Why nonalcoholic spirits go from strength to strength
It’s time to start thinking about the C word.You might well already have plans to stock up for house guests who are drinking, but what about those who aren’t? It’s a good opportunity to think about how we might jazz up our non-alcoholic offering for friends and family who are trying to drink less, or not drinking booze at all.Sometimes, your friend will just want a Fanta, but I don’t like being the one to offer it to them.We can do better than that.The Guardian’s journalism is independent.
We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link.Learn more.There are really excellent non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beers out there, as well as an ever-expanding offering of zero-alcohol wines (or, even, sessionable wines at around 6% ABV).But what of those who like, or used to like, a cocktail? Those who enjoy the heady, medicinal kick of a spirit, but don’t want any of the booze?Spirit is so easily defined in alcohol terms, but what about when you’re not distilling something alcoholic from the ingredients? As it’s defined in the Oxford English Dictionary (the website; I don’t have one knocking around the house), a spirit is a “strong distilled alcoholic liquor used for drinking”.So, part of how I’m defining a non-alcoholic spirit will be first based on its strength and second those elements that need to be distilled to create it.
(Non-alcoholic brand Everleaf notes, however, that extracting from specific ingredients can be most effectively done in different ways, either by distillation or by grinding an ingredient down,) I’d also argue that a spirit can be identified in how you choose to enjoy it: if it can be enjoyed with a mixer, it’s a spirit; and if it can be shaken or mixed into a cocktail or enjoyed on the rocks, it’s definitely a spirit,By all those definitions, I’m talking liqueurs, aperitifs and amaros here,Mother Root, a ginger, chilli and honey mix, is one of my absolute favourite drams to drink in any of those ways: top it up with soda water for an easy highball, or add a squeeze of lime to make a non-alcoholic Moscow mule,The fiery ginger is enough to perk you up in the morning and smack you out of a hangover, and I love it when ginger products actually taste of ginger.
Then there’s the herby citrus Botivo, whose success is testament to the growing popularity of non-alcoholic options,Pretty much every chic hotel bar and up-and-coming wine bar now stocks this smart yellow bottle, as are even some pubs,It’s just the thing to scratch the itch of a botanical spirit lover, and it works particularly well with anything elderflowery,I’m also very intrigued by a recent discovery from Sylva Labs – aged, non-alcoholic spirits made using British fruit wood and established by Ben Branson, the founder of Seedlip (heard of ’em?),The first glance made me think of just-pressed apple juice, but when I took a swig the palate was smoky and forest floor-y.
I couldn’t help but imagine it stirred into a Manhattan-style cocktail in lieu of whisky, perhaps with a squeeze of plum juice.Mother Root Ginger £28.95 (50cl) Sainsbury’s, 0%.The fiery spice of ginger switchel holds its own when topped with soda.Caleño Light & Zesty £18.
97 (50cl) Master of Malt, 0%,A brand with real range,Try this in any “gin”-based aperitif,Everleaf Mountain £20 (50cl) The Wine Society, 0%,Founded by a conservation biologist, this liqueur is all rosehip and wild strawberry.
Sylva Orchard £40 (50cl) Sylva Labs, <0.5%.Sylva’s third “release”, made to celebrate harvest.Cherry, smoke and rye.
Wallabies fans are entitled to be frustrated but it’s not all grim for this tired, talented side
At the end of a frenetic first half, where Angus Bell ran in one of the great tries by a Wallaby prop, where Matt Faessler powered over for a brace, where Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored a solo stunner and Thomas Ramos and Nicolas Depoortère dotted down as well, Tane Edmed gathered a pass at first receiver.The young fly-half, playing in his seventh Test, was having a decent game. He’d slotted two of his three shots at goal. He was brave to the line, carrying with zip, stitching moves together as he tried to spark a backline short on fluency. But with the clock in the red, he attempted a raking kick to the corner
Ireland 13-24 South Africa: Autumn Nations Series rugby union – as it happened
How Brendan Fanning made sense of that, I’m sure I don’t know.But he did in this cracking report of an utterly bizarre and breathless game.That’ll be me for the night. Hope you enjoyed it.And here is Malcolm Marx:As you can tell by the way that I look it was crazy
South Africa make heavy weather of victory over indisciplined Ireland
The IRFU may be disconnected from a chunk of their audience on the price of Test rugby at Lansdowne Road but at least those who paid up can claim to have witnessed a truly crazy event.In the 2013 Six Nations in Rome Ireland had their backline sundered by a freakish run of injuries, leaving holes being filled by men who didn’t know how to hold a shovel. But here, on a perfect night for rugby and with a game promising to develop into a gripping contest, we saw four players banished for crimes and misdemeanours in the first half alone. Mad stuff, at the end of which – after well over two exhausting hours – the world champions stumbled to a win that should have been managed with half the effort.“I’d say it was chaotic,” Andy Farrell said
‘He’s the real thing’: Longley feels Chicago connection as Josh Giddey brings Bulls back to the big time | Jack Snape
Luc Longley chooses his words carefully when talking about Chicago Bulls point guard Josh Giddey, not wanting to heap any more expectation on the young Australian still finding his feet in the ferocious competition of the NBA.He says he doesn’t watch every Bulls game these days – only about half of them. That he hasn’t spoken to Giddey much since his move to Illinois. That Longley’s life in Australia, where he part-owns the Sydney Kings and Flames, takes up most of his energies rather than what is happening on the shores of Lake Michigan.Despite all this, Longley says he can’t help but feel a connection to Giddey’s emergence with the Bulls, one of the stories of the NBA season
Wales 26-52 New Zealand: Autumn Nations Series rugby union – as it happened
Another week, another Welsh defeat. This latest one was 52-26, and if you missed it, it will look like just another in their long list of losses to New Zealand, which now stretches back 34 matches to 1953.But it’s just possible, too, that, for the men who coached it and played in it, for the tens of thousands in the ground, and the hundreds of thousands watching on TV, it may yet come to stand for something more significant than that. Wales did not turn a corner, but they took a little look around one and got a glimpse of what the future might look like with Steve Tandy in charge.That’ll do from me as I take a breather before the Ireland v South Africa game (do join me for it)
Tom Rogers makes hat-trick history in vain as New Zealand surge past Wales
Another week, another Welsh defeat. This latest one was 52-26 and to those who missed it will look like just another in their lengthy list of losses to New Zealand, which stretches back 34 matches. But it is possible, too, that for the men who coached it, and the men who played in it, for the tens of thousands watching in the ground and the hundreds of thousands watching on TV, it might yet come to stand for something more significant.Wales did not exactly turn a corner here, but they took a little look around one and got a glimpse of what a better future might be like. “A lot of what we want to do and what we’ve been working on as a team shone through today,” said their captain, Dewi Lake
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