Sober Curious, Mindful & Alcohol-Free Drinkers Podcast: Low No Drinker

#87. The Uncomfortable Truth: 4 Reasons Some Alcohol-Free Drinks Fall Flat

• Denise Hamilton-Mace • Episode 87

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It’s time for some uncomfortable truths about alcohol-free drinks. This episode might make me a little unpopular in the industry, but that’s ok because it needs to be said: Not all alcohol-free drinks are good!

After being asked this very question during my BBC Radio Xtra debut (yay!), I was inspired to share this episode and explore with you why some low/no options fall short. But to keep the balance, it’s not all bad, I’m still sharing the love, but only after some real honesty.

0:00 Are all alcohol-free drinks good?
2:07 Jumping on the bandwagon
3:55 Why some drinks aren't great: sugar
5:36 Unbalanced
6:46 Artificial flavourings
7:19 Confusion
8:51 Trial & error
10:51 Brands will come and go
12:50 Personal taste
15:10 Try & try again

Best episode to listen to next:
#21 Decem: From MasterChef finalist to 10% Spirit Distiller
#59 Plant-powered AF Brewing: On Beer 

If you could spare me two minutes to rate and review the show on your podcasting app of choice, you'll make me the happiest little podcaster in all of Low No Nation 😊

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Speaker 1:

If you follow me on socials, you'll know that I very recently had my national radio debut and I was interviewed on the Ricky Brave show on BBC Radio 1 Extra Name dropping out of the way. It was super, super exciting to be on the radio and I can't wait to do more. But the first question that Ricky asked me was Denise, not all alcohol-free drinks taste good, do they? And you know what the honest answer is no, absolutely not. But just like not all full strength wines are winners, not all beers are brilliant, not all teas are tolerable, not even all pizzas are perfect, the same goes for alcohol-free drinks options. And it got me thinking, because it is something that a lot of people get hung up on. So today I want to dive into why it's okay that they aren't all good. Hello, hello and welcome to the Low no Drinker podcast, the only twice-weekly podcast helping you find, understand and enjoy the wonderful world of low no and light alcohol drinks, drinkers and drinking. As you'll know by now, my name is Denise Hamilton-Mace and I'm the founder, editor and host of all things Low no Drinker. Okay, let's get back to this topic, because I think it's a juicy one.

Speaker 1:

There is an assumption, isn't there, that just because something is alcohol-free or non-alcoholic, there's a few things that people assume about it, and it's normally one or two of the following that A because it's alcohol-free, it's instantly healthy and it's good for you. B that it's an identical replica of its alcohol-full counterpart. Or C and this one unfortunately happens quite often that it's just crap. No fancy flowery language there. People just assume sometimes that because it's alcohol free, it's not very good, and the truth is that none of those three things are true in a blanket fashion. There is no one size fits all definition of the quality of an alcohol-free beverage.

Speaker 1:

The industry is booming, which is brilliant. The low, low and light alcohol market is growing immensely, and that is wonderful. But that means that we get a lot of new brands jumping into the space. Some of them are here because they are truly trying to solve for a problem that they themselves are feeling. Some of them, on the other hand, are here because they see that it's an opportunity and they're jumping on the bandwagon. In fact, I believe that there is an alcohol-free brand, either in America or Australia, that I've heard of that is actually called bandwagon. So you know that's not a sign of the way people are approaching this as a business, and I don't know what is, but some of these drinks will be made with care and they'll be made with quality ingredients and they will be handcrafted and they're made with love and they're made from a founder's desire to create something that is wonderful for them and the people they love and, by extension, everybody else.

Speaker 1:

Others can feel a little bit like somebody has just grabbed some fruit juice and some sugar and mixed it all together, put a shiny label on it and gone there you go. I made an alcohol-free cocktail and the rest of us are like come on, that's just not good enough. But that's okay, all right, because, as I said in my introduction, not everything that you find everywhere is going to be amazing. That is the nature of the world that we live in. That is business, that is entrepreneurship, that is people recognizing that there is money to be made in this industry and everybody wanting a piece of the alcohol-free pie. What I think is great is that, ultimately, it will be you who decides who gets to keep a piece of that alcohol-free pie. What I think is great is that, ultimately, it will be you who decides who gets to keep a piece of that pie as you vote with your wallets for what's good enough to continue to deserve a place in this space.

