Non-alcoholic gin – Now you can drink gin every day of the week

Non-alcoholic gin – yes we are talking about a gin without alcohol – is a real thing. And we have only seen the start of it.

Non-alcoholic gin

Non-alcoholic gin has been on the market for a while. I guess that with meat-free burgers and vegan chicken, it was only a matter of time before someone would start to make spirits without alcohol. Because of limited distribution, I have not yet had the opportunity to taste a gin without alcohol, but when I do, I will write a review.

The tale of alcohol free spirits started in in 2015. The British company, Seedlip, has so far produced three types of “gin.” I write gin in quotation marks because non of these products contains juniper and thus, technically cannot be called a gin.

Recently, Diageo, the worlds biggest spirits manufacturer, have invested in the company. Something that tells me that the future of alcohol-free spirits is bright.

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Production of alcohol-free gin

Non-alcoholic gin is made in just the same way as regular gin. This will, in theory, give the same aromas and taste like a regular gin. The absence of alcohol will remove the oily mouth-feel that we all know from drinking spirits. I suspect the aromas and tastes normally masked by the alcohol would be more prominent.

Producers

Seedlip

Seedlip has three products. The Grove 42 is made with citrus and spices and should, therefore, be a good alternative to a modern-style gin.

Grove 42 is recommended served with tonic and orange zest. (Picture: Seedlip)

Seedlip Spice 94 contains allspice, cardamom, and bark from oak and Cascarilla.

Seedlip Garden 108 has surprising ingredients like peas and hay along with spearmint, thyme and rosmary.

All products are non-alcoholic and contains no sugar or artificial ingredients.

Ceder’s

The Swedish company Ceder’s, established in 2017, is the second pioneer in the market for non-alcoholic gin. The ingredienses used in production reflects the fact that the founders of the company is a Sweedish/South-African couple. Ceder’s use juniper, something that makes in a true gin.

Ceder’s Classic is, as the name implies, made to replace a classic London dry gin. It is made using juniper, coriander, geranium, and fynbos from South Africa. (Picture: Ceder’s)

Ceder’s Crispy contains citrus, cucumber and chamomile, in addition to juniper.

Ceder’s Wild is more exotic, with ingredients like juniper, ginger, clove, and rooibos from South Africa.

How to use a non-alcoholic gin

I think that a gin without alcohol is most suited for making a Gin & Tonic. However, if the taste is sufficient to match a high-end gin, it might work over ice. I would really like to test a Seedlip product as a mixer together with a neutral vodka, but I guess I would have to write about that in a separat blog post.