Last Updated on May 15, 2023
Setting limits on your alcohol intake sounds like a buzzkill, but that’s where low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages come into the picture.
If you want to drink less alcohol, prevent dreaded hangovers, cut back on calories, or improve your wellness, these beverages may just be what you need. They contain much less (if any) alcohol than your regular tipples, allowing you to reduce your alcohol intake without stifling the fun.
To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of the best non-alcoholic and low-alcohol brands and beverages on the market.
Although it can be better for your health to consider mindful drinking, do note that not all the following brands below are suitable for people who need to avoid alcohol altogether. Whether you’re pregnant, nursing, or have a medical condition affected by alcohol; it’s best to check with a healthcare provider whether a specific non-alcoholic drink is suitable. Some might contain a small amount of alcohol, herbs, or botanicals that may not be suitable for you.
The Best Non-Alcoholic Brands
“Non-alcoholic” doesn’t always equate to “tasteless” or “bland.” There’s a diverse range of non-alcoholic beverages out there that are neck-to-neck with their alcoholic counterparts in terms of taste and flavor. And you can now stock your shelves with surprisingly tasty no-proof options for when that after-work craving hits.
If you’re searching for a satisfactory substitute for your favorite drinks, we’ve got you! Here’s our list of the best non-alcoholic brands on the market to kick things off. Want to cut back on drinking?
Starla Wines
Starla Wines is the first and only ultra-premium alcohol removed wine created for wine lovers wishing to nix the spirits, but savor the experience. The trio of varietals: Red Blend, Sauvignon Blanc and Sparkling Rosé are delicious for sipping, socializing, celebrating and pairing.
Starla nixed the sugar, water, juice and fillers and used superior botanicals and aromatics to create a delicious, luxurious and full bodied wine with a fraction of the calories, carbs and sugar.
You can’t beat 5 calories a glass and 0gs of sugar! Purchase Starla on Amazon and in packs of 3 off their website.
Grüvi
Grüvi is unique in that it is the first and presently only horizontally built alcohol-free brand. Producing everything from craft non-alcoholic beers, wines and even a canned Sangria. There’s a Grüvi for everyone and for every moment.
Grüvi’s prestige is well-earned with their award-winning bevs like the Golden Lager that won best beer in the world in 2022. This brew is light and crisp and its gluten-reduced. If you’re looking for something a little different, try the first non-alcoholic mocha Nitro Stout on the market.
On the wine side, you can’t go wrong! Both their Red Blend and Sangria won awards at the International Wine & Spirit Competition and their Dry Secco is a classic. Plus all their wine offerings are 0.0%, and if you want it all, go for the Dry January Variety Pack, giving you one of each.
All their beverages come in single-serve bottles or cans for easy travel and consumption. You can get a 12-pack of craft beer for $30 or 8-pack of bottled wines for similar. You can pay even less if you sign up for the flexible subscription service!
Ferm Fatale
Ferm Fatale creates “probiotic mocktails” that are “non-alcoholic social beverages filled with bacteria, yeast, enzymes, vitamins and antioxidants that support a healthy digestive system.” All their drinks are raw, live, zero sugar, organic and don’t contain any artificial ingredients.
If you’re a big kombucha drinker, this could be right up your alley. Try the Cosmo & Mojito for drinks that are super refreshing with a great balance of sweet and bitter. Although it’s intended as a sort of adult social beverage (the packaging and cans definitely fit the bill), these can also be treated as a tasty kombucha alternative since they also have lots of gut health properties to them. Learn more about Ferm Fatale here.
Athletic Brewing
Athletic Brewing is one of the most popular brands that offer non-alcoholic beers, ranging from goldens and IPAs to darks and sours. While some of their non-alcoholic brews are seasonal releases, you can expect to enjoy three different non-alcoholic beers all year round—Run Wild IPA, Upside Dawn Golden, and Free Wave IPA.
At just 65 calories, the Run Wild IPA has an approachable and easy-to-enjoy profile with gentle floral scents, fruity notes, and lingering bitterness. Their other top seller is the Upside Dawn Golden Ale; this brew has a fruity and earthy tone and hits the palate with notes of lemon, grass, honey, and grapefruit.
All varieties contain under 90 calories per can, with prices starting from about $14 per can on their official website. Note that they contain a trace of alcohol (less than 0.5% ABV).
Libra
You can enjoy a can of Libra artisanal beer from as low as 30 calories. Yup, you read that right. But low in calories doesn’t mean they’re low in flavor. In fact, taste is what has their consumers hooked.
Libra’s range of non-alcoholic beers includes sours, IPAs, pilsners, and stouts. The Libra IPA sits in the limelight as one of their best-sellers. This craft beer is refreshing, light, and has bursting aromas of tropical fruits and mango. The Libra Cherry Sour is another one of their hits, with a gentle tartness, fruity sweetness, and well-balanced tanginess.
