The ready-to-drink cocktail is the fastest growing corner of the alcohol-free market, and it's not hard to see why. Crack open a can, pour it over ice, and you've got something that looks and tastes like a proper cocktail without the headache, the calories, or the faff of buying six different bottles to make one drink. The UK shelf is now packed with options from premium brands, craft producers, and supermarket own-labels. Some of them are brilliant. Some of them taste like fizzy squash with ideas above its station.
We've worked through the lot. Here's what's actually worth putting in your fridge.
Pre-Mixed G&Ts
The alcohol-free G&T was where this whole category started, and it's still where you'll find the widest choice.
Gordon's Alcohol Free & Tonic with Lime is the one most people reach for first, and it does the job. Juniper comes through clearly, the tonic has enough quinine bite, and the lime keeps things fresh. At around £4.00 for a four-pack at ASDA and Waitrose, it's easily the best value pre-mixed G&T going. Gordon's also do a Premium Pink Alcohol Free & Lemonade (£4.00/4-pack at ASDA) which is sweeter and more berry-forward. Good for a summer garden drink, less convincing as a cocktail.
Fever-Tree Non-Alcoholic Mediterranean G&T is a step up. The botanical complexity here is noticeably better than the big-brand options: juniper, quinine, and lemon thyme all come through distinctly. At £1.90 per can from Sainsbury's and Waitrose, it's pricier per serve but worth it. Their Non-Alcoholic Italian Spritz uses the same approach with blood orange and wormwood, and it's one of the better bottled spritzes at the same price point.
ISH Alcohol-Free G&T builds on their London Botanical Spirit, which is made from sun-dried juniper, Provençal coriander, and Seville orange peel. The result is a juniper-led, properly dry G&T with a clean finish. Around £2.90 from Wise Bartender, or look for it at The Alcohol Free Co.
Lyre's G&T uses their Dry London spirit with quinine tonic. It's solid, if slightly less complex than the ISH. Available from The Alcohol Free Co at around £3.05 per can.
Cocktail Cans: Mojitos, Spritzes, and Beyond
This is where things get interesting. The cocktail can format suits AF drinks perfectly: the flavours are pre-balanced, the carbonation is set, and you don't need to worry about getting the spirit-to-mixer ratio right.
ISH has the deepest range and the most consistent quality. Their Alcohol-Free Mojito (£2.40-2.90 at Wise Bartender) is mint-forward with real lime character and a hint of their Caribbean Spiced Spirit underneath. Their Alcohol-Free Paloma (£2.90) brings pink grapefruit and agave warmth with a pithy bitterness that actually resembles the tequila original. The Alcohol-Free Spritz hits proper aperitivo territory with French gentian root and Italian citrus. And the Alcohol-Free Daiquiri (£2.90) and Espresso Martini round out a range where every single can tastes like someone who knows cocktails made it. Because they did.
Pentire takes a different approach, building everything from Cornish coastal botanicals. Their Coastal Spritz (£3.00 at Waitrose) is bittersweet and dry, with blood orange, sea rosemary, and oakwood. It's one of the most genuinely complex AF spritzes you can buy. The Paloma (£3.00 at Waitrose) pairs grapefruit with seaweed extract for a savoury, mineral edge. Their Margarita (from £4.89 at specialist retailers) uses Cornish sea salt and Mexican chilli alongside their botanical base. All three taste like proper cocktails rather than flavoured soft drinks, which is the whole point.
Free AF landed in the UK late last year and went straight into Morrisons. Their Apéro Spritz and Rum & Ginger (both £2.50 at Morrisons) use a proprietary botanical blend called Afterglow that's designed to give you that warm, relaxed feeling of a cocktail. It's a bold claim, but the drinks themselves are well-made and the Morrisons availability makes them easy to try.
Naked Life from Australia does zero-sugar cocktail cans with copper-pot-distilled botanicals. The Margarita (£2.40 at Wise Bartender, £6.00/4-pack at Morrisons) uses Tahitian lime and is genuinely sharp and dry. The Mojito Spritz (same pricing) is clean and minty without the cloying sweetness that ruins most AF mojitos.
