic vermouth flavoured drink. Versin can be mixed with mocktails or desserts.
Alcohol-free ‘gin and tonic’ served in an RTG single glass bottle - yum!
This non-alcoholic drink is said to taste like traditional liqueur, with Scottish and Irish herbs infused.
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