You used to have two options when you wanted a grown-up drink without the booze: lime and soda, or a sugary mocktail that tasted like a children's party. Not any more. The AF spirits market in the UK has exploded, and the best bottles on shelves right now are genuinely worth your money and your cupboard space.
Here's the thing worth knowing upfront: most alcohol-free spirits aren't dealcoholised versions of the real thing. They're botanical blends, built from scratch using distillation, maceration, or extraction to create complex flavours that work in the same way spirits do. They're designed for mixing, sipping over ice, and making cocktails that actually taste like cocktails.
Gin Alternatives
This is where it all started, and it remains the strongest category. Whether you want a classic London Dry profile or something fruitier, there's a bottle that'll do the job.
Seedlip Spice 94 is the one that kicked the whole thing off. Aromatic, warm, with allspice and cardamom bark doing serious work. It's not trying to taste like gin. It's its own thing entirely, and it's brilliant with ginger ale or in an Espresso Martini riff. Around £18-21 on Amazon UK, or £26.50 at Ocado for the full 70cl.
Tanqueray 0.0% uses the same botanical blend as the original London Dry, including juniper, coriander, angelica and liquorice. It won 'best in class' at The Low & No Taste Masters 2026, and at £12 from Tesco it's one of the best-value AF spirits you can buy. The Flor de Sevilla 0.0% variant adds blood orange for something brighter and more summery, from around £15 at Waitrose.
CleanCo Clean G is Spencer Matthews' gin alternative and it's properly good value. Juniper-forward with citrus peel, coriander and a whisper of lavender. From £10 at ASDA, or around £16 at Sainsbury's and Ocado. They also do a Clean G Rhubarb if you're after something pink and tart.
For something more premium, Ceder's Classic pulls in rooibos and geranium from South Africa's Cederberg Mountains alongside traditional gin botanicals. It's unusual and genuinely interesting, from around £13 at ASDA.
Whisky Alternatives
This was the hardest category to crack. The weight, warmth and oak character of whisky are tough to replicate without alcohol as a carrier. But several brands have got genuinely close.
Glen Dochus is a Scottish operation making the most convincing AF whisky alternatives on the market. Their Highland Bothy uses real Scottish barley malt and aged whisky barrel distillates for grilled orange, salted caramel and a pleasantly full body. Around £27 from Amazon UK. The Export Blend is richer and spicier, with warming cinnamon and toffee, from £26 at Dry Drinker and The Alcohol Free Co.
Lyre's American Malt takes a different approach, aiming for the sweeter, vanilla-forward profile of a bourbon. Oak, caramel, and a touch of smoke. Works well in an Old Fashioned or with cola. Around £18 at Ocado, or £24 on Amazon UK.
CleanCo Clean W is the budget-friendly option at around £20. Cedarwood, dried fig, and ginger spice. It's lighter than the others, better suited to long drinks than sipping neat, but it does the job.
Aperitifs and Vermouths
If you asked me where the most exciting AF drinks are happening right now, it's here. These aren't trying to copy anything. They're their own category, and they're brilliant.
Everleaf makes three expressions, each built around sustainably sourced botanicals. The Forest is amber, earthy and bittersweet with saffron and vetiver. The Marine brings bergamot, sea buckthorn and a saline note that's completely unique. The Mountain opens with cherry blossom and wild strawberry before drying out with wormwood. All around £22 on Amazon UK, or £23 at Ocado. Pour any of them over ice with good tonic and you've got something special.
Botivo Batch 36 is made at Lannock Farm in Hertfordshire, built on aged British apple cider vinegar infused with rosemary, thyme, gentian and wormwood over the course of a year. It tastes like nothing else: bitter, herbal, citrusy, with a depth that rewards slow sipping. Around £27 at Sainsbury's and Waitrose. Worth every penny.
Crodino is the Italian classic, made since 1965, and it's the simplest recommendation on this list. Bittersweet, herbaceous, with quinine and cardamom. Buy a pack of the little bottles from Sainsbury's for about £8, pour over ice with a slice of orange, and you've got the best aperitivo going. It's what half of Italy drinks before dinner, and for good reason.
Lyre's Italian Spritz and Aperitif Rosso cover the Aperol and Campari territory respectively, if you're making spritz cocktails at home. Both around £18 at Ocado.
Rum Alternatives
Rum is tricky to replicate because so much of its character comes from sugar fermentation, barrel ageing and that distinctive burn. The best AF versions lean into the spice and sweetness rather than trying to fake the alcohol.
Lyre's Dark Cane is the closest thing to a dark rum you'll find without alcohol. Molasses, toffee and a warm spice finish. Mix it with ginger beer and lime for a proper Dark and Stormy. Around £24 on Amazon UK. The White Cane is lighter and cleaner for mojito-style drinks.
CleanCo Clean R brings dried fruit, raisin and brown sugar with cinnamon, clove and a flicker of cayenne pepper. It's got more heat than most in this category, which helps sell the illusion. From £10 at ASDA, making it outstanding value.
Caleno Dark & Spicy takes a tropical approach. Pineapple, coconut, kola nut and black cardamom make it feel more like a Caribbean holiday than a traditional spiced rum, but it's all the better for it. From about £16 at ASDA, or £18.50 at Ocado.
Something Different
Not everything fits neatly into a gin-whisky-rum box. Some of the best AF spirits are the ones doing their own thing entirely.
Three Spirit makes functional botanical drinks designed to give you a lift, a sense of relaxation, or a wind-down. The Livener is bright and energising, with guayusa and schisandra. The Nightcap is rich and warming, built around ashwagandha and valerian. The Social sits between the two, with lion's mane mushroom. They're not trying to replace any specific spirit. They're a category unto themselves. Around £14.50-£24.50 depending on retailer.
Almave is Lewis Hamilton's blue agave spirit from Jalisco, Mexico. The Blanc is fresh and vegetal with lime zest, like a blanco tequila. The Ambar is deeper, with toasted wood and allspice, closer to reposado territory. Both are genuinely impressive. From around £20-25 on Amazon UK.
Crossip Dandy Smoke is built around lapsang souchong tea and aimed squarely at whisky and mezcal drinkers. Smoky, malty, layered. If you like a peaty Scotch, this is your AF gateway. Around £24.50 on Amazon UK.
Where to Buy and What to Spend
The supermarkets have come a long way. Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Ocado all stock a decent range now, with Gordon's, Tanqueray, CleanCo and Seedlip being the easiest to find on the high street. Expect to pay £10-18 for these.
For the wider world of AF spirits, the specialist online retailers are your best bet. Dry Drinker, Wise Bartender and The Alcohol Free Co all carry extensive ranges and often have bundle deals. Amazon UK has competitive pricing on most brands, though stock can be patchy.
Budget around £15-28 for a 70cl bottle of something genuinely good. That might feel steep for something without alcohol, but a bottle goes further than you'd think. Most AF spirits are designed for mixing at a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio, so a single bottle makes a lot of drinks.
One last thing: don't expect these to taste exactly like their alcoholic counterparts. The best AF spirits work because they bring complexity, bitterness, warmth and botanical depth to your glass. Judge them on what they are, not what they're replacing, and you'll find something you genuinely love.