Speaker 1:

So why aren't some alcohol-free, non-alcoholic light alcohol drinks good? Well, there's a few reasons, and I'm sure you're well aware of them. Drinks good Well, there's a few reasons, and I'm sure you're well aware of them. The first and foremost one that I hear a lot from people is about them being too sweet. Some drinks are just too sugary. Why? Well, some producers particularly earlier days when we were just getting into this low-no market and people were just trying to figure out how to make drinks Some producers would have in an attempt to replace the alcohol that they have removed or not included or reduced or whatever are trying to replace that mouthfeel.

Speaker 1:

Alcohol gives us a really distinctive mouthfeel. It coats the mouth, it gives texture to your drink and without that drinks can often taste a bit flat or a bit watery is often a word that people use to describe it. So some brands decided to replace that alcohol mouthfeel with sugar, because sugar does give a lot of mouthfeel. You know, if you've ever had a fizzy drink, the two things that give it that taste in your mouth are the sugar, the sweetness in it, and the carbonation, the bubbles in it. But when it comes to alcohol-free drinks, really we've recognized by now we as consumers have gone that that's just not good enough. If you're giving me something that just tastes like a melted lollipop rather than a grown-up drink, then I'm sorry but I'm not having it and I think that's great. I think it's great that drinkers like us can now turn to brands and say this isn't good enough. The quality of what you're giving me isn't right. I want an adult drink. I do not just want a squash with an adult style label on it. Why else aren't they good?

Speaker 1:

Sometimes drinks can be lacking a bit of balance. So, just as with the sugar adding texture and mouthfeel, without enough balance on the other side, without enough depth of flavor, without enough complexity, without enough other ingredients that bring those notes to the mouth, then these drinks can feel unbalanced and they end up feeling either just flat or thin or too sweet or too sour or too bitter. Now, of course, some people like sweet or sour or bitter drinks. I have a friend who describes her own palate. She describes herself as having the palate of a six-year-old child because she liked really sweet drinks. And this is a grown woman, by the way, we're not talking about a teenage girl, we're talking about a 45-year-old woman, and that's absolutely fine.

Speaker 1:

You've got to go with what you like, and it is worth noting here that all of this is very subjective, right, it's all about what you like and what you enjoy. But in general terms, we want things that are well balanced, that aren't too far on the sweet side or too far on the sour side or too far on the bitter side. Why else do these drinks sometimes aren't great. Sometimes, if brands are using artificial flavors, you might find that you don't enjoy that. So when brands are trying to mimic flavors without real ingredients, it can lead to strange aftertastes. If they're using too many purees, too many synthetic made ingredients, too many synthetic sugars as well, all these things can lead to slightly strange aftertastes. That gives that sort of plasticky sensation, you know, when something just doesn't taste quite right and just tastes oddly synthetic.

Speaker 1:

And the other thing that some brands can sometimes do, as I've noticed this is one that stands out to me is that sometimes in this space, I find that because it's so brand new and because everyone's still trying to find their feet, that sometimes some brands come out of the gate with a slightly confusing identity. They don't quite know how to position themselves, they don't quite know what language to use and therefore we don't quite understand what we're supposed to be expecting from it. You know it's an adult soft drink. Or is it a cocktail? Or is it a mocktail, or is it? When is it for? Are we supposed to be having this in the pub, or we're having this with a meal or the picnic? So I think that that lack of clarity about what something is trying to achieve can also add to a confusion for us when it comes to drinking it all.

