Ahead of Dry January, Express & Star reporter James Vukmirovic taste test the non-alcoholic versions of beers, gins and ciders.
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00:00 Hello, I'm James Ferevich and welcome to my kitchen. I have been known to enjoy a beer
00:08 or two or a glass of cider. I've also started enjoying the taste of wine this year. But
00:13 one thing that's happening is that people are looking at January as a month to detox,
00:18 to sort of not drink as much, maybe because of the festive season being too heavy for
00:22 them or just a general feeling that they want to sort of give up on drinking that. And I
00:27 admire the idea of that, but my view about dry January is why give up something that
00:34 you like the taste of just because you feel you need to cut down. If you do want to cut
00:37 down, you do actually want to try something different. Please let me tell you there are
00:40 some other things that you can try. I've lined up eight drinks here and these are all zero
00:47 or 0.5% alcohol. Basically they're alcohol free drinks. We've got two ales, a lager,
00:53 a cider, another lager and no secco, Prosecco, but no secco. We've got a bottle of wine,
01:01 a Merlot I believe and a gin and tonic. I'm not a big gin and tonic person, but I'm prepared
01:07 to give it a go to sort of have a taste test. What I'm going to do is I have my handy glass
01:11 and I have my handy bottle opener. I'm going to pop open each one of these. I'm going to
01:17 give them a try. I'm going to give you my honest opinion of what they're like, because
01:21 I've been trying a few non-alcoholic drinks recently. The Heineken is very nice, the Peroni
01:25 is very nice. I've got to be honest with you, the Guinness is very nice as well. So I thought
01:29 let's give these ones a try and see what you think basically. Let's give them a go and
01:36 see what they taste like. I'll give you my honest opinion on what they taste like, whether
01:40 they sort of taste like the original, because most of these I have sort of drunk before
01:45 and whether I'd recommend you drinking them further on. So let's try it with this one.
01:50 This is the Adnans Ghost Ship from Southwold. It's a citrus pale ale. It says here it's
01:58 got water, malted barley, malted rye, hopsheets and there's absolutely no alcohol in it. It
02:05 was at 0.5% volume. So as I've apparently found out, 0.5%, there's more in a very ripe
02:12 banana or a piece of ripe bread. So let's get her open. My trusty Nessie bottle opener.
02:22 That's the Adnans. Let's pour it out, let's give it a go. I'm not going to drink all of
02:26 it, I'm going to drink enough to sort of get a flavour for it. So if you take a look at
02:32 it, you can see that it's already got the sort of colour and flavour, well it's already
02:37 got the colour rather, of a decent pale ale. So let's down the hatch and let's see what
02:44 it tastes like. See I've had Ghost Ship before, I'll be honest I've drunk most of these at
02:55 certain points apart from the two that I've had, that's why I'm saving that for last.
02:59 But you get the hops for this, you get a very nice hoppy taste. It's got a lot of flavours
03:05 to it and again it tastes exactly like what you'd expect to drink from the alcoholic version
03:12 I suppose you would say. So this is definitely one I would recommend for you if you want
03:16 to give it a go in January. Right then, next one up is the Sharps Doom Bar. I like Doom
03:23 Bar, I've had Doom Bar quite a few times. The Amber Ale is a very nice one. This is
03:26 0%, it says balanced and moorish. I actually tried this fairly recently when I was watching
03:33 Dave Gorman at Dudley Sound Hall. I fancied a drink, I didn't want to have a soft drink
03:37 so I decided to have this. I found it to be very nice so I think my opinion of it is going
03:43 to be pretty good but obviously we're doing this video so again, pop her open. Get that
03:52 off. It's feisty to come off that one. Right, once again quick pour out, let's see how it
03:59 goes. Again, check out the colour, it's a nice sort of dark ale. This is an Amber Ale
04:07 so it's going to be a little bit darker in terms of how it looks. You can see the sort
04:12 of darkest texture there. It smells, I'm not going to lie to you, it actually smells like
04:22 sawdust. It's kind of a weird odour to it. I mean obviously I think that's going to be
04:27 whatever is in there because it says an aroma of spicy resinous hop sweet roasted malt.