You can get them off their official website with prices starting from around $33 for a pack of six. Libra beers have an ABV of about 0.4%.
Ritual
Ritual’s zero-proof spirits sit at 0.0% ABV. Because this line of products contains zero alcohol and zero calories, they’re the healthier alternative and perfect for crafting your very own mocktails at home.
You’ll get to pick between zero-proof rum, tequila, whiskey, or gin alternatives—their biggest hit being the tequila substitute. Whether you’re craving a margarita, Paloma, whiskey sour, or a good ol’ piña colada, Ritual’s 1:1 spirit substitute tastes delicious and won’t leave you hungover the morning after.
Each 750mL bottle is priced at around $30 and ships both in and outside the US. Pregnant mothers claim these are a godsend. But if you’re pregnant, you may still want to have your healthcare provider run through the ingredients before consumption, just to be on the safe side.
Seedlip
Yet another one of the best-selling brands for non-alcoholic spirits—Seedlip harnesses the delicate and natural flavors of various plants, spices, and herbs to create sophisticated spirits that work well in all kinds of mixed drinks.
You have three options; a fresh blend of traditional garden herbs, a warm aromatic mix of allspice and cardamom, and a bright citrus fusion of orange, lemon, and ginger.
This wonderful trio of drinks can be used to craft an infinite array of mocktails and earns a well-deserved spot in any non-drinkers cart.
Of course, it’s best to set realistic expectations with non-alcoholic replacements like these—they won’t be able to deliver the same appeal and buzz that comes with real alcohol. But this is a pretty decent alternative that delivers gorgeous flavors while being guilt-free!
Seedlip currently offers a full-range set of all their three flavors, priced at about $90 for three 700mL bottles.
Acid League
Wine proxies are a great go-to if you enjoy the nighttime ritual of sipping on a cold beverage in some fancy stemware.
Proxies are essentially blends of fruits, botanicals, spices, and bitters designed to pair nicely with different foods. They’re crafted to deliver the experience you get with drinking wine, but they don’t promise to accurately replicate your favorite wines.
The profiles you can expect from Acid League’s proxies range from zesty, fresh, and floral flavors to dark chocolate and coffee blends with acidic hints. And as a bonus, these proxies are also low in calories, packing just around 25-30 calories per 5oz pour.
A 4-pack set costs around $98. They’re a little expensive, so you can hit yourself up with a set of samplers before dropping more cash on full-sized bottles of your favorite flavors.
Ghia
Ghia is a non-alcoholic apéritif made with Reisling grape juice concentrate, yuzu juice, and botanicals, including lemon balm, elderflower, ginger, and rosemary.
With each sip, you’ll be greeted by a mix of citrus, bitter, and sweet notes. If you’re into cocktails with complex profiles, Ghia is probably your cup of tea. But if you’re not keen on powerful floral flavors, then you might find Ghia a little too bitter and overwhelming when drunk neat.
Nonetheless, Ghia is a pretty versatile beverage and can be mixed with soda, sparkling water, and orange juice based on your preferences.
A bottle contains around 11 servings and goes for $38. And the good news is that each 44mL serving contains just 15 calories.
Oddbird
Oddbird is one of the most popular brands on the market for non-alcoholic wine. There’s a massive range of products to select from, including red wine, white wine, rosé, and gin.
They live up to their motto, “liberated from alcohol,” owing to the 0.0% alcohol content in all their products. All their wines are made using the finest-quality grapes through traditional wine-making methods. Each bottle is aged for 12 months and then delicately liberated from alcohol to preserve its beautiful flavors and aromas.
If you’re looking for a non-alcoholic wine dupe, this is probably the closest you can get. Unfortunately, OddBird is based in Sweden, so they currently don’t ship directly to the US. However, you may be able to purchase a bottle for about £10 off European wine vendor sites.
ÔPIA
ÔPIA also offers a range of alcohol-free wines (0.0% ABV). There are four main types of non-alcoholic wines to choose from, including Cabernet Sauvignon, sparkling Chardonnay, white Chardonnay, and rosé.
These alcohol-free wines do not undergo fermentation, guaranteeing that the end products are healthy, organic, and halal-certified due to the 0% alcohol content.
Each glass of ÔPIA wine contains between 21-29 calories, about three times less than your regular glass of wine.
The Best Low-Alcohol Brands
Many non-alcoholic beverages can’t perfectly replicate the taste and buzz of alcohol. So your second best bet would be low-alcohol beverages.
Here’s our list of some of the best low-alcohol brands on the market!
BODY
Looking for a low-proof vodka? BODY’s light vodka is a fantastic option.
BODY’s vodka has 25% less alcohol than your standard 80-proof vodka, allowing you to drink the night away without getting a hangover the following morning. It is essentially a premium vodka made from non-GMO Indiana corn, limestone, alkaline water, and bee-pollinated agave nectar for a “better for you” vodka.
