No-alcohol whisky, gin and other spirits that help drinkers lose weight and stay sober

Australian-based company Lyre’s has struggled to keep up with soaring demand for its no-alcohol spirits since coronavirus lockdowns began

It creates an ‘alcohol base’ using natural extracts, distillation and synthesis, then adds distinct flavours to make analogues of different spirits

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Australian-based company Lyre’s non-alcoholic Negroni. There is a small but burgeoning market for non-alcoholic spirits.

Published: 7:15pm, 28 May 2021Updated: 10:27am, 29 May 2021

Alcohol consumption is falling globally as people try to reduce their intake of wine, beer and spirits for health reasons. It’s a trend that started in 2016, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, an analytics firm that focuses on tracking the global beverage alcohol market.

Alcohol-free drinks allows consumers to stay sober and to lose weight. The no/low alcohol category took a three per cent share of the total beverage alcohol market last year, a figure that is forecast to grow to 31 per cent by 2024.

Non-alcoholic beer had a 92 per cent share of that no- and low-alcohol segment. It is popular not just for its taste, but also the health benefits: it has only a fraction of the calories compared to beer with alcohol; it rehydrates the body instead of being a diuretic; and it affords better sleep.

There is a small but burgeoning market for non-alcoholic spirits, too, and in 2015, Briton Ben Branson was the first to debut a distilled non-alcoholic spirit that tastes like gin, now available in three flavours. With its botanical flavours and no added sugar, the addition of some tonic water makes a sophisticated, alcohol-free drink.

In 2019, Australian company Lyre’s accomplished what many alcohol producers had been trying to do since the 1970s and 1980s – create non-alcoholic versions of rum, gin, whisky, Italian bitters and even absinthe that have a near identical taste to the originals.