Speaker 1:

That being said, none of these drinks are particularly cheap. Um well, that's not true. You can get WKD Blue alcohol free for, I believe, 60 pence a can. I'll let you make up your own mind as to why that might be a good or a bad thing, but when these drinks aren't cheap and you are paying the same as you're paying for a full alcohol drink, then you want a drink that does have the right balance. It doesn't have too much sugars, it does use real and fresh ingredients and it is clear on what it is trying to achieve and give you and who it is for, and it's only fair to expect something enjoyable. The range is wide in the low-no space, and that is okay, because that means that whilst there are some drinks that do struggle with those challenges that I've just mentioned, there are also, on the other end of the spectrum, a plethora of drinks who have nailed it Okay. And again, I'm not saying that all drinks are perfect in this space. I'm not saying that all things are perfect in any space, but there is some really exciting innovation happening, and it is happening fast, and with that comes trial and error and iteration and improvement.

Speaker 1:

On this show alone, I've spoken to founders who have talked about going back to the drawing board after releasing their products and realizing that do you know what? This wasn't quite right. When I spoke to the founding team behind On Beer, which is a functional beer, he talks about how he had to reformulate his functional beer brand because of foaming issues. When I spoke to Billy Wright from Decim 10% Gin, he talks about how he launched with three SKUs, realized that it wasn't a sustainable business model for him, closed down operation for a little while to give himself time to pivot and then relaunched a couple months later with a single product. And that's just two examples of people in the space who have tried to do something, realized that they're not doing it as well as they could be or that they should be, recognize where there is room for improvement and gone and done something about that.

Speaker 1:

And that is what I love about this industry. That's what I love about this sector that the people who are in it truly really do care and really do want to make something amazing. And those are the brands that you are going to end up supporting. Make something amazing. And those are the brands that you are going to end up supporting Not necessarily those two in particular, but in general. Brands that are really putting some effort in to try and create something that serves you to the best of their ability.

Speaker 1:

The cheap and cheerful offerings, the mass produced poor quality items, the products that taste like they're full of artificial flavors, the drinks that aren't clear on what they're offering and who they're offering, for eventually they won't last because you'll just not buy them. And we have seen brands come and go in this space already. Now, some of the brands we've gone have actually been quite good. It's a sad story to talk about, for example, function Beer, which was the mushroom beer, and their founder, zoe henderson was doing brilliantly well and the beer had rave reviews and actually tons of orders. Sadly, she had to stop production, not because she couldn't sell enough, but because she couldn't raise the cash flow to produce enough beer to meet the demand, and that, I think, is really really sad, which is why I want to stress that if you want quality alcohol-free drinks to survive, then you have to vote with your wallets and your purses and your touch cards and whatever it is that we'll be using in the next foreseeable technical future, but that's a completely different tangent.

Speaker 1:

But the point is that if you want these drinks to be around, if you want them to succeed using in the next foreseeable technical future but that's a completely different tangent. But the point is that if you want these drinks to be around, if you want them to succeed, if you want the quality drinks to stand up and to last, then you have to be prepared to pay for them, and you have to be prepared to pay well for them, because these drinks aren't cheap to make. If you want drinks that don't use artificial sweeteners, that aren't using E numbers, that aren't using tons of sugar, that aren't just filling your drink with carbonation to hide the lack of flavor, then it means supporting brands that are investing in research and development and who are investing in iterating, who are investing in teams of tasters and research and time creating new recipes, and all of that costs money. But the more we buy it, the more they can produce, the more those costs will eventually start going down. But that doesn't mean that the movement is flawed. Ok, just because there are drinks out there that aren't fantastic and that aren't winners, it doesn't mean that the entire category deserves to be written off. It just means that we're still figuring out what's good, what tastes great, what we all like, and that's fine. That's absolutely the way that industries grow.

Speaker 1:

And anyway, what is it that makes an alcohol-free drink good? Like I said about my friend who has the really sweet palate, there are things that she absolutely loves drinking that I think are just way, way too sweet. But at the same time I also don't like overly bitter drinks and I can't stand tonic. My husband's favorite cocktail has always been a Negroni. I've got to be honest with you guys. To me it just tastes like bile in a glass, but he absolutely loves it, and I know lots of other people do so. It's a personal thing, and that's why I always think that reviews are great. They are. If you can get, as a brand, a lot of people to review your drink, then it's worth you, as a consumer, reading those reviews and finding somebody who seems to have a similar palette to you. It is if you actually try it.