04:34 So that's probably the hops I can smell, that's probably why it smells like sawdust. It says
04:39 in terms of taste, balanced, succulent dry fruit, lightly roasted malt, finish moorish
04:46 subtle bitterness. So let's see how it tastes. It has got that subtle bitterness, I can really
05:03 sort of get that taste in the back of my throat. It's very pleasant though and I'll be honest
05:08 with you, if you can get past the fact that it smells like sawdust, this is also what
05:11 I'd say recommend as well. Now that we've done the ales, we've done a pale ale and we've
05:16 done a more traditional Amber Ale from the UK, let's take in one of the lagers. This
05:21 is Erdinger, an alcohol fry refreshing isotonic drink. So it's probably the sort of thing
05:26 you could actually drink after going for a run or participating in sporting events. I've
05:31 played rugby for years so I'm used to post-match beers and everything but it says here, "Distinctively
05:36 refreshing flavour of our isotonic thirst quencher Erdinger alcohol fry is what makes
05:42 it so unique. It's purely natural ingredients supplying the body with important nutrients
05:47 in the form of vitamins B9 and B12." So I'm actually drinking a health drink here. That's
05:53 pretty good. I'll just again pop her open, pour out a little bit. Just to get the sort
06:07 of taste, let's have a quick smell. Doesn't actually smell like anything. Lager is the
06:11 funny one because it doesn't really smell of anything. So I'll just down the hatch and
06:23 tear a taste. Very pleasant, very nice. Again, you can start to taste the hops with it, you
06:31 can taste basically what they brewed it with and it is, I've got to say, that is delicious,
06:36 that's actually really nice and it's a decent sized bottle. You'll get value for your money
06:40 as well so definitely recommend that one. Okay, five drinks down and five to go which
06:46 are down here. Still got the Thatchers, the Lucky Saint, the Nosecco, the Merlot and the
06:57 Gin and Tonic. So nice selection to come. This brings us more of an interesting area
07:03 of that for if you don't fancy drinking a lager or a beer or a cider, what else is there?
07:10 These are three things here. First things first though, let's drink the cider. This
07:13 is Thatchers Zero. The idea of alcoholic free cider is a bit of a lost one. It's a weird,
07:20 I think it's firstly a bit of a strange concept but you know what, if it works I'll give it
07:25 a go and I'll see what it tastes like. It says here, Thatchers Zero is a golden, medium
07:30 dry, alcohol free cider with aptly aromas and crisp refreshments. Crafted using a selection
07:36 of our favourite cider apples, the blend of traditional and modern varieties creates an
07:41 alcohol free cider with body, smoothness and character. Those are bold claims. So let's
07:48 give them a try and see what happens. Get my Nessie key ring out, pop the top, have a sniff.
07:56 Got a decent aroma to it. Let's pour a little bit out, obviously give that a go.
08:04 I've been washing this glass every time I've had a drink though so I've not been mixing
08:10 flavours which would be a bit weird, the idea of a Doom bar and this. But let's try this out.
08:16 Again I can smell apples but I still can't really, with cider you usually get a whiff of the flavour
08:23 so it doesn't carry much of an aroma. However, give it a go. That's tangy, that's very fruity.
08:40 It tastes like, well it tastes like apple juice basically but with a certain amount of fizz to it,
08:46 a certain amount of character to it. That works very well actually, that's actually very nice.
08:51 Contains sulphates for freshness so obviously that's what I've got. By the way, suitable for
08:56 celiacs, vegetarians and vegans so if you truly are making new you new you, this might be the
09:01 way forward in the new year. Okay we're down to the last of the lagers. So we're down to the lucky
09:07 saint. I've had a night out of drinking this stuff so I know what it's like. It's 0.5% it says
09:12 unfiltered lager. Aggressively crafted with over 400 years of proud brewing heritage. We leave our
09:18 beer unfiltered for maximum flavour even without the alcohol. And I have drunk it and I'll be honest
09:25 with you I'm quite biased because I actually quite like the taste of this but I'll give you my sort
09:29 of honest opinion right now so you can see what you think. Get her open, get the trusty glass back up,
09:36 bit of a pour into that. Enough to sort of get the flavour so sort of see there, nice sort of
09:44 milky sort of look. It's clear lager, it's not particularly fizzy which is all, I'll be honest
09:51 with you a little bit of a downer when it comes to lager. Again no smell because it's a lager,
09:56 lagers don't tend to smell unless they've gone off. I can actually see from this experience.
10:00 But clean, refreshing, slightly citric taste as well and very refreshing. This is a very nice
10:14 lager it does work quite nicely. I'd say go for the Lucky Sains if you fancy trying a lager but
10:19 you want to try to get a bit of taste to it. Okay at this point now I can say goodbye to my Nessie
10:25 bottle opener because we're actually down to things that don't need bottle openers.
10:30 The Nosecco, the Merlot, the Iceberg alcohol-free Merlot and Gordon's Gin with Tonic or alcohol-free
10:40 Gin with Tonic as it were. Let's go for the Nosecco first if anyone likes a glass of Nosecco.
