Gone are the days when the only alternative to an alcoholic beverage was a traditional soft drink or plain water.
As the number of people choosing to drink less or not at all grows, the market is responding with more and better-quality non-alcoholic versions of traditional boozy beverages.
It isn’t just non-alcoholic beers and wines that are available these days. Non-alcoholic versions of spirits are also easier to find. You can even buy premix non-alcoholic drinks from a variety of brands, with alcohol-free gin and tonics (G&Ts), margaritas and negronis available in our supermarkets and larger bottle shops.
But how do they taste? We assembled five of the premix G&T options and asked 11 CHOICE staff to test them out.
What is the best non-alcoholic gin and tonic premix?
It was a close contest, but the winner of our taste test was the Naked Life Classic G&T. Three of our tasters said it was closest to the traditional alcoholic version of the drink.
Not far behind, in second place was the Lyres G&T. While nobody thought this product tasted particularly like a real gin and tonic, several did comment favourably on its pleasant, slightly gingery flavour.
Here’s how each product performed, from the highest to the lowest rated, according to our tasting panel.
“Interesting flavour, but it doesn’t taste like a gin and tonic.” (James)
“Ginger, fruit flavours. A good balance.” (Deepa)
“Strong aftertaste like ginger. Not unpleasant.” (Tony)
“Refreshing, but I would prefer more fizz.” (Deanna)
“More like watery ginger beer than a gin and tonic.” (Jane)
3. Gordon’s 0% Gin with Tonic and a Hint of Lime
Pack size: 4 x 330ml bottle
Price per pack: $16.49
Price per drink: $4.12
Taste test score: 4.3/10
Ingredients: carbonated water, sugar, natural flavours with botanicals, lime juice (from concentrate), food acids, preservative, quinine.
What our testers said:
“Fresh, tangy, but a little too sweet.” (Megan)
“Very floral. Delicate, light flavour but does have an overall artificial vibe.” (Jordan)
“Tastes like soda water with a dissolved lolly.” (Jane)
“Flavour very weak and slightly soapy.” (Deanna)
“Not particularly special in any way.” (Edward)
4. Monday Distillery Classic Non-Alcoholic G&T
Pack size: 4 x 300ml bottle
Price per pack: $20.99
Price per drink: $5.25
Taste test score: 3.1/10
Ingredients: carbonated Australian spring water, natural distilled gin flavour and concentrate, citric acid, stevia, natural flavours and natural extracts.
What our testers said:
“Quite watery and not much substance to it, but easy to drink.” (Guy)
“I winced when I first tasted it. Not good.” (Jen)
“A bit sherbetty, and too sweet.” (Jane)
“Bland – more like soda water than gin and tonic.” (Tony)
We asked 11 CHOICE staff to test five non-alcoholic premix gin and tonic options.
Our verdict: Are non-alcoholic gin and tonic premix drinks any good?
Most of our testers were unimpressed by the products they tried and most agreed that they still had a way to go. In particular, the drinks were criticised for lacking the typical botanical flavours they would expect of gin.
Those who said would be willing to buy these products (only four out of the 11), said they’d probably be willing to pay around $5 for one of these drinks as an alternative to other soft drinks if they were avoiding alcohol and wanted something to enjoy in a social setting.
How we tested
We had a blind tasting panel made up of 11 CHOICE staff. They tasted the five products in our test and then scored each sample out of 10. All of the samples were served chilled. Scores given are an average.
Margaret Rafferty joined CHOICE in 2018 as a Content editor and since then has filled the roles of Commissioning editor, Managing editor and now Editorial consultant. Margaret has written on a wide variety of topics and enjoys making complex subjects easy to understand.
With over 20 years of media experience, Margaret brings a strong storytelling background to CHOICE. She works closely with people across the organisation to help tell stories that make a positive difference to people.
Margaret is passionate about uncovering bad practices and helping Australians understand how to avoid falling victim to shonky products and services.
Find Margaret on LinkedIn.
Margaret Rafferty joined CHOICE in 2018 as a Content editor and since then has filled the roles of Commissioning editor, Managing editor and now Editorial consultant. Margaret has written on a wide variety of topics and enjoys making complex subjects easy to understand.
With over 20 years of media experience, Margaret brings a strong storytelling background to CHOICE. She works closely with people across the organisation to help tell stories that make a positive difference to people.
Margaret is passionate about uncovering bad practices and helping Australians understand how to avoid falling victim to shonky products and services.
Find Margaret on LinkedIn.
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