Speaker 1:

And yes, I know that that means spending money. But, as I always say, how much money have you spent on shots that you didn't want to have, on bottles of wine that you just didn't need to have, on beers that you don't remember? You know we've spent a fortune on full alcohol to give it a try, to taste it out of habit, for all these reasons. So there's absolutely no reason why we can't do the same with low and no alcohol and still end up without a hangover at the end of it. I mean it sounds like a win-win to me.

Speaker 1:

I look for balance and complexity and the feeling of having something special and grown up in my glass. Other people might be looking for something light and refreshing and easy drinking. You might be looking for something that's deep and full of dark spice flavors. You know it all depends on A your palate and B your mood, because drinks taste different at different times, depending on what mood you're in, what situation you're in. So my advice is to go out there and start searching. Start with your usual preferences, so like, if you like a, g and t, go and try some alcohol free style gin drinks, um, play with the proportions, play with the measurements, play with what you mix it with, try some different, like cocktail infusions, and put different things together. Try lots of different beers and lots of different ciders and wines and try some alternatives. There's so many different things out there to try.

Speaker 1:

One tip that I can give you if you are concerned about, you know, spending money on trying lots and lots of different things and wondering if you're going to like anything, is that if you hit up some of the online retailers so here in the UK I'm talking about things like Wise Bartender and Dry Drinker, and I have a discount link for you, by the way, in the show notes you can get 10% off at both of those retailers using the code LONODRINKER magazine. Now, if you go to sites like that, they often have sample boxes where they'll have things like. I know Wise Bartender, for example, has almost like a bin end box of products that are going out of stock so you can get them for about 50% off. And that would be a mystery box, a selection of different beers that you can get, or you can go and find yourself a wine selection box and try a few different things. A lot of brands now, I've noticed, are also bringing out miniatures, so they're bringing out taster options for you so that you can go and try just a little bit of it and see if you like. And I think that's a fantastic idea, and I really wish more brands in the low-no space would do that, because I know that that gives you the opportunity to go. All right, I might not want to commit to a 40-pound bottle, but I can definitely commit to an eight-pound taster.

Speaker 1:

So go and try, okay, and what I can promise you is that you will find stuff that you do not like and you will find stuff that you do like. And isn't that just life? You know I'm really fighting the urge to use the Forrest Gump quote that life is like a box of chocolates. There you go. I said it, I just couldn't help myself, but it is. You never know what you're going to get and you never know what you're going to like and some of the stuff that you try in this space will be your favorite. I love an orange cream, but I bet, right Even now me just saying that there's some of you going oh my God, denise, orange creams are the most disgusting chocolate ever.

Speaker 1:

So you've just got to try and see what you find, see what you enjoy, communicate, as I always say. You've got to communicate with the brands. All right, if you try their stuff and you do like it, then tell them. Everybody likes to hear that they're doing well me too, by the way and if you try their stuff and you think that there's room for improvement, then constructive feedback is always, always, appreciated. And don't worry about hurting people's feelings, because these founders that I speak to they want to know what you think, they want to hear about your opinions, they want to know what it is that you're looking for so that they can continue to create things that serve you to the best of their ability.

Speaker 1:

If you have found something that you love, then let us know what it is. I always like to hear what you are drinking, as always. You know. You can reach out to me anywhere you find me, whether that's on social media, whether that's on my newsletter, and don't forget to go and check out Lono Drinker magazine. I'm currently working on getting the next issue out for you, and you will be able to receive a hard copy or digital copy wherever you are in the world by going to lonodrinkermagazinecom. Forward slash subscribe. That's it for me today. Until next time, cheers to a life less intoxicated.

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Denise Hamilton-Mace

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