Five delicious drinks to help you reduce your alcohol intake without compromising on flavour Aoife Carrigy's pick of low-alcohol drinks Domaine du Pas au Loup, Haut-Poitou AOP Sauvignon Blanc 2023 Fierce Mild AF Extra Pale Ale Lucky Saint Non-Alcoholic Hazy IPA Saicho Jasmine Sparkling Tea Dandy de Cidrô Tinto 2023 Sometimes we drink for the buzz of the booze, but often we drink for other things. The shared glass and the company we enjoy it in. The flavour hit, with or without paired food.
The marking of time: post-work, or pre-night out, or weekend o’clock, or one for the road. We drink to toast anticipated celebrations that we want to hold in our hearts. Or to say, ‘I’m glad that day is done.
’ We drink for the communal hum of a pub, or some quiet solitude at home. Most of the above are not exclusively dependent on how much, if any, alcohol we consume in our drink. And with today’s ‘NoLo’ boom in no- and low-alcohol alternatives to boozy beverages, we have many delicious ways to actively reduce our alcohol consumption without compromising on flavour or on many of our other reasons to drink.
It’s become de riguer to allocate January to an annual effort towards abstinence, but it’s worth doing a more frequent stock take of our habitual intake. December’s blowout means we’re ready in body, mind and pocket for a little Dry January rethink — but September also invites reassessment. School runs or not, we’re all resetting after summer’s looser timelin.