Which alcohol-free spirit is the best for Christmas mocktails?

Christmas is one of the booziest times of the year. The Bailey’s comes out in full force (just like the reemergence of Micheal Bublé), there’s mulled wine stands on every street corner and discounted bubbles in all the supermarkets. Honestly, it’s a pretty tough time to be avoiding the strong stuff. But not impossible, because being alcohol-free is an ever-growing trend. I’ve not had booze for almost three months, and every time I talk to someone about it, they say they want to try it out too. Or they’ve already done it and found out, shockingly – it’s not that bad. 

Whatever your reasons may be for not wanting to drink, you’ll be pleased to know there are heaps of booze-free alternatives out there. There’s beer (go for Big Drop), prosecco (Nozeco) and spirits of all kinds. We're testing out the latter because there's no better excuse for making mocktails than Christmas. 

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The Christmas Old Fashioned with Celtic Soul

Recipe:

• Brown sugar (or hazelnut syrup)
• Angostura bitters
• Orange peel
• Cranberries
• Celtic Soul – £18.99 from Celtic Soul/Amazon

To make the old fashioned, combine all the ingredients, add some ice and pour the spirit over. I swapped the brown sugar for a hazelnut syrup – because nuts are festive, right? And I crushed a couple of cranberries in there too when adding the orange peel.

The verdict:

While Celtic Soul doesn’t explicitly state that it’s a whisky alternative, you can tell that’s the vibe they’re going for by the name, the packaging and some of the suggested recipes on the website. Once you open the bottle, you’re hit with a kind of musky yet sweet smell, without a boozy burning sensation, while cinnamon adds a kind of festive flair. 

It was so smooth that I couldn’t sip and savour, I basically necked it, and continued to make it as a post-work drink for the rest of the week. The slight citrusy flavour worked really nicely with the sweet syrup and vanilla undertones of the spirit, and it was really nice to not wince after every sip. 

The Spiced Apple Margarita with Clean T 

Recipe:

• Apple juice
• Fresh lime juice (from two limes)
• Agave nectar
• Ground cinnamon
• Brown sugar
• Salt 
• Star anise
• Clean T – £19 from Clean Co/Amazon

Combine cinnamon, salt and sugar on a plate before rubbing a lime wedge around the rim of the glass and covering it in the cinnamon mix. Then you’ve got to get some crushed ice, I used a blender, before pouring in Clean T, apple juice, freshly squeezed lime, agave nectar and a dash of cinnamon. Shake it all up, pour it out and pop star anise in there, because it's Jesus' birthday, and drink.

The verdict:

I know who Spencer Matthews is enough to be cautious about anything he sells. But you know what? He actually won me over with this (though I’ll never forget that bridge breakup). The Clean Co’s Clean T had a punchy scent, yes I’m sniffing them all before using them, and the agave immediately gave me flashbacks of start-of-the-night tequila shots. I was excited from the outset. 

It tasted like an apple crumble because it was so sweet, and not very marg-y, but the tequila alternative did give it a smokiness. My only critique is that it was quite watery, but I guess that stops it from tasting too much like booze. Nevertheless, my friend (who never had a marg before) loved it and said it was their favourite of the night, so snaps to me.

The Praline Espresso Martini with Strykk

Recipe:

• Espresso
• Hazlenut syrup
• Chocolate to garnish
• Styrkk Not V*dka – £16 from Strykk

If you'd like to try making this, here's what I did. Four shots (for two serves) of the Strykk, three-quarters of a shot of hazelnut syrup for the praline flavour, two shots of espresso, and then shake with ice until you're in pain, then shake some more. Pour out and top with chocolate gratings.

The verdict:

You know how everyone has that one spirit they can’t drink? Yeah. Mine is vodka. To cut a long story short, I had too much one time and now I feel a guttural sense of dread whenever I see it, like a bad ex. The Strykk had quite a wall to break down from the outset. I’m going to say straight-up, I don’t think this is made for espresso martinis. It’s made with essences of cucumber and menthol, so it’s very crisp in its flavour, which would work way better in a summer drink or just with soda and lime?

It tasted weird, basically because coffee and cucumber do not mix. It was also missing the coffee kick from a liqueur too, I’d usually opt for Mr Black’s, so it lacked the warm nuttiness. I should’ve just bought this, my bad.

The Ginger Toddy with Seedlip Spice 94

Recipe:

• Pear juice
• Ginger and cinnamon syrup
• Crystallized Ginger cube (I didn't have one)
• Seedlip Spice 94 – £20 from Seedlip/Amazon

The Seedlip recipe says to blend the spirit with pear juice (I had apple and pear) and ginger and cinnamon syrup (nearly impossible to find in Balham, so opted for a ginger preserve), which you then heat up. I added a dash of cinnamon and let it do its thing.

The verdict:

Seedlip is like the designer label of alcohol-free spirits. You see adverts for it, it’s on menus in bars, it’s the first brand that spring to my mind when I thought about doing this project. Like a Chanel bag, it's not very affordable. The last time I checked, a bottle at my local Sains was around £30, which turned me off. Nevertheless, ‘tis the season for spending and the Spice 94 looked festive, so here we are. 

As the name suggests, the Spice 94 has pretty intense flavours, I got a waft of cardamom, all-spice and citrus when pouring it out. The result was a delicious remedy for a cold night. You could very easily curl up with a hot cup of this and watch Succession, which I actually did do. Even with just a tonic or ginger ale, this would be a really delicious festive drink because of its careful balance between spice and citrus.

What’s the conclusion?

Ok, I messed up the Strykk so may be best to rule it out, though I feel everyone should try it at some point. The Clean T was smoky enough to pass as a tequila substitute, but the wateriness is offputting, so that’s third. As for the winner? It was a really close call. Both the Celtic Soul and the Seedlip are delicious, versatile and make banging mocktails. The Celtic Soul wins it though, only because I feel like you get a lot more for your money’s worth. That being said, you’ll probably find me with both of these on Christmas Day.