10:45 I've grown to like Prosecco over the last year or so because of well a press trip I was very lucky
10:51 to go on in Italy which told me about the various tastes of what you can get from different wines,
10:58 particularly from that part of Italy. It was a lucky experience for me and I got to try a lot
11:03 of very good wines and develop a taste for it. Now this obviously is a very small bottle and
11:10 it's a Nosecco which with the back of it it says "Five sparkling wine, the perfect
11:17 drink made from alcohol-removed wine" which is an interesting concept in itself as we're going to
11:26 find out with the Merlot. Let's just dig into this. I'm actually going to get a knife out just to sort
11:32 of cut through the rest of this to make sure that I don't have to use my teeth. Handy drawer there.
11:39 Let's get her open and let's get her drunk as it were. A pop bottle so in fact I think this is
11:49 actually a screw top so bear with. Yes I was right, it's a screw top bottle.
11:53 It's a very odd odour that comes out of that.
11:58 I've obviously smelt Prosecco, you can smell the grape with that with this
12:05 it's kind of hard to tell what's in there but this is from the, it's suitable for vegans as
12:11 well so again New Year New Starts if you go for your vegan, decide to become a vegan, it's for you.
12:16 Again people probably look at me and think I'm a philistine right now because I'm drinking this
12:26 in this sort of glass but it's just for context to make sure I stick with the same thing.
12:31 So again sort of a weird, weird smell to it, I can't quite pick out what that is
12:39 but let's give it a taste and see how it goes.
12:41 I'm not entirely sure about that, that's very, it's very sweet. Feels like a lot of compensation for
12:58 lack of alcohol, the amount of sugar in it but once you get past the sweetness it is actually
13:04 quite refreshing so I'd say honestly, yeah, probably give, yeah, alcohol free Prosecco a go.
13:09 Here's the Nosecco, here we go, see what you think. Okay we're done with the Nosecco, let's move on to
13:16 the other type of grape beverage that you can get which is wine. Wonderful tasting substance itself,
13:22 a nice red Merlot with the alcohol removed, made by Iceberg. It says this fruity aromatic Merlot
13:30 is full-bodied, lush and velvety with intense plum and blackberry flavours with the alcohol gently
13:36 removed. You should enjoy it at room temperature, once open keep in the fridge and consume within
13:40 three days. This is room temperature.
13:46 Fruity Bouquet, I'm not entirely sure what I think of that, it's kind of weird but let's give it a go.
13:52 Pour out a little bit, nothing too strenuous than that.
13:56 It's not the clearest thing I've ever seen in terms of a drink that I've tried but
14:04 it smells nice, I do get the black, what was it, the
14:10 the blackberry and the plum smells inside so let's give it a go.
14:16 [Sips]
14:18 Tangy, has got a bit of a fresh flavour to it and
14:29 I've got to say that's actually nice. I can taste plum and I can taste blackberry so
14:36 again I think that's a very pleasant one. That's the sort of the first of the wines, there's plenty
14:40 of other ones you can try as well if you like your rosés or your whites then there's plenty of those
14:43 as well. Right and finally we come to Gin and Tonic or rather Gordon's Alcohol Free with Tonic
14:52 and a hint of Lime. It says spirit made with distilled botanicals mixed with tonic and a hint
14:59 of lime. Now I've been told the best way to drink a Gin and Tonic because I don't drink the stuff
15:04 really is with ice and a slice so I've bit and I've prepared that. I'm going to pour this over,
15:10 I'm going to have a go because again you never see what to try stuff. I didn't discover whiskey
15:15 until I was 40 so maybe or 35 so maybe this will actually be very nice. It pours out okay.
15:23 Full glass, get the ice and slice up there.
15:36 Certainly has the smell of the botanicals too, you can smell lots of the sort of different
15:40 I suppose herbs and spices are going into making a rum, sorry a gin. So that's all there,
15:47 you've got the ice and slice to go with that, certainly adds to the flavour. Let's have a try.
15:51 Tastes like lemonade. I'll be honest with you that tastes like lemonade to me, it doesn't taste like
16:03 anything sort of alcoholic but again I will be honest here just offering sort of my own
16:08 impartial opinion. It's not something I'd go for myself but there is also the option of
16:13 alcohol-free gin and other spirits out there if you do want to give those a go as well.
16:19 So in summary we've gone through eight different drinks, pale ale, another ale,
16:26 ciders and lagers and also gin and tonic, wine and no seco. And I suppose the summary is that
16:34 if you're going to do Jai January there's plenty of things you can try. You can stick to soft
16:41 drinks if you want to, you can just drink water all the way through, you can drink squash or
16:46 apple juice, orange juice or anything like that or if you do want to stick with the alcohol taste
16:53 without actually getting the alcohol that goes with it there's plenty of things you can try.
16:56 These are just a few, there's plenty more to try. Look at all your local shops,
17:00 I'm sure you'll find some good stuff in there.