Premium Bottled Cocktails
If you want something with more weight and complexity, the bottled cocktail category is where the craft producers really shine.
St. Agrestis Phony Negroni is the gold standard. Built from 30 organic botanicals, it's bitter, herbal, and genuinely convincing as a Negroni. At £4.99-5.50 per 200ml bottle from The Alcohol Free Co and Wise Bartender, it's not cheap, but pour it over ice with an orange twist and it holds up brilliantly. They also do an Espresso Negroni variant with 100mg caffeine per bottle if you want something with real kick.
Brink makes two bottled cocktails that punch above their weight. The Negroni (£4.95 at Ocado) uses burnt sugar syrup and black carrot extract for colour, with natural flavourings that capture the bittersweet character well. The Margarita (£4.95 at Ocado) layers lime with Madagascan vanilla. Both are 0.4% ABV and come in 330ml bottles.
Sip Cocktails does a Negroni (£4.80 at Wise Bartender) built on grape juice, citrus, and gentian root. It's bittersweet and complex enough to take seriously as an aperitif. Their Margarita and Mojito are available in cases from Amazon UK.
Curious Elixirs from New York brings the most adventurous flavour profiles. Their range runs from No. 1 (a Negroni riff with pomegranate and gentian) through to No. 9 (a sparkling rosé cocktail). The No. 5 is a standout: a smoked cherry, dark chocolate, and baking spice Old Fashioned riff that's unlike anything else in the category. Available from specialist AF retailers.
Supermarket Own-Brand and Budget Picks
You don't have to spend £5 a can to get a decent AF cocktail. The supermarkets are catching up fast.
Belvoir Farm sits at the premium end of the affordable range and delivers consistently. Their Lime & Yuzu Mojito (£1.40 at Sainsbury's) is genuinely refreshing with real mint and yuzu character. The Raspberry Margarita (£1.40 at Sainsbury's and Tesco) uses real fruit juice and agave. The Rhubarb & Ginger G&T brings quinine and juniper botanicals to a rhubarb base that's tart and warming. At these prices, they're brilliant fridge-fillers.
Sainsbury's does a Mojito Mocktail at just £1.00 per can. It won't fool anyone who's had the ISH version, but for a quid it's perfectly drinkable. Their Blackcurrant Spritz (£4.25 for a 750ml bottle) is a different format altogether and works well poured over ice for a group.
Savyll makes a Mojito and Grapefruit Paloma that both sit around £2.25-2.30 at Sainsbury's and Ocado. They're clean, well-carbonated, and properly flavoured. The Paloma in particular has a pithy, dry bitterness that sets it apart from the sweeter budget options.
Tesco offers a Low Alcohol Reduced Calorie G&T four-pack for £3.00 (75p per can). It's basic but drinkable, and at that price it's hard to complain.
Funkin does nitro cocktail cans that you'll find in ASDA and Waitrose. The Alcohol Free Passion Fruit Martini (from £1.80 at Waitrose) has that thick, foamy texture from the nitro pour and genuine passionfruit flavour. The Strawberry Daiquiri (£1.97 at ASDA) is sweeter but works as a treat.
What to Put in Your Fridge
If you're stocking up, here's the shortlist:
- Best G&T: Fever-Tree Non-Alcoholic Mediterranean G&T. Clean botanicals, proper tonic bite.
- Best Mojito: ISH Alcohol-Free Mojito. Mint and lime done right, with genuine rum character underneath.
- Best Spritz: Pentire Coastal Spritz. Bittersweet, dry, and complex. A proper aperitivo.
- Best Negroni: St. Agrestis Phony Negroni. The one that set the standard for the whole category.
- Best Margarita: Naked Life Margarita. Sharp, dry, zero sugar. How a margarita should be.
- Best value: Belvoir Farm range at £1.40 per can from Sainsbury's and Tesco.
- Best newcomer: Free AF, available now in Morrisons at £2.50 per can.
The AF RTD category is moving faster than any other part of the market. New brands are launching every month, supermarket ranges keep expanding, and the gap between an AF cocktail can and a proper mixed drink is shrinking fast. The best ones on this list don't taste like compromises. They taste like cocktails. Which, at the end of the day, is all any of us are really after.