Non-alcoholic Spirits
It sounds like a contradiction, but could be the next big thing to hit
drinks sales in Canada
A few years ago, on a trip to Napa, my most coveted bottles
from the immaculate local Whole Foods weren’t wine. I
eagerly put bottles of Seedlip’s Garden 108 and Spice 94
flavours in my basket, paying about $45 per bottle for the U.K.-
distilled spirits that were generating buzz of a non-alcoholic kind.
That was before Diageo bought and then increased its stake
in the pioneering brand, and 100-plus more non-alcoholic spirit
brands launched around the world. It was way before a global
health crisis made many Canadians more avid drinkers (a Statistics
Canada survey in March found that 24 per cent of Canadians are
drinking more during the pandemic) and helped create a rebound
generation of sober-curious and moderate drinkers.
Projections peg growth of the non-alcoholic spirits sector at
more than 30 per cent over the next few years to $30 billion glob-ally
by 2025. They’re not aimed at teetotalers (for whom a “placebo”
drink could actually be a dangerous anti-sobriety trigger), but at
adults – young and aging – who want the social ritual of cocktails
without the potential wellness and lifestyle downsides. They’re not
seeking to compete with alcoholic beverages; they’re providing an
alternative that might just become part of regular beer, wine and
spirits purchases.
Canadian brand founders each tell a personal story of seeing,
or experiencing, the need for an alternative to high-proof spirits.
For Calgarian founder of Sexy AF Spirits Jo-Anne Reynolds, the
lightbulb moment was a trip to California with some pregnant
friends who were stuck drinking soda and juice. Lumette founder
Alayne MacIsaac, co-founder of a craft distillery on Vancouver
Island, but not an avid drinker herself, chased the “passion project”
of her non-alcohol brand. After two years of conventional spirits
distilling in Ontario, H2 Craft Spirits managing partner Julian
Holland noticed “a younger generation drinking less alcohol; we
saw that every day,” prompting the creation of Spiritliss. Leanne
Kisil founded Solbrü in Winnipeg, out of her own personal sobri-ety
journey and holistic nutritionist studies. Bob Huitema, founder
of Sobrii (which has the distinction of being Canada’s first non-alcoholic
spirit) “loved cocktails, hated hangovers” and discovered,
while attending the Mindful Drinking Festival in the U.K., in early
2019 – and seeing entire British supermarket aisles stocked with
non-alcoholic drinks – that he was onto the drinks industry’s next
big trend.
To be alcohol-free, or not to be?
So why aren’t more of Canada’s craft and commercial distilleries
making no-alcohol products? It turns out, it’s not as simple as
it seems. Distilled then de-alcoholized spirits must contain less
than 0.5% ABV to be labelled non-alcoholic; since trace amounts
of alcohol could be problematic for abstainers or those with aller-gies,
some products opt to go the no-alcoholic route from the start.
Each style has advantages and downsides.
Sobrii’s Huitema chose to partner with a distiller to make a
de-alcoholized product. “I’ve been a marketer for a lot of quality,
premium brands, and I know how important it is to have authen-ticity
of the ingredients and the process.” Stratford’s Junction 56
Distillery was open to complying with Canadian Food Inspection
Agency production, labelling and shelf-stability standards for
Sobrii, instead of the Health Canada alcohol manufacturing rules
distilleries are accustomed to.
H2 Craft Spirits also went the de-alcoholization route, though
Holland said, “Had I known it was going to be this fraught with
hurdles or challenges, I might have thought twice about it!”
At Sheringham Distillery on Vancouver Island, although
Lumette passes through the still for an infusion of flavour, it
starts as water, not alcohol. “Making gin and having the balance
of botanicals is difficult enough,” said MacIsaac, of the distillery’s
global award-winning Seaside and Kazuki gins. “But doing it with-out
alcohol is very difficult. If you put a smaller amount of gin in a
cocktail you’re not necessarily getting the right amount of flavour.
But if you use Lumette, we’ve been able to get that balance.”
Solbrü and Sexy AF products are not made with alcohol and
not via distillation. Sexy AF cheekily named bottles of Amar-oh,
ViirGin and Triple Sexy are naturally flavoured with botanicals,
plant-based and low in calories and carbs. So are Solbrü’s Restore,
Elevate and Inspire flavours, which boast functional ingredients
like herbs, apple cider vinegar and mushrooms.
“I don’t call them spirits,” said founder Kisil. “I call them elixirs;
that has an ancient connotation.”
Straight out of the bottle, these products may struggle for
consumer acceptance. Of Lumette’s first Bright Light formula,
MacIsaac said, “In the beginning, there were a lot of comparisons
with alcoholic gin: the viscosity, the warmth of alcohol. It doesn’t
matter how good your non-alcoholic is, you’ll never get a direct
By Charlene Rooke
26 § POURED CANADA § www.poured.ca
/www.poured.ca
