UK - None alcoholic drinks?

Mr_Grinch

I'm thinking of giving up the booze. I feel pretty rough after even a small amount, and to be frank I'm outgoing enough without it that I really don't need it to 'loosen up' like maybe I used to.

Anyway, I do quite like the taste of a few drinks, can anyone recommend decent none alcoholic versions of:

- Beer (Becks Blue?)
- Amaretto (I love it, if I can relax with a none alcoholic amaretto and coke of an evening I'd be happy, I love the taste and smell!)
- Prosecco/sparkling wine (my wife still likes a drink and I'd like to be able to have something along with her that isn't just lemonade in a wine glass).

My brief googling didn't give much in the way of answers so I thought the collective PA knowledge would be useful. Links to particular UK available brands would be appreciated!

RMS Oceanic

I'm not an expert in either, but Shloer is the goto for sparkling grapejuice drink without alcohol.

Djeet

To replace Amaretto you could try an almond-flavored syrup. I'm sure there are other brands, but right now I can only think of Torani.

JebusUD

Kaliber beer is the NA brand of Guinness lager

Mr_Grinch

Djeet wrote: »

To replace Amaretto you could try an almond-flavored syrup. I'm sure there are other brands, but right now I can only think of Torani.

Yeah I was looking at the syrups, the kind they use in coffee shops. Would that work just mixed with coke?

And I forgot about Shloer. It never really tasted like sparkling wine to me though, but perhaps that's just a bi-product of not having alcohol and it's the closest I'll get

Jedoc

A good replacement for sparkling wine might be a non-alcoholic French 75. Bubbly and tart with a touch of bitters.

Quid

Mr_Grinch wrote: »

Djeet wrote: »

To replace Amaretto you could try an almond-flavored syrup. I'm sure there are other brands, but right now I can only think of Torani.

Yeah I was looking at the syrups, the kind they use in coffee shops. Would that work just mixed with coke?

And I forgot about Shloer. It never really tasted like sparkling wine to me though, but perhaps that's just a bi-product of not having alcohol and it's the closest I'll get

The syrup should. You might have to try a few different brands to find one that's just right.

JebusUD

Cola and syrup tends to be quite sweet when combined. You might look for a half sweet cola to mix it with.

Cream soda is also a delicious and fun NA cocktail. Soda water, flavored syrup, half and half, or cream. The vanilla ones are the classic favor.

I like raspberry a lot too.

CelestialBadger

Fizzy water with a squeeze of lemon is refreshing and not too sweet.

Zilla360

Welcome to pretty-much-teetotaller's world...

Pretty much the only Synthohol I've ever tried has been this (spoilered for size):

It is... okay, but not great. I began to understand why Picard is so grumpy a lot of the time.

Otherwise it's all just mixed fruit juices and cordials (do you want brand names?)

Quid

You might want to give flavored seltzer water like Lacroix a try if you haven't had it before. It's not the same as alcohol but has a pleasant, subdued flavor with lots of fizziness.

Mr_Grinch

Zilla360 wrote: »

Welcome to pretty-much-teetotaller's world...

Pretty much the only Synthohol I've ever tried has been this (spoilered for size):

It is... okay, but not great. I began to understand why Picard is so grumpy a lot of the time.

Otherwise it's all just mixed fruit juices and cordials (do you want brand names?)

To be fair I find pretty much all lager "okay, but not great" so that'll do nicely! I'll get some 'normal' beer in for friends and stick to this myself.

Thanks for all the other suggestions guys, give me something to play with!

Justice

Sweet. I recommend sweet. Someone told me that alcoholics like candy, which seems often to be the case, and I find that when I consume sweet things I want to drink a lot less. We have non-alcoholic "champagne" in the USA that I bet you guys have too; it's essentially fizzy grape, apple, etc. juice in a fancy bottle. It does the trick. Otherwise I recommend a lime fizz---bubbly water with an ounce each of lime juice and simple syrup.

LaOs

The non-alcoholic Budweiser Prohibition Brew is actually pretty good. I'll admit, it's the only N/A beer I've tried, but I have tried it and it does still taste like beer without tasting like trash. It's like a slightly sweet malty beer (a little sweet in that malty way; nowhere near something really sweet like a Fruli or anything like that). I'm not sure if you've got it over there, though.

Dis'

Brewdogs Non-alcoholic beer 'Nanny State' is pretty alright if you want a flavourful nonalcoholic beer.

bwanie

Nanny state...Shudders...

Ipa needs alcohol!

What i do like is called radler (german for bikerider) which comes in 0 and 2% variants. It's beer mixed with fruitjuices ( think lemon, apple, grapefruit) but i'm not sure you can get in in america.

All the dutch lager and some german brands have radlers in their assortment, maybe they've begun exporting it as well..

Darkewolfe

We have tons of radlers and shandies in the IS, but they're still alcoholic, usually in the 2-5% range.

alltheolive

Since you're in the UK, I want to put in a plug for Square Root sodas, who I love and who occasionally do things like the rhubarb-"gin" soda: http://www.squarerootsoda.co.uk/product-category/special-edition/ .

If you're not picky about the subtler notes that may be present in amaretto, you can certain buy plain old almond extract: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=289599159 it's normally got a little alcohol in it, like vanilla extract, but you're not going to drop THAT much almond extract in your drink.

bwanie

Darkewolfe wrote: »

We have tons of radlers and shandies in the IS, but they're still alcoholic, usually in the 2-5% range.

odd, the 0% taste pretty good!

darkmayo

Djeet wrote: »

To replace Amaretto you could try an almond-flavored syrup. I'm sure there are other brands, but right now I can only think of Torani.

I've made amaretto sours with with syrups like that before, cant really tell the difference.

Mr_Grinch

darkmayo wrote: »

Djeet wrote: »

To replace Amaretto you could try an almond-flavored syrup. I'm sure there are other brands, but right now I can only think of Torani.

I've made amaretto sours with with syrups like that before, cant really tell the difference.

That's really good to know. Ended up ordering some online and they've yet to arrive!

Got some "Becks Blue" in along with a bottle of "Fre" wine. The Becks is actually ok!

honovere

Some kind of Fassbrause might be available in the UK.