Why Serious Drinkers Are Going Nolo (And Not Looking Back)

There’s a version of this story that starts with Dry January, a celebrity detox, or a wellness influencer talking about their relationship with alcohol. This isn’t that version.

This is the version where someone who genuinely loves a good Burgundy, keeps a beer fridge stocked with proper craft, and knows the difference between a G&T and a gin cocktail — decides to stop drinking. Or cut down. Or just want something worth drinking on a Tuesday night that isn’t sparkling water.

That’s who nolo drinks are for now. And the category has finally caught up with them.

It used to be terrible

Five years ago, alcohol-free beer tasted like something had gone wrong. Nolo wine was a polite way of saying grape juice with ideas above its station. And non-alcoholic spirits — the handful that existed — were essentially flavoured water in a premium bottle.

The problem wasn’t the ambition. It was the method. Most producers were taking alcoholic drinks and removing the alcohol afterwards, and the process stripped the flavour along with it. What was left was thin, sweet, and unconvincing.

Something changed

A few things happened at once. Breweries started brewing specifically for low or no alcohol from the start rather than removing it afterwards. Distillers began treating botanical spirits as their own category rather than a substitute. Winemakers invested properly in dealcoholisation technology that preserves flavour compounds instead of obliterating them.

Lucky Saint proved you could make a lager that tasted like a lager. Big Drop proved craft beer could work at 0.5%. Torres proved wine didn’t have to taste like punishment. Three Spirit, Seedlip, Pentire, Everleaf — a whole category of botanical drinks emerged that weren’t trying to be anything other than what they were.

The result is that for the first time, the question “what’s worth drinking if I’m not drinking?” has genuinely interesting answers.

Why it matters that you know what you’re buying

The category has grown fast enough that it now contains a lot of rubbish alongside the good stuff. For every Lucky Saint there are ten forgettable lagers. For every Torres Natureo there are shelves of thin, sweet wine alternatives that confirm every prejudice people have about nolo.

Knowing what’s actually worth your money matters. That’s the whole point of this site.

We review nolo drinks the way we’d review anything worth drinking — with the same standards, the same scepticism, and the same willingness to say when something doesn’t work. We score things out of ten. We tell you to skip it when it’s not worth buying. We’re not here to celebrate the category for existing — we’re here to find the parts of it that are genuinely good.

Where to start

If you’re new to nolo and don’t know where to begin, start with what you already drink. Beer drinker? Lucky Saint or Big Drop Pale Ale. Wine drinker? Torres Natureo Muscat. Gin drinker? Lyre’s Dry London Spirit or Pentire Adrift. More adventurous? Three Spirit Livener or Botivo.

Browse the reviews, use the scores, trust the verdicts. Buy it or skip it — that’s all you need to know.