According to consumers, it has a very smooth, light, and velvety texture and doesn’t leave behind a burn or unpleasant aftertaste like regular vodkas. Hence, you can enjoy it on the rocks or pair it with any mixer to whip up a delicious, hangover-friendly cocktail.
One bottle costs $27.99 at retail value and can be purchased right off their website.
KEEL
KEEL is the world’s first premium light vodka. Keel’s vodka has an ABV of about 23.8%, which is much lower compared to standard vodka, which typically sits at a minimum of 40%.
The brand promises a product distilled to just the right amount of alcohol that doesn’t overpower the palate. At 23.8% ABV, KEEL’s vodka is said to provide a flavor profile at its peak and one of the smoothest and best-tasting experiences on the market. As a bonus, you can cut back on calories and alcohol while still enjoying your favorite cocktails.
Essentially, this innovation is a refreshing alternative to heavy vodka. It can be used to craft various cocktails, as you would with regular vodkas, such as a Bloody Mary.
A 1.5oz serving rakes in around 58 calories, which is lower than regular vodka. You can purchase KEEL vodka from third-party sites that ship throughout the US. A 750mL bottle goes for around $21.
Quarter G/N
Quarter G/N is the world’s first quarter-strength gin replacement that promises to deliver the original taste and experience of a full-strength gin but with a fraction of the alcohol. Quarter’s unique blend consists of a mix of juniper, coriander, angelica, orange peel, and grapefruit peel and clocks in at just about 12% ABV.
On the palate, this gin replacement tastes similar to what you’d expect from a London dry gin, but with refreshing and bright citrus notes from the orange and grapefruit peels.
With the lower alcohol content, you can expect to cut back on a decent amount of calories. For instance, using Quarter G/N for a gin and tonic mix will get you to just 50 calories (compared to 250 calories with regular gin).
A bottle goes for about £27 on their website.
Atopia
Atopia offers a range of premium spirits with an extremely low ABV of 0.5%. You can select from three main products; Rhubarb & Ginger, Hedgerow Berry, and Spiced Citrus.
Atopia’s spiced citrus seems to be the most popular choice, comprising a blend of orange, juniper, coriander, angelica root, and lemon. According to the brand, it’s best served as a gin substitute—just mix it with tonic water and garnish with an orange slice.
Each bottle goes for about £23-25 and can be purchased from their website or third-party vendors.
Cupcake LightHearted
Imagine enjoying your favorite wine styles, but with much fewer calories and less alcohol!
While many table wines sit at around 12% ABV, the Cupcake LightHearted series clocks in at just 8% ABV and falls under the category of low-alcohol wines. These contain just 80 calories per 5oz serve, whereas regular wine typically contains around 120 calories.
There are five different types of wines to choose from; Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Rosé, and Pino Noir. Each bottle is vegan-friendly, gluten-free, and contains just 0.5g of sugar. They’re priced at $11 per bottle.
How Much Alcohol Can I Drink?
According to the NHS, there’s no level of drinking that’s completely safe. But that doesn’t mean you’d have to ditch booze for good. Sticking within the recommended drinking limits can significantly lower your risk of health-related issues.
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, this is the recommended alcohol limit; men should stick to two or fewer standard drinks per day, while women should aim to have one or fewer standard drinks each day.
And one standard drink isn’t all that much. For context, one standard drink is roughly equivalent to a standard 5oz pour of wine or a regular 12oz can of beer. With that in mind, it’s definitely easy to push past these daily recommended limits, especially while you’re having fun.
How Does Mindful Drinking Come Into The Picture?
Going teetotal isn’t your only option. Mindful drinking is that middle-ground approach that enables you to achieve your wellness goals without giving up alcohol. It’s all about being aware of how much you drink and how your drinking decisions impact your physical health, mental wellness, relationships, and finances.
With mindful drinking, you’ll keep track of your alcohol intake and set prior limits of how much you want to drink. This helps to keep you within a healthy drinking limit and ensures you have complete control over your drinking urges, and not the other way around.
Since mindful drinking typically involves setting an alcohol limit, you may opt for the non-alcoholic or low-alcohol versions of your favorite drinks to keep within those set limits. That way, you can still enjoy a fun night out with your friends, socialize with a drink in your hand, or kick back and relax with a glass of low-alcohol wine in the evening—but without putting yourself at risk of the adverse effects of alcohol.
If you’re looking to kickstart your mindful drinking journey, Sunnyside is here to help! Sunnyside is a mindful drinking app that provides a structured approach to empower you to drink more mindfully. You’ll receive accountability messages, access to real-life coaches, and personalized action plans to help you achieve your wellness goals.
If you’re ready to gain complete control over your drinking decisions and habits, feel free to sign up for Sunnyside’s free 15-day trial!
