Unlike Sober October, which gets its impetus simply because it rhymes (which, to be fair, is as good a reason as any), Dry January knows you started off a brand-new year with a throbbing headache, a parched mouth and possibly using a scrunched-up bathmat as a pillow. And if you’re over the age of 30, it’s quite possible you still feel like that. Alcohol never walks away from a good time without taking its pound of flesh.
Even if you’re not the type to make resolutions, it’s not a bad idea to spend January atoning for the digestible hedonism of the holidays. And think of your future self, too. Abstaining from alcohol for a few weeks will help clear your head and let your body bounce back after 31 days of hardcore cookie consumption, and perhaps help you forget the agony of a few unplanned hangovers. With 2024 being an election year, you may want to grant yourself advance permission to give in to your emotional impulses come next December, knowing that Dry January will be waiting in the wings to help cleanse you of your well-earned sins.
Considering that most beverages on earth are naturally nonalcoholic (drinking more water really should be a New Year’s resolution for everyone), and taking into account the recent zero-proof beverage boom, participating in Dry January is pretty darn easy. It’s also a good reason to treat yourself to some brand-new zero-proof drinks you may be curious about, like any one of the excellent ready-to-drink canned cocktails that have hit store shelves in the past few years.
As for the many nonalcoholic “replacement” spirits on the market, it’s important to remember that they’ll never be perfect replications without the presence of alcohol, and that’s more than okay. Each of them is beautiful in its own special way and has its own role to play in the beverage landscape.
If you’re a creature of routine who enjoys unwinding at night with something on the rocks, turn to botanical spirits, such as gin. Without the burn of booze, the true flavor of ingredients used in nonalcoholic distilling are amplified, giving you the chance to appreciate spirits from a different angle. For simple drinks, there are bottles that are unpalatable on their own but magically transform into something that tastes familiar when mixed with flavorful sodas or fruit juice.
Here are some of our favorite bottles in several spirits categories that you should keep on your radar for Dry January.
Nonalcoholic gins
Gin is more than a beverage — it’s a vibe. Boisterous by nature, gin is a symphony of strong botanicals that, when done well, makes the alcoholic flavor seem almost irrelevant.
“What’s really interesting about gin is that, by definition, it only has to have juniper in it,” said Eric Fooy, co-owner of Dutch Courage. “As for the rest of the botanicals, you can go nuts.”
With that amount of leeway, nonalcoholic-gin producers have created a class of product that’s more than passable — it’s extraordinary. Here are 6 nonalcoholic gin standouts to try.
Nonalcoholic rums
While I remain ecstatic for the very existence of nonalcoholic white rum, I have yet to find one worth its price tag. Dark rum, however, is a different story. That’s because with complex, strongly flavored spirits, nonalcoholic distillers have more variables to play with and more routes to explore in their quest to make something that tastes (almost) like the real thing.
Are they perfect replicas? Of course not, because rum tastes like alcohol, but these nonalcoholic rum alternatives are good enough to create the illusion of the “grown-up” cocktails I still crave. Poolside piña coladas await. Here are 7 nonalcoholic dark rums that deliver on spice and flavor.
Nonalcoholic whiskeys
Whiskey is a serious drink made for serious occasions, and in the world of zero-proof spirits, nonalcoholic whiskeys must work twice as hard to be successful or be taken seriously. No one is spending upward of $40 for a bottle of whiskey-ish liquid that needs to be drowned in cola to be palatable.
Just like any good magician does, the best zero-proof whiskey brands keep their secrets close to their chests, revealing just enough to tempt while leaving most of it a mystery. Here are the 5 best nonalcoholic whiskeys that are worth the splurge.
Nonalcoholic tequilas
Nonalcoholic tequilas are not a novelty but a proper ingredient to be mixed thoughtfully.
After I got older and sober, I never thought I would be able to taste tequila again, much less one I could appreciate with a wiser, less reckless palate. But here we are, living in a golden age of nonalcoholic beverages, where not only do I have access to nonalcoholic tequila, but I have access to many nonalcoholic tequilas. There are tequilas I can slowly sip from chilled rocks glasses and blend up into poolside-worthy frozen or on-the-rocks margaritas. There are even tequilas that taste lovely served with club soda and a twist of lime. Here are 5 nonalcoholic tequilas that are worth trying.
Nonalcoholic bitters
Bitters have always seemed like a safe nonalcoholic option behind the bar; they’re found on supermarket shelves next to bottles of Day-Glo margarita mix and jars of pearl onions. But it turns out that bitters not only contain alcohol but do so in concentrations of up to 45 percent. As the zero-proof movement has continued to pick up steam, however, a new crop of small-batch bitters makers has turned to an alternative ingredient as a base: glycerin.
When tasting glycerin-based bitters, it’s easy to identify the flavors listed on the label. Rather than a potent cacophony of indeterminate extractions that build a solid wall of bitter, nonalcoholic bitters are mellow, with more discernible notes. Explore them as something shiny, new and brimming with possibility. These 4 nonalcoholic bitters will give your zero-proof cocktails a boost.