What happens when you put a non-alcoholic spirit in the hands of three female bartenders, each with a completely different style? One heads to Italy in search of bitterness and a Negroni-inspired profile, the second to memories of summer holidays and rice pudding with apricots, and the third to the tropical world of Tiki and zero waste. Three drinks, three stories and, above all, proof that a non-alcoholic cocktail today doesn’t have to be a substitute for a ‘real’ drink. It can be a drink in its own right.
The non-alcoholic selection behind the bar is changing. Just a few years ago, a guest who didn’t want alcohol often had to make do with lemonade, sparkling water or juice. Nowadays, however, they are increasingly finding themselves in a situation where the bartender presents them with a cocktail that has been thought through just as carefully as its alcoholic counterpart. The bartender works with bitterness, acidity, sweetness, texture, aroma and technique. And, above all, with a story.
This is precisely where Sober Spirits’ non-alcoholic spirits start to get interesting: not as a mere substitute for alcohol, but as another ingredient for the bartender to work with. The range includes variants inspired by gin, rum, whisky and other classic spirits, and the producer builds the flavour profile on the dealcoholisation process and subsequent work with aromas.
But what does a bottle like this actually mean behind the bar? We decided not to hand it over to technologists or product specialists, but to three female bartenders. Each was given the freedom to create her own drink. And each took a completely different approach.
Three bartenders, three worlds
Kateřina Vymazalová from River & Oyster turned to a world that is almost synonymous with bar culture: Italy and bitterness. Her drink stems from a simple question: what if you fancy something like a Negroni, but simply don’t feel like drinking today?
“Do you like bitter flavours, but don’t feel like drinking today? Well, that was precisely the inspiration behind this cocktail,” says Kateřina. The result is a bittersweet, refreshing and fruity drink inspired by the Italian world of aperitifs.
The non-alcoholic gin is complemented by cranberry juice, a homemade syrup made from bitters and black tea, and an apricot component. The whole combination is rounded off with homemade non-alcoholic wine lemonade and topped with peach foam. It’s a fairly accurate demonstration that a non-alcoholic cocktail doesn’t have to take a back seat in terms of flavour. On the contrary: the bitterness, fruit and tea create several layers that demand attention.
“Our deeper inspiration takes us all the way to Italy, the home of the Negroni. Just sit back and savour this non-alcoholic delight, just like in Italy,” she adds.
Kateřina Vymazalová’s cocktail: 2 cl Sober Spirits non-alcoholic gin, 3 cl cranberry juice, 2 cl homemade bitter & black tea syrup, 1 cl Monin Pure Peach & Apricot and 1 dcl homemade wine lemonade. Garnished with peach foam.
Anna Baladová from Forbín Bar, on the other hand, started her career away from the bar—in the kitchen.
“I really love cooking, and in fact my inspiration is almost always a dish,” she explains. For her, food isn’t just ingredients and a recipe, but also a way of conveying something to another person. And that’s exactly how she approached her drink.
Her ‘Rice & Shine’ is a reminder of summer, the holidays and rice pudding with apricots. It isn’t a literal translation of the dessert into a glass. Rather, it captures its spirit—something you might recognise from your childhood, something that smells of summer and embodies a little of that carefree holiday feeling.
Forty millilitres of Sober Spirits Whisky is complemented by rice syrup and 110 millilitres of apricot soda. The whisky isn’t just in the recipe to ‘replace’ the alcohol, though. Its darker flavour profile provides a foundation for the apricot and rice, keeping the drink from falling into the category of an ordinary sweet lemonade.
The result is exactly the sort of drink that Anna describes as a ‘feel-good’ drink: simple at first glance, but built on a specific memory.
Rice & Shine: 40 ml Sober Spirits Whisky, 15 ml rice syrup and 110 ml apricot soda.
And then there’s Carola Urru from Savage Bar Prague. Whilst Kateřina draws on the classics and Anna on memories, Carola ventures into the contemporary bar laboratory—into the world of modern Tiki, zero waste and making the most of ingredients.
“I wanted to create a drink that would evoke modern Tiki, but at the same time be based on the principle of zero waste,” she says, describing her approach. The pineapple in her drink isn’t limited to the flesh. This is transformed into a sweet-and-sour cordial, whilst the peel is used to create a garnish.
The base consists of 30 millilitres of Sober Spirits Rum, complemented by 52.5 millilitres of Zazu cordial and 30 millilitres of Crodino Rosso. The drink is shaken and then double-strained. A ‘skin’ made from leftover dried pineapple is placed on the glass, and the whole creation is rounded off with a bergamot aroma.
Tropical notes, coconut, pineapple, bitterness and freshness come together here in a composition that is close to a classic Tiki cocktail, yet distinctly contemporary. What’s more, Carola didn’t invent the non-alcoholic version from scratch. She used Sober Spirits Rum as the base for a drink she had originally prepared for an international competition.
“Sober Spirits Rum allowed me to preserve the character of the original drink, whilst bringing it into the contemporary category of non-alcoholic cocktails.”
Zazu: 30 ml Sober Spirits Rum, 52.5 ml Zazu cordial and 30 ml Crodino Rosso. Shake, double strain. Garnished with leftover dried pineapple and a hint of bergamot.
Non-alcoholic doesn’t mean without a story
Perhaps the most interesting thing about these three glasses is how little they have in common. Each bartender drew something different from the non-alcoholic spirit. Kateřina found in it a path to a bitter Italian aperitif. Anna used it to evoke memories of a summer dessert. Carola incorporated it into a modern Tiki cocktail whilst also building the concept of zero waste around it.
And that is precisely what is changing our perspective on non-alcoholic cocktails. They do not have to be copies of the drinks we know with alcohol. They do not have to apologise for the absence of alcohol. And they certainly do not have to consist merely of juice, soda and a bit of fruit.
It can be bitter. It can be complex. It can be gastronomic. It can be tropical. It can evoke a Negroni, rice pudding or a summer holiday. It can be just as carefully crafted as any other cocktail.
And perhaps that’s precisely why, when it comes to a non-alcoholic bar, it’s more interesting not to focus on what’s not in the drink, but on all the things that could be in it.
Three female bartenders, three completely different answers. And one thing they have in common: zero alcohol certainly doesn’t have to mean zero ideas.
